Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 25, 2025

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task
Published on: February 26, 2020
Exploring the ventral white matter language network in bimodal and unimodal bilinguals
Cinzia Quartarone1, Eduardo Navarrete1, Sanja Budisavljević2
1Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione - University of Padua, Via Venezia, 8, 35137 Padova, Italy.
Abstract:
We used diffusion magnetic resonance imaging tractography to investigate the effect of language modality on the anatomy of the ventral white matter language network by comparing unimodal (Italian/English) and bimodal bilinguals (Italian/Italian Sign Language). We extracted the diffusion tractography measures of the Inferior Longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), Uncinate fasciculus (UF) and Inferior Fronto-Occipital fasciculus (IFOF) and we correlated them with the degree of bilingualism and the individual performance in fluency tasks. For both groups of bilinguals, the microstructural properties of the right ILF were correlated with individual level of proficiency in L2, confirming the involvement of this tract in bilingualism. In addition, we found that the degree of left lateralization of the ILF predicted the performance in semantic fluency in L1. The microstructural properties of the right UF correlated with performance in phonological fluency in L1, only for bimodal bilinguals. Overall, the pattern shows both similarities and differences between the two groups of bilinguals.
More Related Videos
12:49Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation tDCS of Wernicke's and Broca's Areas in Studies of Language Learning and Word Acquisition
Published on: July 13, 2019
13:12Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping
Published on: August 12, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...
Language and Cognition
Lateralization
Cerebral Hemispheres
Components of Language
Language Development
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...