@article {4543, title = {Neurodynamics of executive control processes in bilinguals: Evidence from ERP and source reconstruction analyses}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {6}, year = {2015}, month = {06/2015}, abstract = {

The present study was designed to examine the impact of bilingualism on the neuronal activity in different executive control processes namely conflict monitoring, control implementation (i.e., interference suppression and conflict resolution) and overcoming of inhibition. Twenty-two highly proficient but non-balanced successive French\–German bilingual adults and 22 monolingual adults performed a combined Stroop/Negative priming task while event-related potential (ERP) were recorded online. The data revealed that the ERP effects were reduced in bilinguals in comparison to monolinguals but only in the Stroop task and limited to the N400 and the sustained fronto-central negative-going potential time windows. This result suggests that bilingualism may impact the process of control implementation rather than the process of conflict monitoring (N200). Critically, our study revealed a differential time course of the involvement of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in conflict processing. While the ACC showed major activation in the early time windows (N200 and N400) but not in the latest time window (late sustained negative-going potential), the PFC became unilaterally active in the left hemisphere in the N400 and the late sustained negative-going potential time windows. Taken together, the present electroencephalography data lend support to a cascading neurophysiological model of executive control processes, in which ACC and PFC may play a determining role.

}, doi = {DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00821}, author = {Heidlmayr, Karin and Barbara Hemforth and Moutier, Sylvain and Isel, Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric} } @article {4368, title = {Successive bilingualism and executive functions: The effect of second language use on inhibitory control in a behavioural Stroop Colour Word task}, journal = {Bilingualism: Language and Cognition}, volume = {17}, year = {2014}, pages = {630{\textendash}645}, abstract = {

Here we examined the role of bilingualism on cognitive inhibition using the Stroop Colour Word task. Our hypothesis was that the frequency of use of a second language (L2) in the daily life of successive bilingual individuals impacts the efficiency of their inhibitory control mechanism. Thirty-three highly proficient successive French\–German bilinguals, living either in a French or in a German linguistic environment, performed a Stroop task on both French and German words. Moreover, 31 French monolingual individuals were also tested with French words. We showed that the bilingual advantage was (i) reinforced by the use of a third language, and (ii) modulated by the duration of immersion in a second language environment. This suggests that top\–down inhibitory control is most involved at the beginning of immersion. Taken together, the present findings lend support to the psycholinguistic models of bilingual language processing that postulate that top\–down active inhibition is involved in language control.

}, author = {Heidlmayr, Karin and Moutier, Sylvain and Barbara Hemforth and Courtin, Cyril and Tanzmeister, Robert and Isel, Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric} }