Abstract
How learning a second language (L2) changes our brain has been an important question in neuroscience. Previous neuroimaging studies with different ages and language pairs spoken by bilinguals have consistently shown plastic changes in brain systems supporting executive control. One hypothesis posits that L2 experience-induced neural changes supporting cognitive control, which is responsible for the selection of a target language and minimization of interference from a non-target language. However, it remains poorly understood as to whether such cognitive advantage is reflected as stronger controlled processing or increased automatic inhibition processing. In this study, using functional MRI we scanned 27 Chinese-English late bilinguals while they performed a Simon task. Results showed that bilinguals with higher L2 vocabulary proficiency performed better in the Simon task, and more importantly, higher L2 vocabulary proficiency was associated with weaker activation of brain regions that support more general cognitive control, including the right anterior cingulate cortex, left insula and left superior temporal gyrus. These results suggest that L2 experience may lead to a more automatic and efficient processing in the inhibitory control task. Our finding provides an insight into neural activity changes associated with inhibitory control as a function of L2 proficiency.
Highlights
Human being has a remarkable ability to learn more than one language, with which even an older adult can learn a second language with success
Words were arranged in a list from easy to difficult based on Public English Test System (PETS) level
This study provides an insight into neural plastic changes associated with inhibitory control in bilinguals as a function of L2 proficiency
Summary
Human being has a remarkable ability to learn more than one language, with which even an older adult can learn a second language with success. A wide range of bilingual studies showed that both first and second languages were activated when a bilingual uses one of them (Smith, 1997; Brysbaert, 1998; Francis, 1999; Bialystok et al, 2004; Conrad et al, 2015). The joint activation of both languages suggests that bilinguals must control attention to the selected languages in order to achieve fluent performance in the designated language without interference from the other language This situation is similar to that encountered in the inhibitory control problems, in which cognitive resources are focused on goal-relevant processing while filtering out irrelevant information that can interferes with the appropriate response (Shallice et al, 1996; Green, 1998; Van Heuven et al, 1998; Garbin et al, 2010). Considerable evidence has linked regular use of two languages with better ability of cognitive control (Bialystok et al, 2005). Previous studies have shown that bilinguals were more skilled than monolinguals in performing tasks that require attentional control to ignore or inhibit
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