Bilingual experience and resting-state brain connectivity: Impacts of L2 age of acquisition and social diversity of language use on control networks. (August 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gullifer, Jason W.; Chai, Xiaoqian J.; Whitford, Veronica; Pivneva, Irina; Baum, Shari; Klein, Denise; Titone, Debra
• Is Part Of: Neuropsychologia. Volume 117(2018)
• Page Start: 123
• Page End: 134
• Publication Date: 2018-08
• Subjects: Bilingualism -- Resting-state functional connectivity -- L2 age of acquisition -- Social diversity of language use -- Executive control -- Brain imaging; Neuropsychology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Psychophysiology -- Periodicals; Neuropsychologie -- Périodiques; Neuropsychology; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.04.037
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0028-3932

Abstract

Abstract: We investigated the independent contributions of second language (L2) age of acquisition (AoA) and social diversity of language use on intrinsic brain organization using seed-based resting-state functional connectivity among highly proficient French-English bilinguals. There were two key findings. First, earlier L2 AoA related to greater interhemispheric functional connectivity between homologous frontal brain regions, and to decreased reliance on proactive executive control in an AX-Continuous Performance Task completed outside the scanner. Second, greater diversity in social language use in daily life related to greater connectivity between the anterior cingulate cortex and the putamen bilaterally, and to increased reliance on proactive control in the same task. These findings suggest that early vs. late L2 AoA links to a specialized neural framework for processing two languages that may engage a specific type of executive control (e.g., reactive control). In contrast, higher vs. lower degrees of diversity in social language use link to a broadly distributed set of brain networks implicated in proactive control and context monitoring. Highlights: Bilingual experience adaptively tunes neural networks involved in executive control. Early L2 AoA relates to greater frontal interhemispheric functional connectivity. Greater diversity of language use relates to greater subcortical connectivity. Frontal and subcortical connectivity relate to proactive-reactive shifts in behavior. Historical and ongoing language experience impact functional brain connectivity.