Lecture
Invited Speaker: Vincent DeLuca
Title: Bilingualism is a Spectrum: Effects of specific language experiences on brain function and executive control (August 21st, 11 am)
The effects of bilingualism on executive control (EC) are debated, given the variable results found across studies. However, relatively few studies have specifically examined effects of individual differences in language use on executive control processes or their neural correlates. We assess the hypothesis that specific language use factors, both absolute and experience-based (EBFs), within the bilingual experience will alter neural activity in regions implicated in language/executive control processes.
Typically developing bilinguals (n= 65, 49 female, mage= 31.8yrs, SD 7.59) were scanned (fMRI) while completing a flanker task which contained mixed blocks (both congruent and incongruent trials), a congruent block, and a neutral block. Participants also completed a detailed language use/background questionnaire (LSBQ; Anderson et al., 2018), from which the following four EBFs were derived and included in our models: second language Age of Acquisition (L2 AoA), length of L2 immersion, and two weighted composite factor scores detailing degree of L2 use in 1) social/community settings (L2_Social) and 2) home settings (L2_Home). Reaction time differences between conditions in the flanker task were not predicted by any language-use factor. However, each factor predicted differential recruitment of distinct brain regions related to language/EC, across conditions. Together the data support the hypothesis that specific language use factors modulate neural activity towards different EC demands (Abutalebi & Green, 2016; Grundy, Anderson, & Bialystok, 2017), which is not necessarily reflected in task performance. Furthermore, these results highlight the necessity of considering specific language experiences in assessing neurocognitive effects of bilingualism.
This talk will be immediately preceded by a talk entitled: The Cognitive and Neurological Effects of Bilingualism on Healthy Ageing and Dementia: Study Design.
When: PLEASE NOTE THERE WAS A DATE AND TIME CHANGE FOR THIS EVENT, the correct time is: August 21, 2018, 11 am
Where: room 1552, 15th floor, 2001 McGill-College
References
Abutalebi, J., & Green, D. W. (2016). Neuroimaging of language control in bilinguals: neural adaptation and reserve. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, (April), 1–10
Anderson, J. A. E., Mak, L., Keyvani Chahi, A., & Bialystok, E. (2018). The language and social background questionnaire: Assessing degree of bilingualism in a diverse population. Behavior Research Methods, 50(1), 250–263.
Grundy, J. G., Anderson, J. A. E., & Bialystok, E. (2017). Neural correlates of cognitive processing in monolinguals and bilinguals. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1396(1), 183–201.
Valian, V. (2015). Bilingualism and cognition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18, 3–24.