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Updated: Jul 7, 2026
05:31
Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task
Published on: February 26, 2020
Cognitive Flexibility and Bilingual Language Switching: An fMRI Meta-Analysis
Zhanna Chuikova1,2, Andrei Faber3, Jubin Abutalebi1,4,5
1Cognitive Health and Intelligence Centre, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Moscow, Russian Federation.
The European Journal of Neuroscience
|July 6, 2026
Summary
Bilinguals
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psycholinguistics
Background:
- Language switching in bilinguals involves executive control mechanisms.
- Cognitive flexibility (CF) is closely linked to language switching, but neural overlaps are unclear.
- Previous fMRI studies show varied neural activity for language switching and CF tasks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural correlates of language switching in bilinguals.
- To identify common and distinct neural mechanisms between language switching and cognitive flexibility tasks.
- To propose a unified neuroanatomical model for mental switching.
Main Methods:
- Activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis.
- Analyzed 107 experiments from 83 articles (1977 participants).
- Included Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) for rule discovery, Task-Switching Paradigm (TSP) for rule retrieval, and language-switching paradigms.
Main Results:
- No significant neural differences between language switching and TSP (rule retrieval).
- Language-switching-specific activity found in the left pre-supplementary motor area/anterior cingulate cortex when compared to WCST (rule discovery).
- Common activation across all tasks (language switching, TSP, WCST) in left intraparietal sulcus/inferior parietal lobule, left superior parietal lobule, and pre-supplementary motor area.
Conclusions:
- Language switching and task switching (rule retrieval) share common neural mechanisms.
- Language switching engages distinct regions compared to rule discovery tasks.
- A unified neuroanatomical model for mental switching across different cognitive tasks is proposed.
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