Bilingualism increases neural response consistency and attentional control: evidence for sensory and cognitive coupling.

ABSTRACT: Auditory processing is presumed to be influenced by cognitive processes - including attentional control - in a top-down manner. In bilinguals, activation of both languages during daily communication hones inhibitory skills, which subsequently bolster attentional control. We hypothesize that the heightened attentional demands of bilingual communication strengthens connections between cognitive (i.e., attentional control) and auditory processing, leading to greater across-trial consistency in the auditory evoked response (i.e., neural consistency) in bilinguals. To assess this, we collected passively-elicited auditory evoked responses to the syllable [da] in adolescent Spanish-English bilinguals and English monolinguals and separately obtained measures of attentional control and language abi

SUBMITTER: Krizman J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3923605 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature