Neuroanatomy, episodic memory and inhibitory control of Persian-Kurdish simultaneous bilinguals
Abstract We assessed simultaneous bilinguals and monolinguals on inhibitory control and episodic memory, and assessed their grey matter volumes in brain regions known to be involved in language processing, executive control and memory. Bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on episodic memory, and per...
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Nature Portfolio
2024-11-01
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-79955-2 |
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author | Samira Golshani Olga Kepinska Hamid Gholami Narly Golestani |
author_facet | Samira Golshani Olga Kepinska Hamid Gholami Narly Golestani |
author_sort | Samira Golshani |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Abstract We assessed simultaneous bilinguals and monolinguals on inhibitory control and episodic memory, and assessed their grey matter volumes in brain regions known to be involved in language processing, executive control and memory. Bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on episodic memory, and performance on the memory and inhibition tasks were correlated, only in the bilingual group. This suggests that the bilingualism-related benefits on memory are related to individual differences in executive control. We found larger grey matter volumes in bilinguals in left pars opercularis and in bilateral SFG, caudate nuclei, and parasubiculum. Episodic memory performance was correlated with volumes of bilateral posterior hippocampi, again only in the bilinguals, again suggesting that bilingualism may be driving this effect. Finally, we found positive structural covariance between the volumes of the bilateral parasubiculum and that of important components of the executive control network. We provide a novel, mechanistic explanation accounting for observed behavioural advantage and brain structural differences: bilingualism may boost the prefrontal cortex-hippocampal neural circuitry commonly underlying both executive control and memory, via cascade and reverberant effects, leading to synergistic benefits in both cognitive domains. This new framework has important implications for protective effects on cognition and brain health in relation to second language learning. |
format | Article |
id | doaj-art-d02c933954ec4d3bbc0fd38a8121859a |
institution | Kabale University |
issn | 2045-2322 |
language | English |
publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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series | Scientific Reports |
spelling | doaj-art-d02c933954ec4d3bbc0fd38a8121859a2025-02-02T12:24:57ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222024-11-0114111510.1038/s41598-024-79955-2Neuroanatomy, episodic memory and inhibitory control of Persian-Kurdish simultaneous bilingualsSamira Golshani0Olga Kepinska1Hamid Gholami2Narly Golestani3Department of ELT, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad UniversityBrain and Language Lab, Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of ViennaDepartment of ELT, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad UniversityBrain and Language Lab, Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of ViennaAbstract We assessed simultaneous bilinguals and monolinguals on inhibitory control and episodic memory, and assessed their grey matter volumes in brain regions known to be involved in language processing, executive control and memory. Bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on episodic memory, and performance on the memory and inhibition tasks were correlated, only in the bilingual group. This suggests that the bilingualism-related benefits on memory are related to individual differences in executive control. We found larger grey matter volumes in bilinguals in left pars opercularis and in bilateral SFG, caudate nuclei, and parasubiculum. Episodic memory performance was correlated with volumes of bilateral posterior hippocampi, again only in the bilinguals, again suggesting that bilingualism may be driving this effect. Finally, we found positive structural covariance between the volumes of the bilateral parasubiculum and that of important components of the executive control network. We provide a novel, mechanistic explanation accounting for observed behavioural advantage and brain structural differences: bilingualism may boost the prefrontal cortex-hippocampal neural circuitry commonly underlying both executive control and memory, via cascade and reverberant effects, leading to synergistic benefits in both cognitive domains. This new framework has important implications for protective effects on cognition and brain health in relation to second language learning.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-79955-2BilingualismBrain structureGrey matter volumeEpisodic memory |
spellingShingle | Samira Golshani Olga Kepinska Hamid Gholami Narly Golestani Neuroanatomy, episodic memory and inhibitory control of Persian-Kurdish simultaneous bilinguals Scientific Reports Bilingualism Brain structure Grey matter volume Episodic memory |
title | Neuroanatomy, episodic memory and inhibitory control of Persian-Kurdish simultaneous bilinguals |
title_full | Neuroanatomy, episodic memory and inhibitory control of Persian-Kurdish simultaneous bilinguals |
title_fullStr | Neuroanatomy, episodic memory and inhibitory control of Persian-Kurdish simultaneous bilinguals |
title_full_unstemmed | Neuroanatomy, episodic memory and inhibitory control of Persian-Kurdish simultaneous bilinguals |
title_short | Neuroanatomy, episodic memory and inhibitory control of Persian-Kurdish simultaneous bilinguals |
title_sort | neuroanatomy episodic memory and inhibitory control of persian kurdish simultaneous bilinguals |
topic | Bilingualism Brain structure Grey matter volume Episodic memory |
url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-79955-2 |
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