Accessibility navigation


Dynamic effects of immersive bilingualism on cortical and subcortical grey matter volumes

Marin-Marin, L., Costumero, V., Ávila, C. and Pliatsikas, C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7093-1773 (2022) Dynamic effects of immersive bilingualism on cortical and subcortical grey matter volumes. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. ISSN 1664-1078

[img]
Preview
Text (Open Access) - Published Version
· Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
· Please see our End User Agreement before downloading.

1MB
[img] Text - Accepted Version
· Restricted to Repository staff only

264kB

It is advisable to refer to the publisher's version if you intend to cite from this work. See Guidance on citing.

To link to this item DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.886222

Abstract/Summary

Bilingualism has been shown to induce neuroplasticity in the brain, but conflicting evidence regarding its specific effects in gray matter continues to emerge, probably due to methodological differences between studies, as well as approaches that may miss the variability and dynamicity of bilingual experience. In our study, we devised a continuous score of bilingual experiences and we investigated their non-linear effects on regional GM volume in a sample of young healthy participants from an immersive and naturalistic bilingual environment. We focused our analyses on cortical and subcortical regions that had been previously proposed as part of the bilingual speech pipeline and language control network. Our results showed a non-linear relationship between bilingualism score and grey matter volume of the inferior frontal gyrus. We also found linear increases in volumes of putamen and cerebellum as a function of bilingualism score. These results go in line with predictions for immersive and naturalistic bilingual environments with increased intensity and diversity of language use and provide further evidence supporting the dynamicity of bilingualism’s effects on brain structure.

Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Divisions:Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism (CeLM)
Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics (CINN)
Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Language and Cognition
ID Code:104410
Uncontrolled Keywords:bilingualism, neuroplasticity, grey matter, volume, immersion, dynamic, non-linear
Publisher:Frontiers Media

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

University Staff: Request a correction | Centaur Editors: Update this record

Page navigation