Bilinguals have been shown to outperform monolinguals on word learning and on inhibition tasks that require competition resolution. Yet the scope of such bilingual advantages remains underspecified. We compared bilinguals and monolinguals on nonverbal symbolic learning and on competition resolution while processing newly-learned material. Participants were trained on 12 tone-to-symbol mappings,...

The processing of literal, novel metaphorical and semantically anomalous expressions in native Dutch speakers and German Dutch learners was examined using event-related potentials. The N400 component was determined for expressions which were formulated in an “A is a B” form and varied in their degree of figurativeness. A three-choice task was used in which the participants had to decide whether...

Auditory processing is presumed to be influenced by cognitive processes - including attentional control - in a top-down manner. In bilinguals, activation of both languages during daily communication hones inhibitory skills, which subsequently bolster attentional control. We hypothesize that the heightened attentional demands of bilingual communication strengthens connections between cognitive (...

This study investigated whether musical training and bilingualism are associated with enhancements in specific components of executive function, namely, task switching and dual-task performance. Participants (n = 153) belonging to one of four groups (monolingual musician, bilingual musician, bilingual non-musician, or monolingual non-musician) were matched on age and socioeconomic status and ad...

background and aim: in spite of the effect of the left hemisphere domination on first langu­age acquisition in human, studies suggest activi­ties and the role of both hemispheres in learning second language. therefore learning a second language requires more communication between the two hemispheres. regarding the role of the corpus callosum as the only data-centric inter­face between the two h...

background and aim: today, bilingualism is a developing phenomenon which half of the world population is bilingual. auditory system is the main route to language learning, so it is expected that bilingualism has an effect on functions of the auditory system. auditory memory is one of the auditory processes which is a cornerstone of linguistic skills and learning process growth, so that, it has ...

OBJECTIVES Previous reports have found that lifelong bilingualism is associated with a delay in the onset of dementia, including Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type (DAT). Because amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is often a transition stage between normal aging and DAT, our aim in this paper was to establish whether this delay in symptom onset for bilinguals would also be seen in the onse...

It has been postulated that bilingualism may act as a cognitive reserve and recent behavioral evidence shows that bilinguals are diagnosed with dementia about 4-5 years later compared to monolinguals. In the present study, we investigated the neural basis of these putative protective effects in a group of aging bilinguals as compared to a matched monolingual control group. For this purpose, par...