Language Control in the Bilingual Brain
Crinion et al. (2006)
Ema Salja
Background Bilinguals can voluntarily control which
language is used Distinguish language heard/read Which language speech is to be produced in Inhibition of non-selected language
Proficient bilinguals activate same brain regions regardless of which language presented or produced (Abutalebi, & Perani, 2005).
Neural circuits for different languages are overlapping/ interconnected but don’t indicate how brain controls language in use
Question & Hypothesis
What brain areas are responsible for language control?
DV: brain activation (fMRI & PET)
IV: Language of target Target & prime
semantics Target & prime language
Hypothesis? They didn’t
really have one…
Methods Subjects (German-English & Japanese-English
bilinguals)visually shown pairs of words (i.e. trout-SALMON) in sequence Language Pairs semantically similar/different Target and prime were in same/different
language
Ignore first word (prime) & make decision based on meaning of second word (target) Time between prime & target optimized for
priming, but not long enough to predict target (250 ms)
Task presented while subjects being scanned (fMRI & PET)
Results
No significant effect of target language on accuracy
Some variance in visual cortex activation
Semantic priming in left ventral anterior temporal lobe is language-independent
Language-dependent semantic priming only in left caudate (LC) Reduced activation
when semantically similar prime & target in same language
Discussion Suggest that LC plays a role in
sensing change in language OR word semantics
LC seems to function for language control Neuropsychological study on
particular trilingual patient with white matter lesions around LC Retained comprehension in all
3 Involuntarily switched between
languages during production tasks
Limitations & Next Step
Limitations
Characters/word varied between languages
Sample size/bilingual group (~ 10-15)
Tested only German-English & Japanese-English bilinguals
Next Step
Determine adjacent & connecting pathways
Test other bilingual groups
Check effect of varying proficiencies (one language more dominant then other)
Final Note
Strengths Interesting Topic
Tested bilinguals from completely separate linguistic families
Equivalent linguistic proficiencies
Weaknesses Difficult to read
No clear question, hypothesis or variables
Not enough information or detail regarding subjects & procedures
References
Abutalebi, J., & Perani, D. (2005). the neural basis of first and second language processing. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 15, 202-206.
Aso, T., Crinion, J., Fukuyama, H., Green, D. W., Grogan, A., Hanakawa, T.,…Urayama, S. (2006). Language control in the bilingual brain. Science, 312, 1537-1540. doi: 10.1126/science.1127761.