The relationship between language control and cognitive control in bilingual aphasia

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
TERESA GRAY ◽  
SWATHI KIRAN

This study examines language control deficits in bilingual aphasia in terms of domain specific cognitive control and domain general cognitive control. Thirty Spanish–English controls and ten Spanish–English adults with aphasia completed the flanker task and a word-pair relatedness judgment task. All participants exhibited congruency effects on the flanker task. On the linguistic task, controls did not show the congruency effect on the first level analysis. However, conflict ratios revealed that the control group exhibited significant effects of language control. Additionally, individual patient analysis revealed overall positive and negative effects of language control impairment and a benefit from semantically related word-pairs. Patient data suggest a dissociation between the mechanisms of language control and cognitive control, thus providing evidence for domain specific cognitive control. The influence of language proficiency on speed of translation was also examined. Generally, controls were faster when translating into their dominant language, whereas the patients did not show the same trends.

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanya Dash ◽  
Bhoomika R. Kar

Background. Bilingualism results in an added advantage with respect to cognitive control. The interaction between bilingual language control and general purpose cognitive control systems can also be understood by studying executive control among individuals with bilingual aphasia.Objectives. The current study examined the subcomponents of cognitive control in bilingual aphasia. A case study approach was used to investigate whether cognitive control and language control are two separate systems and how factors related to bilingualism interact with control processes.Methods. Four individuals with bilingual aphasia performed a language background questionnaire, picture description task, and two experimental tasks (nonlinguistic negative priming task and linguistic and nonlinguistic versions of flanker task).Results. A descriptive approach was used to analyse the data using reaction time and accuracy measures. The cumulative distribution function plots were used to visualize the variations in performance across conditions. The results highlight the distinction between general purpose cognitive control and bilingual language control mechanisms.Conclusion. All participants showed predominant use of the reactive control mechanism to compensate for the limited resources system. Independent yet interactive systems for bilingual language control and general purpose cognitive control were postulated based on the experimental data derived from individuals with bilingual aphasia.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 169
Author(s):  
Teresa Gray

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between language control, semantic control, and nonverbal control in bilingual aphasia. Twelve bilingual adults with aphasia (BPWA) and 20 age-matched bilingual adults (AMBA) completed a language control task, semantic control task, and nonverbal control task, each designed to examine resistance to distractor interference. AMBA and BPWA exhibited significant effects of control on all tasks. To examine efficiency of control, conflict magnitudes for each task and group were analyzed. Findings revealed that AMBA exhibited larger conflict magnitudes on the semantic control task and nonverbal control task compared to the language control task, whereas BPWA exhibited no difference in conflict magnitudes between the language control task and semantic control task. Further analysis revealed that BPWA semantic control conflict magnitude was smaller than AMBA semantic control conflict magnitude. Taken together, these findings suggest that BPWA present with diminished effects of semantic control. In the final analysis, conflict magnitudes across tasks were correlated. For AMBA, semantic control and nonverbal control conflict magnitudes were significantly correlated, suggesting that these two types of control are related. For BPWA, language control and nonverbal control conflict magnitudes were significantly correlated; however, this finding may capture effects of domain general cognitive control as a function of increased cognitive load, rather than domain general cognitive control as a function of language control.


PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun Xie ◽  
Xiaochun Wang ◽  
Chenglin Zhou ◽  
Chang Xu ◽  
Yu-Kai Chang

Objective The present study was to determine the effect of a combined exercise and dietary program on cognitive function as well as the relationship between the program-induced weight change and cognitive function alterations. Design The study applies a quasi-experimental design. Methods Fifty-eight adolescents with obese status (body mass index, BMI >28 kg/m2) were assigned to either an experiment (n = 30) or control group (n = 28). Participants in the experiment group received a scheduled program with a specific exercise protocol (two sessions per day, six days per week) and diet plan for four consecutive weeks; the control group was instructed to maintain their normal school activities. The primary outcome measures were anthropometric data and flanker task performance. Results The combined program led to reduced BMI with maintenance of the incongruent accuracy in the experiment group, but the incongruent accuracy decreased in the control group after the four-week period. Additionally, the change in weight status between post- and pre-test measurements was inversely correlated with the change in incongruent accuracy. Conclusion The combined exercise and dietary program resulted in decreased weight and enhanced executive function in the obese adolescents, and the weight alteration may be considered the mediator between the intervention and executive function.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Abdul Qahar Sarwari ◽  
Muhammad Nubli Wahab

This study was carried out to evaluate the relationship between English language proficiency (ELP) and intercultural communication competence (ICCC) of Arab students in Malaysia. This study included both of the quantitative and the qualitative data sets to further the information. The participants of this study were 108 Arab students from nine different Asian and African nationalities. Based on the results of this study, English language was the main means of education for the participants, and the main means of their communication with students from other cultures. The results from this study found some significant correlations between the attributes of ELP and ICCC. The good levels of ELP encouraged and enabled individuals to be involved in daily interactions with their peers from different countries who speak different languages, and their interactions helped them to improve the levels of their ELP. Moreover, the participants who obtained higher scores in English language proficiency test got higher mean scores in ICCC as well. Based on the results, in some cases, their personal characteristics and the low levels of their ELP had negative effects on the process of interactions among Arab and other students. The results of this study may add some interesting information in the literature regarding the relationships between ELP and ICCC of Arab students in an Asian multicultural collegiate environment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Nicholas Grunden ◽  
Giorgio Piazza ◽  
Carmen García-Sánchez ◽  
Marco Calabria

As studies of bilingual language control (BLC) seek to explore the underpinnings of bilinguals’ abilities to juggle two languages, different types of language switching tasks have been used to uncover switching and mixing effects and thereby reveal what proactive and reactive control mechanisms are involved in language switching. Voluntary language switching tasks, where a bilingual participant can switch freely between their languages while naming, are being utilized more often due to their greater ecological validity compared to cued switching paradigms. Because this type of task had not yet been applied to language switching in bilingual patients, our study sought to explore voluntary switching in bilinguals with aphasia (BWAs) as well as in healthy bilinguals. In Experiment 1, we replicated previously reported results of switch costs and mixing benefits within our own bilingual population of Catalan-Spanish bilinguals. With Experiment 2, we compared both the performances of BWAs as a group and as individuals against control group performance. Results illustrated a complex picture of language control abilities, indicating varying degrees of association and dissociation between factors of BLC. Given the diversity of impairments in BWAs’ language control mechanisms, we highlight the need to examine BLC at the individual level and through the lens of theoretical cognitive control frameworks in order to further parse out how bilinguals regulate their language switching.


Author(s):  
Saskia Mooijman ◽  
Rob Schoonen ◽  
Ardi Roelofs ◽  
Marina B. Ruiter

Abstract Much research has been dedicated to the effects of bilingualism on executive control (EC). For bilinguals with aphasia, the interplay with EC is complex. In this systematic review, we synthesize research on this topic and provide an overview of the current state of the field. First, we examine the evidence for EC deficits in bilingual persons with aphasia (bPWA). We then discuss the domain generality of bilingual language control impairments. Finally, we evaluate the bilingual advantage hypothesis in bPWA. We conclude that (1) EC impairments in bPWA are frequently observed, (2) experimental results on the relationship between linguistic and domain-general control are mixed, (3) bPWA with language control problems in everyday communication have domain-general EC problems, and (4) there are indications for EC advantages in bPWA. We end with directions for experimental work that could provide better insight into the intricate relationship between EC and bilingual aphasia.


2015 ◽  
Vol 66 (Suppl. 3) ◽  
pp. 38-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.A. Khan ◽  
L.B. Raine ◽  
E.S. Drollette ◽  
M.R. Scudder ◽  
N.J. Cohen ◽  
...  

Background: Cognitive control (also known as executive function) encompasses mental processes that underlie goal-directed behavior, and it enables us to adjust our behavior according to changing environmental demands. Previous research among children has demonstrated that aerobic fitness and obesity have contrasting and selective effects on cognitive control. However, the relationship between water intake and childhood cognitive control remains inadequately studied. This study investigated the relationship between total water intake and cognitive control among prepubertal children (8-9-year olds). Methods: Children between 8 and 9 years of age (n = 63) performed a modified flanker task to assess cognitive control related to inhibition (ability to resist distractions and maintain focus). Diet was measured using 3-day food records. Total water was defined as water consumed from drinking water, beverages, and food. Results: A comparison of task performance across the median intake of total water revealed that children above the median exhibited shorter reaction times across multiple conditions of the flanker task, requiring variable amounts of cognitive control. Further, after adjustment of age, IQ, socioeconomic status, weight status, and aerobic fitness level, the proportion of intake comprised of water (%TW) was negatively correlated with reaction time interference, that is, the ability to maintain task performance when task conditions demanded greater inhibition. Conclusions: These results indicate an association between water intake and cognitive control using a task that modulates inhibition. Specifically, higher water intake correlated with greater ability to maintain task performance when inhibitory demands are increased. Future work is needed to determine the mechanism by which water influences cognitive control among children.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 662-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle R. Sullivan ◽  
Jasmeet P. Hayes ◽  
Ginette Lafleche ◽  
David H. Salat ◽  
Mieke Verfaellie

AbstractObjectives: Research on the cognitive sequelae of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) suggests that, despite generally rapid recovery, difficulties may persist in the domain of cognitive control. The goal of this study was to examine whether individuals with chronic blast-related mTBI show behavioral or neural alterations associated with cognitive control. Methods: We collected event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data during a flanker task in 17 individuals with blast-related mTBI and 16 individuals with blast-exposure without TBI (control). Results: Groups did not significantly differ in behavioral measures of cognitive control. Relative to the control group, the mTBI group showed greater deactivation of regions associated with the default mode network during the processing of errors. Additionally, error processing in the mTBI group was associated with enhanced negative coupling between the default mode network and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex as well as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, regions of the salience and central executive networks that are associated with cognitive control. Conclusions: These results suggest that deactivation of default mode network regions and associated enhancements of connectivity with cognitive control regions may act as a compensatory mechanism for successful cognitive control task performance in mTBI. (JINS, 2018, 24, 1–11)


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