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Updated: Feb 5, 2026
05:31
Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task
Published on: February 26, 2020
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Language switching decomposed through MEG and evidence from bimodal bilinguals
Esti Blanco-Elorrieta1,2, Karen Emmorey3, Liina Pylkkänen4,2,5
1Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003; eb134@nyu.edu.
Summary
Bilinguals disengaging from a language (turning it "off") activates the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), unlike engaging a new language. This suggests language switching burdens disengagement more than engagement.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psycholinguistics
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Human cognition involves alternating complex behaviors, notably bilinguals switching languages.
- Language switching involves disengagement from one language and engagement in another.
- Previous research linked language switching to prefrontal activity, but sub-computations remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the distinct neural underpinnings of disengagement and engagement during language switching in bilinguals.
- To determine if language switching's cognitive load lies in disengagement or engagement.
Main Methods:
- Magnetoencephalography (MEG) recorded brain activity in American Sign Language-English bilinguals.
- Simultaneous signing and speaking allowed dissociation of engagement and disengagement processes.
- Multivariate decoding and Granger causality analyses examined neural activity and connectivity.
Main Results:
- Turning a language "off" (disengagement) increased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC).
- Turning a language "on" (engagement) did not show similar increases in ACC and dlPFC activity.
- Disengagement required stronger dlPFC connectivity, with dlPFC activity predicting ACC activity.
Conclusions:
- The cognitive burden of language switching primarily resides in disengagement from a language, not engagement in a new one.
- Simultaneous language production is not necessarily more cognitively demanding than single language production without motor constraints.
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