Effect of bilingualism on infants’ cognitive flexibility

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Diane Poulin-Dubois ◽  
Cassandra Neumann ◽  
Sandra Masoud ◽  
Adina Gazith
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Reaching Task ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Cognitive Benefit ◽  
Response Task ◽  
Current Exposure

Abstract Research suggests that bilinguals often outperform monolinguals on tasks that tap into executive functions, such as those requiring conflict resolution and cognitive flexibility. Recently, better attentional control has been detected in infants as young as 6 months, thereby providing a possible basis for a cognitive benefit before language production. The goal of the present study was to examine if cognitive flexibility is more advanced in bilingual infants. A detour reaching task assessing conflict resolution, a delayed response task assessing shifting, and a multiple location task assessing maintaining, were administered to 17-month-old infants. The main findings revealed that being bilingual did not improve performance on any of the executive function tasks. Furthermore, current exposure to a second language or language proficiency did not impact executive functioning. We conclude that a bilingual advantage in cognitive flexibility may not be present before children have enough experience in code switching.

Prefrontal Cortical Representation of Visuospatial Working Memory in Monkeys Examined by Local Inactivation With Muscimol

2001 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 2041-2053 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshiyuki Sawaguchi ◽  
Michiyo Iba
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Local Injection ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Visually Guided ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Response Task ◽  
Spatial Locations

In primates, dorsolateral areas of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) play a major role in visuospatial working memory. To examine the functional organization of the PFC for representing visuospatial working memory, we produced reversible local inactivation, with the local injection of muscimol (5 μg, 1 μl), at various sites ( n = 100) in the dorsolateral PFC of monkeys and observed the behavioral consequences in an oculomotor delayed-response task that required memory-guided saccades for locations throughout both visual fields. At 82 sites, the local injection of muscimol induced deficits in memory-guided saccades to a few specific, usually contralateral, target locations that varied with the location of the injection site. Such deficits depended on the delay length, and longer delays were associated with larger deficits in memory-guided saccades. The injection sites and affected spatial locations of the target showed a gross topographical relationship. No deficits appeared for a control task in which the subject was required to make a visually guided saccade to a visible target. These findings suggest that a specific site in the dorsolateral PFC is responsible for the working memory process for a specific visuospatial coordinate to guide goal-directed behavior. Further, memoranda for specific visuospatial coordinates appear to be represented in a topographical memory mapwithin the dorsolateral PFC to represent visuospatial working memory processes.

scholarly journals Area-specific thalamocortical synchronization underlies the transition from motor planning to execution

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (6) ◽  
pp. e2012658118
Author(s):  
Abdulraheem Nashef ◽  
Rea Mitelman ◽  
Ran Harel ◽  
Mati Joshua ◽  
Yifat Prut
Keyword(s):  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Cell Activity ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Simultaneous Recording ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Cortical Cells ◽  
Reaching Task ◽  
Motor Thalamus

We studied correlated firing between motor thalamic and cortical cells in monkeys performing a delayed-response reaching task. Simultaneous recording of thalamocortical activity revealed that around movement onset, thalamic cells were positively correlated with cell activity in the primary motor cortex but negatively correlated with the activity of the premotor cortex. The differences in the correlation contrasted with the average neural responses, which were similar in all three areas. Neuronal correlations reveal functional cooperation and opposition between the motor thalamus and distinct motor cortical areas with specific roles in planning vs. performing movements. Thus, by enhancing and suppressing motor and premotor firing, the motor thalamus can facilitate the transition from a motor plan to execution.

scholarly journals Attentional Fluctuations, Cognitive Flexibility, and Bilingualism in Kindergarteners

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie L. Haft ◽  
Olga Kepinska ◽  
Jocelyn N. Caballero ◽  
Manuel Carreiras ◽  
Fumiko Hoeft
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Kindergarten Children ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Memory And Attention ◽  
Confounding Variables ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
The Relationship

The idea of a bilingual advantage in aspects of cognitive control—including cognitive flexibility, inhibition, working memory, and attention—is disputed. Using a sample of kindergarten children, the present study investigated associations between bilingualism and cognitive flexibility—a relationship that has shown mixed findings in prior literature. We also extend prior work by exploring relationships between bilingualism and attentional fluctuations, which represent consistency in attentional control and contribute to cognitive performance. To our knowledge, no previous study has explored this association. Theoretically, attentional fluctuations might mediate or moderate the relationship between bilingualism and cognitive flexibility. However, given evidence of null findings from extant literature when confounding variables are adequately controlled and tasks are standardized, we did not expect to find a bilingual advantage in either cognitive flexibility or attentional fluctuations. Our results supported this hypothesis when considering bilingualism both continuously and categorically. The importance of expanding upon mechanistic accounts connecting bilingualism to cognitive improvements is discussed.

scholarly journals The Effect of Bilingualism on Older Adults’ Inhibitory Control: A Meta-Analysis

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie A Armstrong ◽  
Natalie Ein ◽  
Brenda I Wong ◽  
Sara N Gallant ◽  
Lingqian Li
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Design And Methods

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesThe effect bilingualism has on older adults’ inhibitory control has been extensively investigated, yet there is continued controversy regarding whether older adult bilinguals show superior inhibitory control compared with monolinguals. The objective of the current meta-analysis was to examine the reliability and magnitude of the bilingualism effect on older adults’ inhibitory control as measured by the Simon and Stroop tasks. In addition, we examined whether individual characteristics moderate the bilingual advantage in inhibition, including age (young–old vs old–old), age of second language acquisition, immigrant status, language proficiency, and frequency of language use.Research Design and MethodsA total of 22 samples for the Simon task and 14 samples for the Stroop task were derived from 28 published and unpublished articles (32 independent samples, with 4 of these samples using more than 1 task) and were analyzed in 2 separate meta-analyses.ResultsAnalyses revealed a reliable effect of bilingualism on older adults’ performance on the Simon (g = 0.60) and Stroop (g = 0.27) tasks. Interestingly, individual characteristics did not moderate the association between bilingualism and older adults’ inhibitory control.Discussion and ImplicationsThe results suggest there is a bilingual advantage in inhibitory control for older bilinguals compared with older monolinguals, regardless of the individual characteristics previously thought to moderate this effect. Based on these findings, bilingualism may protect inhibitory control from normal cognitive decline with age.

Extrastriate Visual Areas Contribute to the Performance of a Spatial Delayed Response Task

NeuroImage ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. S343
Author(s):  
R.A. Berman ◽  
J.A. Sweeney ◽  
K.R. Thulborn ◽  
C.L. Colby
Keyword(s):  
Delayed Response ◽  
Visual Areas ◽  
Response Task ◽  
Delayed Response Task

Spatial working memory assessment by a visual-manual delayed response task: a controlled study in schizophrenia

1999 ◽  
Vol 275 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Stratta ◽  
E Daneluzzo ◽  
P Prosperini ◽  
M Bustini ◽  
M.G Marinangeli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Memory Assessment ◽  
Response Task ◽  
Delayed Response Task

scholarly journals The lateral intraparietal area codes the location of saccade targets and not the dimension of the saccades that will be made to acquire them

2013 ◽  
Vol 109 (10) ◽  
pp. 2596-2605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara C. Steenrod ◽  
Matthew H. Phillips ◽  
Michael E. Goldberg
Keyword(s):  
Target Location ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Oculomotor System ◽  
Saccade Target ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Lateral Intraparietal Area ◽  
Saccadic Adaptation ◽  
End Point ◽  
Priority Map ◽  
Response Task

Activity in the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) represents a priority map that can be used to direct attention and guide eye movements. However, it is not known whether this activity represents the location of saccade targets or the actual eye movement made to acquire them. We recorded single neurons from rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta) while they performed memory-guided delayed saccades to characterize the response profiles of LIP cells. We then separated the saccade target from the saccade end point by saccadic adaptation, a method that induces a change in the gain of the oculomotor system. We plotted LIP activity for all three epochs of the memory-guided delayed-response task (visual, delay period, and presaccadic responses) as a function of target location and saccade end point. We found that under saccadic adaptation the response profile for all three epochs was unchanged as a function of target location. We conclude that neurons in LIP reliably represent the locations of saccade targets, not the amplitude of the saccade required to acquire those targets. Although LIP transmits target information to the motor system, that information represents the location of the target and not the amplitude of the saccade that the monkey will make.

Pauses and hesitation phenomena in second language production

2000 ◽  
Vol 127-128 ◽  
pp. 53-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasone Cenoz
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Filled Pauses ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Hesitation Phenomena

Abstract This article focuses on the study of pauses in second language production by analysing the frequency of silent and filled pauses and their functions. It also examines the combination of pauses and other hesitation phenomena in second language production and it explores the relationship between pauses and language proficiency. The results confirm that pauses and hesitations are frequent phenomena in second language production and the individual variation in their occurrence. It was also found that pauses are often associated with other hesitation phenomena and that filled and silent pauses can have the same functions.

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