Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T14:32:02.610Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Executive control in bilinguals: A concise review on fMRI studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2016

CHRISTOS PLIATSIKAS Open the ORCID record for CHRISTOS PLIATSIKAS [Opens in a new window]  and
GIGI LUK
CHRISTOS PLIATSIKAS*
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Language Sciences, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading
GIGI LUK
Affiliation:
Harvard Graduate School of Education
*
Address for correspondence: Christos Pliatsikas, Ph. D., University of Reading, Department of Clinical Language Sciences, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, Reading, RG6 6AL, UK. [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The investigation of bilingualism and cognition has been enriched by recent developments in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Extending how bilingual experience shapes cognition, this review examines recent fMRI studies adopting executive control tasks with minimal or no linguistic demands. Across a range of studies with divergent ages and language pairs spoken by bilinguals, brain regions supporting executive control significantly overlap with brain regions recruited for language control (Abutalebi & Green). Furthermore, limited but emerging studies on resting-state networks are addressed, which suggest more coherent spatially distributed functional connectivity in bilinguals. Given the dynamic nature of bilingual experience, it is essential to consider both task-related functional networks (externally-driven engagement), and resting-state networks, such as default mode network (internal control). Both types of networks are important elements of bilingual language control, which relies on domain-general executive control.

Keywords

executive controlfunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)bilingual experienceresting-state
Type
Perspective
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , August 2016 , pp. 699 - 705
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abutalebi, J., & Green, D. Neuroimaging of language control in bilinguals: Neural adaptation and reserve. Bilingualism: Language and cognition Google Scholar
Abutalebi, J., & Green, D. (2008). Control mechanisms in bilingual language production: neural evidence from language switching studies. Language and Cognitive Processes, 23 (4), 557–582. http://doi.org/10.1080/01690960801920602 Google Scholar
Abutalebi, J., Della Rosa, P. A., Green, D. W., Hernandez, M., Scifo, P., Keim, R., Cappa, S., & Costa, A. (2012). Bilingualism tunes the anterior cingulate cortex for conflict monitoring. Cerebral Cortex, 22 (9), 2076–2086. http://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhr287 Google Scholar
Ansaldo, A. I., Ghazi-Saidi, L., & Adrover-Roig, D. (2015). Interference control in elderly bilinguals: Appearances can be misleading. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 37 (5), 455–470. http://doi.org/10.1080/13803395.2014.990359 Google Scholar
Aron, A. R., Behrens, T. E., Smith, S., Frank, M. J., & Poldrack, R. A. (2007). Triangulating a cognitive control network using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and Functional MRI. Journal of Neuroscience, 27 (14), 3743–3752. http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0519-07.2007 Google Scholar
Berken, J. A., Chai, X., Chen, J.-K., Gracco, V. L., & Klein, D. (2016). Effects of Early and Late Bilingualism on Resting-State Functional Connectivity. Journal of Neuroscience, 36 (4), 1165–1172. http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1960-15.2016 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bialystok, E., Craik, F., Green, D., & Gollan, T. (2009). Bilingual minds. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 10 (3), 89–129. http://doi.org/10.1177/1529100610387084 Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., Klein, R., & Viswanathan, M. (2004). Bilingualism, aging, and cognitive control: Evidence from the Simon task. Psychology and Aging, 19 (2), 290–303. http://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.19.2.290 Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., & Luk, G. (2012). Bilingualism: consequences for mind and brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16 (4), 240–50. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2012.03.001 Google Scholar
Blumenfeld, H. K., & Marian, V. (2014). Cognitive control in bilinguals: Advantages in Stimulus–Stimulus inhibition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition,17 (3), 610–629. http://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728913000564 Google Scholar
Botvinick, M. M., Cohen, J. D., & Carter, C. S. (2004). Conflict monitoring and anterior cingulate cortex: an update. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8 (12), 539–546. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2004.10.003 Google Scholar
Branzi, F. M., Rosa, P. A. Della, Canini, M., Costa, A., & Abutalebi, J. (2015). Language control in bilinguals: monitoring and response selection. Cerebral Cortex. Advance Access, 1–14 http://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhv052 Google Scholar
Bunge, S. A., Dudukovic, N. M., Thomason, M. E., Vaidya, C. J., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2002). Immature frontal lobe contributions to cognitive control in children. Neuron, 33 (2), 301–311. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0896-6273(01)00583-9 Google Scholar
Cao, F. (2015). Neuroimaging studies of reading in bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1366728915000656 Google Scholar
Chai, X. J., Berken, J. A., Barbeau, E. B., Soles, J., Callahan, M., Chen, J.-K., & Klein, D. (2016). Intrinsic Functional Connectivity in the Adult Brain and Success in Second-Language Learning. Journal of Neuroscience, 36 (3), 755–761. http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2234-15.2016 Google Scholar
Coderre, E. L., Smith, J. F., van Heuven, W. J. B., & Horwitz, B. (2015). The functional overlap of executive control and language processing in bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1–18. http://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728915000188 Google ScholarPubMed
Costa, A., & Sebastián-Gallés, N. (2014). How does the bilingual experience sculpt the brain? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 15 (5), 336–345. http://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3709 Google Scholar
De Baene, W., Duyck, W., Brass, M., & Carreiras, M. (2015). Brain circuit for cognitive control is shared by task and language switching. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 27 (9), 1752–1765. http://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_00817 Google Scholar
de Bruin, A., Roelofs, A., Dijkstra, T., & FitzPatrick, I. (2014). Domain-general inhibition areas of the brain are involved in language switching: FMRI evidence from trilingual speakers. NeuroImage, 90, 348–359. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.12.049 Google Scholar
Garbin, G., Sanjuan, A., Forn, C., Bustamante, J. C., Rodríguez-Pujadas, A., Belloch, V., Hernandez, M., Costa, A., & Ávila, C. (2010). Bridging language and attention: Brain basis of the impact of bilingualism on cognitive control. NeuroImage, 53 (4), 1272–1278. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.05.078 Google Scholar
Gold, B. T., Kim, C., Johnson, N. F., Kryscio, R. J., & Smith, C. D. (2013). Lifelong bilingualism maintains neural efficiency for cognitive control in aging. Journal of Neuroscience, 33 (2), 387–396. http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3837-12.2013 Google Scholar
Golestani, N. (2015). Neuroimaging of phonetic perception in bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1366728915000644 Google Scholar
Grady, C. L., Luk, G., Craik, F. I. M., & Bialystok, E. (2015). Brain network activity in monolingual and bilingual older adults. Neuropsychologia, 66, 170–181. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.10.042 Google Scholar
Grant, A. M., Fang, S.-Y., & Li, P. (2015). Second language lexical development and cognitive control: A longitudinal fMRI study. Brain and Language, 144, 35–47. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2015.03.010 Google Scholar
Green, D. W. (1998). Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1 (02), 67–81. http://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728998000133 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, D. W., & Abutalebi, J. (2013). Language control in bilinguals: The adaptive control hypothesis. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 25,1–16. http://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2013.796377 Google Scholar
Greenough, W. T., Black, J. E., & Wallace, C. E. (1987). Experience and brain development. Child Development, 58 (3), 539–559.Google Scholar
Kroll, J. F., & Stewart, E. (1994). Category interference in translation and picture naming: Evidence for asymmetric connections between bilingual memory representations. Journal of Memory and Language, 33 (2), 149–174. http://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1994.1008 Google Scholar
Lei, M., Akama, H., & Murphy, B. (2014). Neural basis of language switching in the brain: fMRI evidence from Korean-Chinese early bilinguals. Brain and Language, 138c, 12–18. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2014.08.009 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, L., Abutalebi, J., Zou, L., Yan, X., Liu, L., Feng, X., Wang, R., Guo, T., & Ding, G. (2015). Bilingualism alters brain functional connectivity between “control” regions and “language” regions: Evidence from bimodal bilinguals. Neuropsychologia, 71, 236–247 http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.04.007 Google Scholar
Luk, G., Anderson, J. A. E., Craik, F. I. M., Grady, C., & Bialystok, E. (2010). Distinct neural correlates for two types of inhibition in bilinguals: Response inhibition versus interference suppression. Brain and Cognition, 74 (3), 347–357. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2010.09.004 Google Scholar
Luk, G., Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., & Grady, C. L. (2011). Lifelong bilingualism maintains white matter integrity in older adults. The Journal of Neuroscience, 31 (46), 16808–13. http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4563-11.2011 Google Scholar
Luk, G., Green, D. W., Abutalebi, J., & Grady, C. (2011). Cognitive control for language switching in bilinguals: A quantitative meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies. Language and Cognitive Processes, 27 (10), 1479–1488. http://doi.org/10.1080/01690965.2011.613209 Google Scholar
MacLeod, C. M. (1992). The Stroop task: The “gold standard” of attentional measures. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 121 (1), 12–14 http://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.121.1.12 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milham, M. P., Banich, M. T., & Barad, V. (2003). Competition for priority in processing increases prefrontal cortex's involvement in top-down control: An event-related fMRI study of the Stroop task. Cognitive Brain Research, 17 (2), 212–222. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0926-6410(03)00108-3 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mohades, S. G., Struys, E., Van Schuerbeek, P., Baeken, C., Van De Craen, P., & Luypaert, R. (2014). Age of second language acquisition affects nonverbal conflict processing in children: an fMRI study. Brain and Behavior, 4 (5), 626–642. http://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.246 Google Scholar
Reverberi, C., Kuhlen, A., Abutalebi, J., Greulich, R. S., Costa, A., Seyed-Allaei, S., & Haynes, J.-D. (2015). Language control in bilinguals: Intention to speak vs. execution of speech. Brain and Language, 144, 1–9. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2015.03.004 Google Scholar
Rodríguez-Pujadas, A., Sanjuán, A., Ventura-Campos, N., Román, P., Martin, C., Barceló, F., Costa, A., & Ávila, C. (2013). Bilinguals use language-control brain areas more than monolinguals to perform non-linguistic switching tasks. PLoS ONE, 8 (9), e73028. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0073028 Google Scholar
Roncaglia-Denissen, M. P., & Kotz, S. A. (2015). What does neuroimaging tell us about morphosyntactic processing in the brain of second language learners. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1366728915000413 Google Scholar
Seeley, W. W., Menon, V., Schatzberg, A. F., Keller, J., Glover, G. H., Kenna, H., Reiss, A., & Greicius, M. D. (2007). Dissociable intrinsic connectivity networks for salience processing and executive control. The Journal of Neuroscience, 27 (9), 2349–2356. http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5587-06.2007 Google Scholar
Spreng, R. N., DuPre, E., Selarka, D., Garcia, J., Gojkovic, S., Mildner, J., Luh, W., & Turner, G. R. (2014). Goal-congruent default network activity facilitates cognitive control. The Journal of Neuroscience, 34 (42), 14108–14114. http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2815-14.2014 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spreng, R. N., Mar, R. A., & Kim, A. S. N. (2009). The common neural basis of autobiographical memory, prospection, navigation, theory of mind, and the default mode: A quantitative meta-analysis. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21 (3), 489–510. http://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2008.21029 Google Scholar
Spreng, R. N., Sepulcre, J., Turner, G. R., Stevens, W. D., & Schacter, D. L. (2013). Intrinsic architecture underlying the relations among the default, dorsal attention, and frontoparietal control networks of the human brain. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 25 (1), 74–86. http://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_00281 Google Scholar
Wattendorf, E., Festman, J., Westermann, B., Keil, U., Zappatore, D., Franceschini, R., Luedi, G., Radue, E., Münte, T., & Nitsch, C. (2014). Early bilingualism influences early and subsequently later acquired languages in cortical regions representing control functions. International Journal of Bilingualism, 18 (1), 48–66. http://doi.org/10.1177/1367006912456590 Google Scholar
Weissberger, G. H., Gollan, T. H., Bondi, M. W., Clark, L. R., & Wierenga, C. E. (2015). Language and task switching in the bilingual brain: Bilinguals are staying, not switching, experts. Neuropsychologia, 66, 193–203. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.10.037 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valian, V. (2015). Bilingualism and cognition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18 (1), 3–24. http://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728914000522 Google Scholar
Zou, L., Ding, G., Abutalebi, J., Shu, H., & Peng, D. (2012). Structural plasticity of the left caudate in bimodal bilinguals. Cortex, 48 (9), 1197–206. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2011.05.022 Google Scholar