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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Main Authors: Samira Golshani, Olga Kepinska, Hamid Gholami, Narly Golestani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2024-11-01
Series:Scientific Reports
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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.
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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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AT olgakepinska neuroanatomyepisodicmemoryandinhibitorycontrolofpersiankurdishsimultaneousbilinguals
AT hamidgholami neuroanatomyepisodicmemoryandinhibitorycontrolofpersiankurdishsimultaneousbilinguals
AT narlygolestani neuroanatomyepisodicmemoryandinhibitorycontrolofpersiankurdishsimultaneousbilinguals