780 research outputs found

    Age of second language acquisition affects nonverbal conflict processing in children : an fMRI study

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    Background: In their daily communication, bilinguals switch between two languages, a process that involves the selection of a target language and minimization of interference from a nontarget language. Previous studies have uncovered the neural structure in bilinguals and the activation patterns associated with performing verbal conflict tasks. One question that remains, however is whether this extra verbal switching affects brain function during nonverbal conflict tasks. Methods: In this study, we have used fMRI to investigate the impact of bilingualism in children performing two nonverbal tasks involving stimulus-stimulus and stimulus-response conflicts. Three groups of 8-11-year-old children - bilinguals from birth (2L1), second language learners (L2L), and a control group of monolinguals (1L1) - were scanned while performing a color Simon and a numerical Stroop task. Reaction times and accuracy were logged. Results: Compared to monolingual controls, bilingual children showed higher behavioral congruency effect of these tasks, which is matched by the recruitment of brain regions that are generally used in general cognitive control, language processing or to solve language conflict situations in bilinguals (caudate nucleus, posterior cingulate gyrus, STG, precuneus). Further, the activation of these areas was found to be higher in 2L1 compared to L2L. Conclusion: The coupling of longer reaction times to the recruitment of extra language-related brain areas supports the hypothesis that when dealing with language conflicts the specialization of bilinguals hampers the way they can process with nonverbal conflicts, at least at early stages in life

    Probing emotional influences on cognitive control: an ALE meta-analysis of cognition emotion interactions

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    Increasing research documents an integration of cognitive control and affective processes. Despite a surge of interest in investigating the exact nature of this integration, no consensus has been reached on the precise neuroanatomical network involved. Using the Activation Likelihood Estimation meta-analysis method, we examined 43 functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies (total number of foci = 332; total number of participants, N =820) from the literature that have reported significant interactions between emotion and cognitive control. Meta-analytic results revealed that concurrent emotion (relative to emotionally neutral trials) consistently increased neural activation during high relative to low cognitive control conditions across studies and paradigms. Specifically, these activations emerged in regions commonly implicated in cognitive control such as the lateral prefrontal cortex (inferior frontal junction, inferior frontal gyrus), the medial prefrontal cortex, and the basal ganglia. In addition, some areas emerged during the interaction contrast that were not present during one of the main effects and included the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex and the precuneus. These data provide new evidence for a network of cognition emotion interaction within a cognitive control setting. The findings are discussed within current theories of cognitive and attentional control

    Large-scale functional neural network correlates of response inhibition: an fMRI meta-analysis

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    Neural correlates of the Simon effect and its reversal in Hedge and Marsh tasks

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    Abstract Tracking No. 4628. Poster no. 379Open URL - http://ww4.aievolution.com/hbm1101/index.cfm?do=abs.pubSearchOptionsGroupByCatpostprintThe 17th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (HBM 2011), Quebec City, Canada, 26-30 June 2011

    The role of the left head of caudate in suppressing irrelevant words

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    Suppressing irrelevant words is essential to successful speech production and is expected to involve general control mechanisms that reduce interference from task-unrelated processing. To investigate the neural mechanisms that suppress visual word interference, we used fMRI and a Stroop task, using a block design with an event-related analysis. Participants indicated with a finger press whether a visual stimulus was colored pink or blue. The stimulus was either the written word "BLUE," the written word "PINK," or a string of four Xs, with word interference introduced when the meaning of the word and its color were "incongruent" (e.g., BLUE in pink hue) relative to congruent (e.g., BLUE in blue) or neutral (e.g., XXXX in pink). The participants also made color decisions in the presence of spatial interference rather than word interference (i.e., the Simon task). By blocking incongruent, congruent, and neutral trials, we identified activation related to the mechanisms that suppress interference as that which was greater at the end relative to the start of incongruency. This highlighted the role of the left head of caudate in the control of word interference but not spatial interference. The response in the left head of caudate contrasted to bilateral inferior frontal activation that was greater at the start than at the end of incongruency, and to the dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus which responded to a change in the motor response. Our study therefore provides novel insights into the role of the left head of caudate in the mechanisms that suppress word interference

    Neural correlates of spatial location mapping on the Simon effect in Mandarin speakers

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    The aim of study is to investigate the neural mechanisms by which experience influences cognitive control in native Mandarin speakers using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) in a Simon location task. Results showed brain regions involved in motor control (precentral and postcentral gyri) were less activated after practice. In contrast, brain regions involved in selection of conflict response (left inferior frontal gyrus), attentional control (inferior parietal lobule) and working memory (inferior frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus and insula lobe) were more activated after practice. The results suggest that learning an incompatible spatial location mapping during practice increased demand for response inhibition. Furthermore, the data reveal the involvement of verbal working memory during motor learning in the Simon spatial location mapping task in Chinese speakers.published_or_final_versionSpeech and Hearing SciencesBachelorBachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science

    The neurocognitive underpinnings of the Simon effect: An integrative review of current research

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    Published online: 7 October 2020For as long as half a century the Simon task – in which participants respond to a nonspatial stimulus feature while ignoring its position – has represented a very popular tool to study a variety of cognitive functions, such as attention, cognitive control, and response preparation processes. In particular, the task generates two theoretically interesting effects: the Simon effect proper and the sequential modulations of this effect. In the present study, we review the main theoretical explanations of both kinds of effects and the available neuroscientific studies that investigated the neural underpinnings of the cognitive processes underlying the Simon effect proper and its sequential modulation using electroencephalogram (EEG) and event-related brain potentials (ERP), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Then, we relate the neurophysiological findings to the main theoretical accounts and evaluate their validity and empirical plausibility, including general implications related to processing interference and cognitive control. Overall, neurophysiological research supports claims that stimulus location triggers the creation of a spatial code, which activates a spatially compatible response that, in incompatible conditions, interferes with the response based on the task instructions. Integration of stimulus-response features plays a major role in the occurrence of the Simon effect (which is manifested in the selection of the response) and its modulation by sequential congruency effects. Additional neural mechanisms are involved in supporting the correct and inhibiting the incorrect response.This research was supported by the Basque Government through the BERC 2018-2021 program and by the Spanish State Research Agency through BCBL Severo Ochoa excellence accreditation SEV-2015-0490 This study was also funded by Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación (Spanish government; JC) and European Commission (Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions 838536_BILINGUALPLAS; JC), by post-doctoral funding of the University of Bremen (DG; ZF 11/876/08), and by an ERC Advanced Grant (BH: ERC-2015-AdG-694722)

    Interference control at the response level: Functional networks reveal higher efficiency in the bilingual brain

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    RÉSUMÉ: The bilingual advantage in interference control tasks has been studied with the Simon task, among others. The mixed evidence from the existing studies has led to contradictions in the literature regarding the bilingual advantage. Moreover, fMRI evidence on the neural basis of interference control mechanisms with the Simon task is limited. Previous work by our team showed that equivalent performance on the Simon task was associated with different activation maps in elderly bilinguals and monolinguals. This study aims to pro- vide a more in-depth perspective on the neural bases of performance on the Simon task in elderly bilinguals and monolinguals, by adopting a network perspective for the functional connectivity analysis. A node-by-node analysis led to the identification of the specific topology that characterized the bilingual and monolingual functional networks and the degree of connectivity between each node across groups. Results showed greater con- nectivity in bilinguals in the inferior temporal sulcus, which plays a role in visuospatial processing. On the other hand, in monolinguals, brain areas involved in visual, motor, executive functions and interference control were more connected to resolve the same task. In other words, in comparison to the monolingual brain, the bilingual brain resolves visuospatial interference economically, by allocating fewer and more clustered regions. These results demonstrate a larger global efficiency in task performance in bilinguals as compared to monolinguals. Also, the provided evidence filters out the task-specific so- called bilingual advantage discussed in the literature and posits that bilinguals are stra- tegically more efficient in a given performance than monolinguals, thus enhancing our understanding of successful aging
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