Dr. Chung-Fat-Yim’s research facilitates ongoing discussion of the effects of bilingualism on cognitive processing. When an individual learns a language and how well they learn it determines the impact of billingualism for that person. The study examined the advantages of bilingualism through examining the different types of attention and their implications for cognitive performance. Sustained attention involves maintaining focus without being distractions. Selective attention is the ability to filter out irrelevant stimuli. Alternating attention is the ability to quickly change focus between stimuli. With sustained attention, the study showed no significant difference between bilinguals and monlinguals. However, billinguals showed an advantage in both Selective and Alternating attention. Bilingualism encompasses diverse experiences that can not be generalized.
Dr. Xue Hu Wei et. al at Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany continued the examination of languages impact on the brain. Rather than focusing on the cognitive effects of language, this lab studied how the language we learn in childhood shapes the structure of our brains. They specifically compared how German and Arabic speakers exhibit different connection strengths in specific parts of the brain's language circuit. From MRI scans of 100 participants, researchers found that Arabic speakers tend to have stronger connections going between the left and right hemispheres, and German speakers tend to connections concentrated in the left hemisphere. Native speakers showed stronger connections than individuals who acquired the language later in life. Based on the way words and sentences are formed, written, and spoken, different parts of the brain are stimulated, leading to the difference in brain structure of populations speaking different languages. In addition, learning a new language can also influence brain connectivity. The study emphasized that mechanisms involved in language processing may also be related to nonlinguistic information.
Cutts, E. Your brain wires itself to match your native language. ScienceNews. March 29, 2023. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/brain-wires-native-language-neurons.
Chung-Fat-Yim A, Calvo N and Grundy JG (2022) The Multifaceted Nature of Bilingualism and Attention. Front. Psychol. 13:910382. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.910382
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