Language context tunes brain network for language control in bilingual language production.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Psycholinguistics

Background:

• Bilinguals recruit brain networks to manage cross-language interference when switching between languages.
• Previous research shows varying brain region activation across language contexts, but interaction changes remain unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate adaptive changes in brain network connectivity within the bilingual language control network across different language contexts.
• To identify how language context influences the interactions between cortical-subcortical regions in bilinguals.

Main Methods:

• Utilized extended unified structural equation modeling (euSEM) to analyze brain network connectivity.
• Employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on 21 unbalanced Chinese-English bilinguals.
• Bilinguals performed picture naming tasks in monolingual (L1, L2) and dual-language contexts.

Main Results:

• Unbalanced bilinguals showed increased global efficiency and clearer core-periphery structures in dual-language and L2-single contexts compared to L1-single.
• Brain connectivity in the dual-language context resembled the L1-single context more than the L2-single context.
• Similarities between dual-language and L1-single connectivity were pronounced in bilinguals with lower inhibitory control.

Conclusions:

• This study provides novel connectivity evidence for the impact of language context on the bilingual language control network.
• Findings suggest that the bilingual control network adapts its connectivity based on the language environment.
• The results highlight the role of inhibitory control in shaping language network dynamics during bilingual processing.