TY  - JOUR
A1  - Wattendorf, Elise
A1  - Festman, Julia
A1  - Westermann, Birgit
A1  - Keil, Ursula
A1  - Zappatore, Daniela
A1  - Franceschini, Rita
A1  - Luedi, Georges
A1  - Radue, Ernst-Wilhelm
A1  - Muente, Thomas F.
A1  - Rager, Guenter
A1  - Nitsch, Cordula
T1  - Early bilingualism influences early and subsequently later acquired languages in cortical regions representing control functions
JF  - International journal of bilingualism : cross-disciplinary, cross-linguistic studies of language behavior
N2  - Early acquisition of a second language influences the development of language abilities and cognitive functions. In the present study, we used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to investigate the impact of early bilingualism on the organization of the cortical language network during sentence production. Two groups of adult multilinguals, proficient in three languages, were tested on a narrative task; early multilinguals acquired the second language before the age of three years, late multilinguals after the age of nine. All participants learned a third language after nine years of age. Comparison of the two groups revealed substantial differences in language-related brain activity for early as well as late acquired languages. Most importantly, early multilinguals preferentially activated a fronto-striatal network in the left hemisphere, whereas the left posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) was activated to a lesser degree than in late multilinguals. The same brain regions were highlighted in previous studies when a non-target language had to be controlled. Hence the engagement of language control in adult early multilinguals appears to be influenced by the specific learning and acquisition conditions during early childhood. Remarkably, our results reveal that the functional control of early and subsequently later acquired languages is similarly affected, suggesting that language experience has a pervasive influence into adulthood. As such, our findings extend the current understanding of control functions in multilinguals.
KW  - Multilingual
KW  - language acquisition
KW  - narration
KW  - age of acquisition
KW  - functional magnetic resonance imaging
KW  - emergentist framework
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006912456590
SN  - 1367-0069
SN  - 1756-6878
VL  - 18
IS  - 1
SP  - 48
EP  - 66
PB  - Sage Publ.
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Festman, Julia
A1  - Muente, Thomas F.
T1  - Cognitive control in Russian-German bilinguals
JF  - Frontiers in psychology
N2  - Bilingual speakers are faced with the problem to keep their languages apart, but do so with interindividually varying success. Cognitive control abilities might be an important factor to explain such interindividual differences. Here we compare two late, balanced and highly proficient bilingual groups (mean age 24 years, L1 Russian, L2 German) which were established according to their language control abilities on a bilingual picture-naming task. One group had difficulties to remain in the instructed target language and switched unintentionally to the non-target language ("switchers"), whereas the other group rarely switched unintentionally ("non-switchers"). This group-specific behavior could not be explained by language background, socio-cultural, or demographic variables. Rather, the non-switchers also demonstrated a faster and better performance on four cognitive control tests (Tower of Hanoi, Ruff Figural Fluency Test, Divided Attention, Go/Nogo). Here, we focus on two additional executive function tasks, theWisconsin Card SortingTest (WCST) and the Flanker task requiring conflict monitoring and conflict resolution. Non-switchers outperformed switchers with regard to speed and accuracy, and were better at finding and applying the correct rules in the WCST. Similarly, in the Flanker task non-switchers performed faster and better on conflict trials and had a higher correction rate following an error. Event-related potential recordings furthermore revealed a smaller error-related negativity in the non-switchers, taken as evidence for a more efficient self-monitoring system. We conclude that bilingual language performance, in particular switching behavior, is related to performance on cognitive control tasks. Better cognitive control, including conflict monitoring, results in decreased unintentional switching.
KW  - Flanker task
KW  - ERN
KW  - Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
KW  - conflict monitoring
KW  - inhibition
KW  - late bilinguals
KW  - cognitive control
KW  - executive function
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00115
SN  - 1664-1078
VL  - 3
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Lausanne
ER  -