Bilingual Cortical Control of Between- and Within-Language Competition.

ABSTRACT: The human capacity to master multiple languages is remarkable and leads to structural and functional changes in the brain. Understanding how the brain accommodates multiple languages simultaneously is crucial to developing a complete picture of our species' linguistic capabilities. To examine the neural mechanisms involved in processing two languages, we looked at cortical activation in Spanish-English bilinguals in response to phonological competition either between two languages or within a language. Participants recognized spoken words in a visual world task while their brains were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Results revealed that between-language competition recruited a larger network of frontal control and basal ganglia regions than within-language comp

SUBMITTER: Marian V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5603581 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature