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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 18, 2026

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

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Published on: February 26, 2020

Interference Control In Elderly Bilinguals: Appearances Can Be Misleading.

Ana Inés Ansaldo¹, Ladan Ghazi-Saidi, Daniel Adrover-Roig

¹a Centre de Recherche de l'institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal , Montreal , QC , Canada.

Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology

|February 3, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Elderly bilinguals and monolinguals show similar performance on cognitive tasks, but use different brain regions. Bilingualism may help aging brains avoid typical age-related neural changes.

Keywords:

Bilingualism Cognitive control Elderly Executive function Functional magnetic resonance imaging Neural substrate

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Aging Research

Background:

Bilingualism is linked to successful aging and potential cognitive advantages.
Research suggests bilingualism may enhance interference control and delay dementia onset.
Neural underpinnings of cognitive advantages in elderly bilinguals remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the neural basis of interference control in elderly bilinguals versus monolinguals.
To compare brain activation patterns during a visuospatial interference task.
To determine if bilingualism alters age-related neural changes.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to scan elderly bilingual and monolingual participants.
Participants performed a visuospatial Simon task with congruent and incongruent trials.
Response times, accuracy, and brain activity were analyzed.

Main Results:

Both groups exhibited equivalent performance on the Simon task.
Monolinguals activated the right middle frontal gyrus for incongruent trials.
Bilinguals activated the left inferior parietal lobule for incongruent trials, avoiding frontal activation typical in aging.

Conclusions:

Elderly bilinguals and monolinguals possess similar interference control abilities but utilize distinct neural substrates.
Bilinguals do not exhibit the posterior-anterior shift in aging (PASA) effect seen in monolinguals.
Bilingualism may offer a protective mechanism by engaging neural circuits less vulnerable to aging.