Bilingual Experience and Functional Neuroplasticity: Insights From Resting-State Functional Connectivity and...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Psycholinguistics

Background:

• Bilingualism demonstrably influences the brain's intrinsic functional organization.
• Existing research findings on bilingualism's neural effects are fragmented and lack synthesis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies on how bilingual experience dimensions modulate brain functional connectivity.
• To synthesize evidence on the impact of age of L2 acquisition (AoA-L2), L2 proficiency (PL-L2), and L2 usage (Usage-L2) on resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC).

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of resting-state fMRI studies investigating bilingualism and brain functional connectivity.
• Analysis of how AoA-L2, PL-L2, and Usage-L2 relate to RSFC and functional network organization.

Main Results:

• Earlier AoA-L2 correlates with stronger RSFC in language, attention, and subcortical systems; later acquisition shows compensatory increases in control and cerebellar circuits.
• Higher PL-L2 is associated with enhanced RSFC in attentional, subcortical, and cerebellar networks, alongside more efficient whole-brain functional network organization.
• Usage-L2 dynamically alters connectivity; diverse social use boosts cross-network integration, while routine use may reduce or localize connectivity.

Conclusions:

• Bilingual experience significantly reshapes intrinsic brain connectivity, but findings are fragmented due to methodological and conceptual inconsistencies.
• Future research priorities include standardizing bilingual experience measures, increasing linguistic diversity, enhancing statistical power, and employing longitudinal/multimodal designs for a unified understanding of bilingual neuroplasticity.