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Executive and language control in the multilingual brain.

Anthony Pak-Hin Kong1, Jubin Abutalebi2, Karen Sze-Yan Lam3

  • 1Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Central Florida, HPA-2 106, P.O. Box 162215, Orlando, FL 32816-2215, USA ; Laboratory for Communication Science, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.

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A brain injury in a trilingual individual revealed that language control is linked to general executive functions. This suggests shared neural pathways for managing multiple languages and cognitive tasks.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Linguistics
  • Cognitive Psychology

Background:

  • Executive control systems are theorized to underpin language control in multilingual individuals.
  • Previous neuroimaging studies suggest domain-general executive functions, not language-specific networks, are involved in multilingualism.

Observation:

  • A case study of Dr. T, a trilingual Cantonese (L1), English (L2), and Mandarin (L3) speaker, who experienced a left frontal and temporo-parietal brain injury at age 77.
  • Dr. T presented with fluent aphasia, impaired executive functions (evidenced by Stroop test and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test), and pathological language switching and mixing across all three languages.

Findings:

  • The case suggests that the voluntary control of spoken word production in trilinguals shares neural substrates with domain-general executive control mechanisms, specifically within the frontobasal ganglia system.
  • Pathological language switching and mixing were observed, with code-switching more prominent in discourse production than confrontation naming.

Implications:

  • Lesions within the frontobasal ganglia system may lead to both pathological language switching and executive function deficits in trilingual speakers.
  • This case supports the hypothesis that language control is integrated within broader executive functions, challenging the notion of distinct neural networks for multilingualism.