First and second language phonological representations in the mental lexicon

& Performance-based studies on the psychological nature of linguistic competence can conceal significant differences in the brain processes that underlie native versus nonnative knowledge of language. Here we report results from the brain activity of very proficient early bilinguals making a lexical decision task that illustrates this point. Two groups of Spanish–Catalan early bilinguals (Spanish-dominant and Catalan-dominant) were asked to decide whether a given form was a Catalan word or not. The nonwords were based on real words, with one vowel changed. In the experimental stimuli, the vowel change involved a Catalan-specific contrast that previous research had shown to be difficult for Spanish natives to perceive. In the control stimuli, the vowel switch involved contrasts common to Spanish and Catalan. The results indicated that the groups of bilinguals did not differ in their behavioral and event-related brain potential measurements for the control stimuli; both groups made very few errors and showed a larger N400 component for control nonwords than for control words. However, significant differences were observed for the experimental stimuli across groups: Specifically, Spanish-dominant bilinguals showed great difficulty in rejecting experimental nonwords. Indeed, these participants not only showed very high error rates for these stimuli, but also did not show an error-related negativity effect in their erroneous nonword decisions. However, both groups of bilinguals showed a larger correctrelated negativity when making correct decisions about the experimental nonwords. The results suggest that although some aspects of a second language system may show a remarkable lack of plasticity (like the acquisition of some foreign contrasts), first-language representations seem to be more dynamic in their capacity of adapting and incorporating new information. &amp

An Effect of bilingualism on the auditory cortex

Two studies (Golestani et al., 2007; Wong et al., 2008) have reported a positive correlation between the ability to perceive foreign speech sounds and the volume of Heschl's gyrus (HG), the structure that houses the auditory cortex. More precisely, participants with larger left Heschl's gyri learned consonantal or tonal contrasts faster than those with smaller HG. These studies leave open the question of the impact of experience on HG volumes. In the current research, we investigated the effect of early language exposure on Heschl's gyrus by comparing Spanish–Catalan bilinguals who have been exposed to two languages since childhood, to a group of Spanish monolinguals matched in education, socio-economic status, and musical experience. Manual volumetric measurements of HG revealed that bilinguals have, on average, larger Heschl's gyri than monolinguals. This was corroborated, for the left Heschl's gyrus, by a voxel-based morphometry analysis showing larger gray matter volumes in bilinguals than in monolinguals. Since the bilinguals in this study were not a self-selected group, this observation provides a clear demonstration that learning a second language is a causal factor in the increased size of the auditory cortex.This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (JCI-2009-04492, PSI2010-20168; SEJ2009-09072, Consolider-Ingenio2010-CDS-2007-00012), the Catalan Government (SGR 2009-1521), and the French National Agency for Research (ANR 2010 BLAN 1403 01). N.S.-G. received the prize ICREA Acadèmia for excellence in research, funded by the Generalitat de Catalunya. We thank Kimberly Brink for the English correction of the manuscript

How does the bilingual experience sculpt the brain?

The ability to speak two languages often marvels monolinguals, although bilinguals report no difficulties in achieving this feat. Here, we examine how learning and using two languages affect language acquisition and processing as well as various aspects of cognition. We do so by addressing three main questions. First, how do infants who are exposed to two languages acquire them without apparent difficulty? Second, how does language processing differ between monolingual and bilingual adults? Last, what are the collateral effects of bilingualism on the executive control system across the lifespan? Research in all three areas has not only provided some fascinating insights into bilingualism but also revealed new issues related to brain plasticity and language learning.The authors are supported by grants from the European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013): ERC grant agreement n° 323961; Cooperation grant agreement nº 613465 - AThEME), the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (PSI2011-23033; PSI2012-34071; Consolider-Ingenio2010-CDS-2007-00012) and the Catalan Government (SGR 2009-1521)