Abstract
The role of language in numerical processing has traditionally been restricted to counting and exact arithmetic. Nevertheless, the impact that each of a bilinguals’ languages may have in core numerical representations has not been questioned until recently. What if the language in which math has been first acquired (LLmath) had a bigger impact in our math processing? Based on previous studies on language switching we hypothesize that balanced bilinguals would behave like unbalanced bilinguals when switching between the two codes for math. In order to address this question, we measured the brain activity with magneto encephalography (MEG) and source estimation analyses of 12 balanced Basque-Spanish speakers performing a task in which participants were unconscious of the switches between the two codes. The results show an asymmetric switch cost between the two codes for math, and that the brain areas responsible for these switches are similar to those thought to belong to a general task switching mechanism. This implies that the dominances for math and language could run separately from the general language dominance.
Highlights
Numbers are one of the pillars in today’s society; they can be found in various aspects of life, apart from the obvious counting and arithmetic, such as TV stations, dates, signals, our favorite sports player’s number, etc
To test the impact of early math learning in the relative strength of the two numeric lexicons, we will distinguish between the language for learning math (LLmath) and the other language as what determines their relative dominance
The participants who enrolled in the study had to be proficient in both languages and had to report which of the languages was their LLmath and whether they felt comfortable counting and doing basic mathematical operations in each language
Summary
Numbers are one of the pillars in today’s society; they can be found in various aspects of life, apart from the obvious counting and arithmetic, such as TV stations, dates, signals, our favorite sports player’s number, etc. It is believed that humans have an innate system for number representation (Dehaene 1997) present in infants and animals This system is considered as an abstract, non-verbal representation of magnitude, and mostly, independent of language. The concept of code-switching will be introduced as a way to measure the possible unbalance between number word systems in balanced bilinguals. It has the objective of knowing the brain bases of switch costs when the number words are manipulated and whether they are similar or different to those used in language and in general switch mechanisms
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
