The neural overlap and dissociation between language control and domain-general cognitive control

Abstract

Bilinguals are able to use two different languages according to the context. It has been argued that bilinguals need to select the target language by using inhibitory control. The present study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technique to detect the brain activity of 22 Chinese-English bilinguals who completed a language switching task and the Simon switching task. By conjunction and disjunction analyses, we revealed the neural overlap and dissociation between language control and domain-general cognitive control. The result shows that language control recruits domain-general cognitive control, including exerting and releasing inhibition. Language control and the inhibition exerting share a large spread of areas, including the superior frontal gyrus, pre-supplementary motor area/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, putamen, and right superior parietal lobe; language control and the inhibition releasing share the left superior parietal lobe. Independent of domain-general cognitive control, language control recruits the left postcentral gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, left precuneus, post cingulate cortex, supplementary motor area proper, right middle temporal gyrus, right lingual gyrus, right supramarginal gyrus and bilateral cerebellum, which are related to the control of articulation, lexical selection and semantic memory. This indicates that there is neural overlap and dissociation between language control and domain-general cognitive control.