Website – My Content Resources

Bilingual brain: Here is what happens when you flip between languages

Posted on 12 Jul 201913 Jul 2019 by jannetteaguilera

This article was written by Kashira Gander and posted on September 9th, 2018. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is described to explore the brain mechanisms that let bilinguals switch languages without effort. Graduate student Esti Blanco-Elorrietta says that switching languages means disengaging with one language and then engaging in another. That turning off the new language takes more effort than turning on a language. While the process looks easy, switching languages is a complicated process since it “involves the successful coordination of two independent language systems.” 21 volunteers where researched who where fluent in American Sign Language (ASL) where they would look at an image and saying its term in English and sign language at the same time while being filmed and their brain activity was measured. They saw that turning off a language needed cognitive control activity while the turning on the other language required almost no effort. Turning off is hardest when it is our dominant language causing a cognitive cost from stopping the language we are used to. Also, when speaking using the weaker language, we can add our dominant language is not hard at all. Thus we can “produce two languages for the price of one.” A limitation of the study was that it consisted of single word/ sign level not on the sentence or conversational level; however, this is progress in the field.

This is important to my guiding questions as it explains the cost on the brain when switching between two languages.

languages-stock — Image from the Article

Website Article Source:
Gander, K. (2018, September 10). Bilingual brain: Here's what happens when you flip between languages. Retrieved July 11, 2019, from Newsweek website: https://www.newsweek.com/ bilingual-brain-heres-what-happens-when-you-flip-between-languages-1111264

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The Advantages of a Bilingual Brain

Posted on 6 Jul 2019 by jannetteaguilera

The website article called “The Advantages of a Bilingual Brain” by Laura Chaparro on April 26, 2018 talks about the positive impact that bilingualism has on individuals. Being bilingual is tied to delaying symptoms of dementia, better recovery after a stroke, better memory and attention skills, better working memory skills compared to monolinguals and the better executive functions like working with others and conflict resolution. In a study that examines micromanaging and behavioral studies on adulthood bilingualism found that “two languages protects against cognitive deterioration by improving the cognitive reserve.” Dementia is delayed by about four years as bilingualism keeps our minds and brains healthy. As for stroke recovery, 608 patients were analyzed by the Institute of Medical Sciences of Nizam (India). Of those, “40.5% of bilinguals recovered normal cognition, compared to 19.6% of monolinguals.” Regarding the brain, eleven month babies where studied at the University of Washington. They looked at babies of bilingual and monolingual families. They found that ” The prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices (two areas of the frontal lobe) had more intense responses in bilingual babies compared to those who only heard and spoke one language. ” Also, bilingual individuals show denser grey matter on the “left interior parietal regions of the cerebral cortex” and white matter better maintained during aging. What is most interesting is the following: “Overall, bilinguals have developed different brain regions to perform tasks than the ones used by monolinguals,” Bialystok sums up. We still don’t know how these changes allow an improvement in performance and cognitive reserve for those who can speak two languages.

I chose this article as it answers my guiding question regarding the advantages of the bilingual brain. We see a delay in dementia, as well as an improvement in cognitive skills when compared to monolinguals. We also add on to the development of the bilingual brain because we now know that different regions are developed in the brains of bilinguals.

Chaparro, L. (2018, April 26). The advantages of a bilingual brain. Retrieved July 6, 2019, from OpenMind website: https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/science/research/the-advantages-of-a-bilingual-brain/

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Why Bilinguals Are Smarter

Posted on 30 Jun 20196 Jul 2019 by jannetteaguilera

This New York Times Article “Why bilinguals are smarter” is written by Yudhuit Bhattacharjee on March 17, 2012. The article starts talking about how being bilingual is more than just talking to a diverse group of people, it also makes you smarter by improving cognitive skills and can slow down dementia in older adults. While there is proof that both language systems are active in the brain when using one language, it makes the brain learn how to resolve internal conflict which in turn makes its cognitive muscles stronger. Thus, bilinguals can solve mental puzzles better than monolinguals. In a study conducted in 2004, preschoolers where asked to sort blue circles in a bin with a blue square and red squares in a bin with a red circle. Both bilinguals and monolinguals conducted this fine as they associated the colors into its correct bin. After, the children where asked to sort by the images which conflicted with the color. Bilinguals were faster in completing this task.

Research has shown that the experience of being bilingual improves executive function which include problem solving, planning and mentally demanding tasks. These include: ignoring distractions, switching attention and holding information. Researchers used to believe that the bilingual advantage came from being able to suppress one language system and that that caused bilinguals to ignore distractions. However, studies show that bilinguals are also able to perform better in tasks that do not need inhibition (when compared to monolinguals). Also, the main difference between bilinguals to monolinguals is the “heightened ability to monitor the environment… it requires keeping track of changes around you in the same way that we monitor our surroundings when driving.” Not only do bilinguals perform better, but there is less activity in the brain in the parts that have to do with monitoring, which makes them more efficient. Being bilingual affects the brain from infancy to old age. In a study conducted in 2009, 7 month old babies where tested by being presented an audio cue and screen with a puppet appearing on one side. Both bilinguals and monolinguals anticipated the puppet. After many times of doing this, the puppet appeared on the other side of the screen. After that, bilingual babies quickly anticipated the puppet in the new location while others did not. Bilingualism not only affects children, but also elderly. 44 Spanish-English speakers were studied were more resistant to dementia and symptoms of Alzheimer’s desease. ” the higher the degree of bilingualism, the later the age of onset.”

This research is essential for my guiding questions it expresses the advantages of the bilingual brain compared to those who are monolingual. Bilinguals can not only speak to various people with their two languages, but can also perform better in problem solving . Also, bilingualism has been attributed help with prolonging dementia.

Website Source:
Bhattacharjee, Y. (2012, March 17). Why bilinguals are smarter. Retrieved June 25, 2019, from The New York Times website: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-benefits-of-bilingualism.html

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Bilingual Brains – Smarter & Faster

Posted on 29 Jun 20196 Jul 2019 by jannetteaguilera

The article “Bilingual brains – Smarter & Faster” is written by Judy Willis on November 22, 2012. The article describes bilingualism is a gift that parents can give their children because being bilingual has shown advantages when compared to those who know one language. These advantages include an elevated level of thinking/ awareness such as an increased attentive focus and cognition. For example, “compared to monolinguals, the studied bilingual children, who had had five to ten years of bilingual exposure, averaged higher scores in cognitive performance on tests and had greater attention focus, distraction resistance, decision-making, judgment and responsiveness to feedback.” Even in MRI scans, the prefrontal cortex networks of bilingual children demonstrated greater activity. These were specifically in the the brain networks called executive functions that are used for goal-oriented behavior. The brains of bilinguals are more complex since they need to figure out not only what a word means but what patterns of the sentence and grammar, and pronunciation that needs to be used for the language being spoken. For example: “these control networks make choices, such as which memory storage circuits are the language-correct ones to activate from which to select the correct word, syntax, and pronunciation. ”

Research has shown that parents who speak a different language than English should maintain the native language in the home even if there are social pressures to limit language learning. Parents feel that learning two languages will confuse the student in learning English and also making it difficult to transfer different schools. Also, children struggled to feel like they “fit in” due to having to translate for their parents and did not want their parents to sound “ignorant.” What these parents do not know is that learning two or more languages actually “strengthen their highest cognitive brain potentials.” Parents need to be informed about the research and keep the native language in the home. The brain is like a muscle that becomes stronger after we workout our body, that “build strength, speed, and efficiency in their executive function networks.” Now the research is done on how to expose children to bilingualism in early ages .

This is really important to for my research questions, as not only are the advantages of bilingualism being more commonly known, there is a visible growth in determining how to best achieve these advantages with our own children.

Images used in the website:

Website Source:
Willis, J., M.Ed. (2012, November 22). Bilingual brains - smarter & faster. Retrieved June 25, 2019, from Psychology Today website: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/radical-teaching/201211/bilingual-brains-smarter-faster

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Understanding the Bilingual Brain

Posted on 27 Jun 20196 Jul 2019 by jannetteaguilera

The website article “Understanding the bilingual brain” is published on Psychology Today by Francios Grasjean Ph.D on September 19, 2014. This article describes the neural bases of bilingualism. First Aurturo Hernandez is introduced who is professor at the University of Houston who ” works on the underpinnings of bilingual language processing as well as second language acquisition in children and adults.” He grew up as a bilingual who spoke English and Spanish, as well as two other languages he learned later in his life. in 2013, he published a book called The bilingual Brain and answers some questions regarding his work. He asked about the latest and most interesting findings in the field and he says that “that the differences in language experience can lead to clear neuroanatomical differences.” He also describes how two languages can co-exist together peacefully and share resources; however, they compete. Meaning that knowing one language can help another language yet can mean different things too. For example, he describes his Spanish speaking friend who accidentally frightens a waitress to be careful “because he was vicious.” In Spanish, this would be that he is addictive while in English it means that he has vices. While the word is similar it can be confusing when they in fact are different. Then he tells us how stress can lead to a loss of one language but not of another. This happens due to memory being set up to remember what we need thus “languages are set to be remembered when we need them.” Also, the language that is less affected by stress is the dominant language since it has “stronger interconnections with our knowledge.” Also, the two factors that cause one language to be privileged in the bilingual brain include the proficiency of the language and the age the language was acquired.

He then goes on to discuss language mixing. A metaphor tells of a “language switch” where areas in the “prefrontal cortex, the parietal lobe and/or the basal ganglia are involved.” The issue is that usually it is very easy to switch languages which the author believes is due to external cues that trigger each language and how the brain can quickly adapt to these different cues with the appropriate response. Also, the field of cognitive neuroscience has moved away from thinking where languages are stored in the brain to how the brain, mind and human body interact (a more systems-oriented approach). In the past, mind sciences was based on the thought that the mind was like a computer. The author believes that humans are more than that, “our brains are connected to the body and as such we function as an organism.” Lastly, he thinks that we must start answering questions stated in the late 19th century such as : “How do age of acquisition, language proficiency and language control help to shape the bilingual brain ?” He wants to move away from “thinking about areas of the brain, we could start to think about cognition as a series of brain states that come and go like waves near the shore. “

This article is useful for my guiding questions as it describes how two languages interact and how and why one can be privileged than the other. This shows current research, which moves away from old approaches to understanding of the bilingual brain as a computer to one that focuses on factors that shape and interact with the bilingual brain.

Person being interviewed

The book of the person interviewed in this article

Author of the Article

Article Source:
Grosjean, F., Ph.D. (2014, September 19). Understanding the bilingual brain. Retrieved June 27,  2019, from Psychology Today website: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/life-bilingual/201409/understanding-the-bilingual-brain

Book Mentioned in Article:
Hernandez, Arturo E. (2013). The Bilingual Brain. New York: Oxford University Press.

Website

Bilingualism, Mind, and Brain Lab

Posted on 27 Jun 20196 Jul 2019 by jannetteaguilera

The website called “Bilingualism, Mind and Brain Lab” is one created by Dr. Rachel Wu’s CALLA Lab. and the UC Riverside’s Cognitive Program Area as part of the school’s Department of Psychology . The lab also works with a group of psycholinguistics labs at Penn State that is part of the Center of Language Science (CLS). Through research collaborations, the lab ” investigates the cognitive processes that support the acquisition and proficient use of a second language. We study how bilingual speakers manage to speak words in one language at a time, how adult learners of a second language acquire new vocabulary, and what information is available when proficient bilinguals read in one or both of their two languages. ” The website provides research, publications, talks, recent media, research opportunities, events and volunteer opportunities.

From this website I learned that “the same neural networks that support the use of the native language also support use of a second language” (Research page). The hypotheses is that these neuron connections is the reason why it is hard for bilinguals to “turn off” a language and separate the two languages. Additionally, it would cause monolinguals who are learning a new language require an increase in cognitive resources to do so. In another section, we see that research demonstrates how “bilingualism may change minds and brains to be more open to learning, more cognitively flexible, and more resistant to cognitive decline.” (Research page). Also, “previous research has shown that bilingual older adults may show less cognitive decline in areas like cognitive control compared to monolingual older adults” (Research page). Prior to this, the belief was that speaking two or more languages can cause learners to be confused, but with these studies, we find that the bilingual brain can be a lot stronger than previously thought.

This resource specifically helps answer my guiding question about how the bilingual brain is developed by describing the neurons involved and also provides advantages to being bilingual. This source also provides a “selected publications” and “selected talks” that I can use for my own research purposes.

Website Source (Main page):
University of California, Riverside. (2016). Welcome. Retrieved June 27, 2019, from Bilingualism,  Mind, and Brain Lab website: https://bilingualismmindbrain.com/

Website Source (Research Page):
University of California, Riverside. (2016). Research. Retrieved June 27, 2019, from Bilingualism,  Mind, and Brain Lab website: https://bilingualismmindbrain.com/research/