Is the bilingual brain better equipped for aging? Studies on neural and cognitive reserve in elderly bilinguals
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18192/olbiwp.v8i0.2120Keywords:
bilingualism, brain, cognitive reserve, neural reserve, agingAbstract
In the last decade, the study of the cognitive advantages stemming from bilingualism has become a major focus of research in neuroscience. The evidence suggests that bilingualism may contribute to building cognitive reserve but controversies still remain. This paper provides evidence of the so-called “bilingual advantage” by focusing on neural and cognitive reserve. Specifically, we shall discuss (a) the rationale underlying the idea that bilingualism might provide a cognitive advantage particularly in aging
and (b) the evidence for two types of reserve associated with bilingualism, namely neural and cognitive reserve. In particular, we will focus on evidence from recent functional neuroimaging studies on elderly bilinguals carried out by our research group and others.
References
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Ansaldo, A.I., Ghazi-Saidi, L., & Adrover-Roig, D. (2015). Interference control in elderly bilinguals: Appearances can be misleading. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 37, 455–470. doi:10.1080/13803395.2014.990359
Bak, T.H., Vega-Mendoza, M., & Sorace, A. (2014). Never too late? An advantage on tests of auditory attention extends to late bilinguals. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1–6. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00485
Berroir, P., Ghazi-Saidi, L., Dash, T., Adrover-Roig, D., Benali, H., & Ansaldo, A.I. (2017). Interference control at the response level: Functional networks reveal higher efficiency in the bilingual brain. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 43, 4–16. doi:10.1016/j.jneuroling.2016.09.007.
Bialystok, E., Abutalebi, J., Bak, T.H., Burke, D.M., & Kroll, J.F. (2016). Aging in two languages: Implications for public health. Ageing Research Reviews, 27, 56–60. doi:10.1016/j.arr.2016.03.003
Bialystok, E., Craik, F.I., & Freedman, M. (2007). Bilingualism as a protection against the onset of symptoms of dementia. Neuropsychologia, 45, 459–464. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.10.009
Bialystok, E., Craik, F.I., Klein, R., & Viswanathan, M. (2004). Bilingualism, aging, and cognitive control: Evidence from the Simon task. Psychology and Aging, 19, 290–303. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.19.2.290
Bialystok, E., Craik, F.I., & Luk, G. (2012). Bilingualism: Consequences for mind and brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16, 240–250. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2012.03.001
Bullmore, E.,& Sporns, O. (2009). Complex brain networks: Graph theoretical analysis of structural and functional systems. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10, 186–198. doi:10.1038/nrn2575
Cabeza, R., & Dennis, N.A. (2012). Frontal lobes and aging: deterioration and compensation. In D.T. Stuss & R.T. Knight (Eds.), Principles of frontal lobe function (pp. 628–652). New York: Oxford University Press.
Calabria, M., Hernández, M., Branzi, F.M., & Costa, A. (2012). Qualitative differences between bilingual language control and executive control: Evidence from task-switching. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 1–10. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00399
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Ghazi-Saidi, L., & Ansaldo, A.I. (2015). Can a second language help you in more ways than one? AIMS neuroscience, 2, 52–57. doi:10.3934/Neuroscience.2015.1.52
Ghazi-Saidi, L., Dash, T., & Ansaldo, A.I. (in press). The bilingual mental lexicon as a dynamic knowledge system. In M. Libbon, G. Libbon, & M. Goral (Eds.), Bilingualism: A framework for understanding the mental lexicon. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Gold, B.T., Kim, C., Johnson, N.F., Kryscio, R.J.,& Smith, C.D. (2013). Lifelong bilingualism maintains neural efficiency for cognitive control in aging. Heurosci: The Journal of Neuroscience, 33, 387–396. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3837-12.2013
Grady, C.L., Luk, G., Craik, F.I., & Bialystok, E. (2015). Brain network activity in monolingual and bilingual older adults. Neuropsychologia, 66, 170–181. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.10.042
Grant, A., Dennis, N.A., & Li, P. (2014). Cognitive control, cognitive reserve, and memory in the aging bilingual brain. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 1–10. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01401
Guzmán-Vélez, E., & Tranel, D. (2015). Does bilingualism contribute to cognitive reserve? Cognitive and neural perspectives. Neuropsychology, 29, 139–150. doi:10.1037/neu0000105
Hilchey, M.D., & Klein, R.M. (2011). Are there bilingual advantages on nonlinguistic interference tasks? Implications for the plasticity of executive control processes. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 18, 625–658. doi:10.3758/s13423-011-0116-7
Kroll, J.F. (2008). Juggling two languages in one mind. Psychological Science Agenda, 22, 3–7. Retrieved from www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2008/01/kroll.aspx.
Kroll, J.F., & Chiarello, C. (2015). Language experience and the brain: Variability, neuroplasticity, and bilingualism. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 31, 345–348. doi:10.1080/23273798.2015.1086009
Luk, G., Bialystok, E., Craik, F.I., & Grady, C.L. (2011). Lifelong bilingualism maintains white matter integrity in older adults. Neurosci: The Journal of Neuroscience, 31, 16808–16813. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4563-11.2011
Luo, L., Craik, F.I., Moreno, S., & Bialystok, E. (2013). Bilingualism interacts with domain in a working memory task: Evidence from aging. Psychology and Aging, 28, 28–34. doi:10.1037/a0030875
Paap, K.R., & Greenberg, Z.I. (2013). There is no coherent evidence for a bilingual advantage in executive processing. Cognitive Psychology, 66, 232–258. doi:10.1016/j.cogpsych.2012.12.002
Perani, D., & Abutalebi, J. (2015). Bilingualism, dementia, cognitive and neural reserve. Current opinion in neurology, 28, 618–625. doi:10.1097/WCO.0000000000000267
Pliatsikas, C., Moschopoulou, E., & Saddy, J.D. (2015). The effects of bilingualism on the white matter structure of the brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112, 1334–1337. doi:10.1073%2Fpnas.1414183112
Satz, P. (1993). Brain reserve capacity on symptom onset after brain injury: A formulation and review of evidence for threshold theory. Neuropsychology, 7, 273–295. doi:10.1037/0894-4105.7.3.273
Sporns, O. (2014). Contributions and challenges for network models in cognitive neuroscience. Nature Neuroscience, 17, 652–660. doi.org/10.1038/nn.3690
Statistics Canada. (2012). Linguistic characteristic of Canadians, Language, 2011 Census of population. Catalogue no. 98-314-X2011001. Ottawa, ON. October 2012. Retrieved from
www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011001-eng.pdf.
Stern, Y. (2009). Cognitive reserve. Neuropsychologia, 47, 2015–2028. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.03.004
Tucker, A.M., & Stern, Y. (2011). Cognitive reserve in aging. Current Alzheimer Research, 8, 354–360. doi:10.2174/156720511795745320
Alladi, S., Bak, T.H., Duggirala, V., Surampudi, B., Shailaja, M., Shukla, A.K., & Kaul, S. (2013). Bilingualism delays age at onset of dementia, independent of education and immigration status. Neurology, 81, 1938–1944. doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000436620.33155.a4
Alladi, S., Bak, T.H., Mekala, S., Rajan, A., Chaudhuri, J.R., Mioshi, E. & Kaul, S. (2016). Impact of bilingualism on cognitive outcome after stroke. Stroke, 47, 258–261. doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.115.010418
Ansaldo, A.I., Ghazi-Saidi, L., & Adrover-Roig, D. (2015). Interference control in elderly bilinguals: Appearances can be misleading. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 37, 455–470. doi:10.1080/13803395.2014.990359
Bak, T.H., Vega-Mendoza, M., & Sorace, A. (2014). Never too late? An advantage on tests of auditory attention extends to late bilinguals. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1–6. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00485
Berroir, P., Ghazi-Saidi, L., Dash, T., Adrover-Roig, D., Benali, H., & Ansaldo, A.I. (2017). Interference control at the response level: Functional networks reveal higher efficiency in the bilingual brain. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 43, 4–16. doi:10.1016/j.jneuroling.2016.09.007.
Bialystok, E., Abutalebi, J., Bak, T.H., Burke, D.M., & Kroll, J.F. (2016). Aging in two languages: Implications for public health. Ageing Research Reviews, 27, 56–60. doi:10.1016/j.arr.2016.03.003
Bialystok, E., Craik, F.I., & Freedman, M. (2007). Bilingualism as a protection against the onset of symptoms of dementia. Neuropsychologia, 45, 459–464. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.10.009
Bialystok, E., Craik, F.I., Klein, R., & Viswanathan, M. (2004). Bilingualism, aging, and cognitive control: Evidence from the Simon task. Psychology and Aging, 19, 290–303. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.19.2.290
Bialystok, E., Craik, F.I., & Luk, G. (2012). Bilingualism: Consequences for mind and brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16, 240–250. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2012.03.001
Bullmore, E.,& Sporns, O. (2009). Complex brain networks: Graph theoretical analysis of structural and functional systems. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10, 186–198. doi:10.1038/nrn2575
Cabeza, R., & Dennis, N.A. (2012). Frontal lobes and aging: deterioration and compensation. In D.T. Stuss & R.T. Knight (Eds.), Principles of frontal lobe function (pp. 628–652). New York: Oxford University Press.
Calabria, M., Hernández, M., Branzi, F.M., & Costa, A. (2012). Qualitative differences between bilingual language control and executive control: Evidence from task-switching. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 1–10. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00399
Canadian Institute for Health Information (2014). National Health Expenditure Trends, 1975–2014. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Retrieved from www.cihi.ca/en/nhex_2014_report_en.pdf.
Craik, F.I.M., Bialystok, E.,& Freedman,M. (2010). Delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease: Bilingualismas a form of cognitive reserve. Neurology, 75, 1726–1729. doi:10.1212%2FWNL.0b013e3181fc2a1c
Dash, T., & Joanette, Y. (2016). Neurocognitive markers in aging. In N.A. Pachana (Ed.), Encyclopedia of geropsychology (pp. 1–10). Singapore: Springer Verlag. doi:10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_302-1
García-Pentón, L., Fernández, A.P., Iturria-Medina, Y., Gillon-Dowens, M., & Carreiras, M. (2014). Anatomical connectivity changes in the bilingual brain. Neuroimage, 84, 495–504. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.08.064
Ghazi-Saidi, L., & Ansaldo, A.I. (2015). Can a second language help you in more ways than one? AIMS neuroscience, 2, 52–57. doi:10.3934/Neuroscience.2015.1.52
Ghazi-Saidi, L., Dash, T., & Ansaldo, A.I. (in press). The bilingual mental lexicon as a dynamic knowledge system. In M. Libbon, G. Libbon, & M. Goral (Eds.), Bilingualism: A framework for understanding the mental lexicon. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Gold, B.T., Kim, C., Johnson, N.F., Kryscio, R.J.,& Smith, C.D. (2013). Lifelong bilingualism maintains neural efficiency for cognitive control in aging. Heurosci: The Journal of Neuroscience, 33, 387–396. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3837-12.2013
Grady, C.L., Luk, G., Craik, F.I., & Bialystok, E. (2015). Brain network activity in monolingual and bilingual older adults. Neuropsychologia, 66, 170–181. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.10.042
Grant, A., Dennis, N.A., & Li, P. (2014). Cognitive control, cognitive reserve, and memory in the aging bilingual brain. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 1–10. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01401
Guzmán-Vélez, E., & Tranel, D. (2015). Does bilingualism contribute to cognitive reserve? Cognitive and neural perspectives. Neuropsychology, 29, 139–150. doi:10.1037/neu0000105
Hilchey, M.D., & Klein, R.M. (2011). Are there bilingual advantages on nonlinguistic interference tasks? Implications for the plasticity of executive control processes. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 18, 625–658. doi:10.3758/s13423-011-0116-7
Kroll, J.F. (2008). Juggling two languages in one mind. Psychological Science Agenda, 22, 3–7. Retrieved from www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2008/01/kroll.aspx.
Kroll, J.F., & Chiarello, C. (2015). Language experience and the brain: Variability, neuroplasticity, and bilingualism. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 31, 345–348. doi:10.1080/23273798.2015.1086009
Luk, G., Bialystok, E., Craik, F.I., & Grady, C.L. (2011). Lifelong bilingualism maintains white matter integrity in older adults. Neurosci: The Journal of Neuroscience, 31, 16808–16813. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4563-11.2011
Luo, L., Craik, F.I., Moreno, S., & Bialystok, E. (2013). Bilingualism interacts with domain in a working memory task: Evidence from aging. Psychology and Aging, 28, 28–34. doi:10.1037/a0030875
Paap, K.R., & Greenberg, Z.I. (2013). There is no coherent evidence for a bilingual advantage in executive processing. Cognitive Psychology, 66, 232–258. doi:10.1016/j.cogpsych.2012.12.002
Perani, D., & Abutalebi, J. (2015). Bilingualism, dementia, cognitive and neural reserve. Current opinion in neurology, 28, 618–625. doi:10.1097/WCO.0000000000000267
Pliatsikas, C., Moschopoulou, E., & Saddy, J.D. (2015). The effects of bilingualism on the white matter structure of the brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112, 1334–1337. doi:10.1073%2Fpnas.1414183112
Satz, P. (1993). Brain reserve capacity on symptom onset after brain injury: A formulation and review of evidence for threshold theory. Neuropsychology, 7, 273–295. doi:10.1037/0894-4105.7.3.273
Sporns, O. (2014). Contributions and challenges for network models in cognitive neuroscience. Nature Neuroscience, 17, 652–660. doi.org/10.1038/nn.3690
Statistics Canada. (2012). Linguistic characteristic of Canadians, Language, 2011 Census of population. Catalogue no. 98-314-X2011001. Ottawa, ON. October 2012. Retrieved from
www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011001-eng.pdf.
Stern, Y. (2009). Cognitive reserve. Neuropsychologia, 47, 2015–2028. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.03.004
Tucker, A.M., & Stern, Y. (2011). Cognitive reserve in aging. Current Alzheimer Research, 8, 354–360. doi:10.2174/156720511795745320
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