Subcortical links in bilingual language representation
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1
University of New South Wales, Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, Australia
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2
Macquarie University, ARC Centre for Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australia
Subcortical regions of the brain are increasingly implicated in language and goal-directed learning. Lesions of left hemisphere subcortical regions in bilingual adults with late acquisition of languages has led to impaired language selection, resulting in speaking the nontarget language or involuntary switching between languages. An inhibitory control network comprising the left hemisphere fronto-temporo-parietal cortex and subcortex (including basal ganglia) has been suggested to mediate language selection (Green & Abutalebi, 2007, 2008). Independent research has shown the existence of a hyperdirect cortico-subthalamic nucleus route in addition to known cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical loops (Heida, Marani & Usunoff, 2008). This research investigated language selection and control in bilinguals with early acquisition of languages and aphasia due to left basal ganglia or fronto-temporo-parietal lesions following stroke. Participants were tested on a comprehensive language battery, including naming, narrative, reading and translation tasks, monolingual and bilingual conversation, and the results compared to language-matched controls. The results showed intact language selection across all tasks in monolingual and bilingual contexts for participants with aphasia, and performance indistinguishable from controls. These findings indicate intact inhibition of the non-target language despite left basal ganglia and cortical lesions, and suggest that language selection in early proficient bilinguals who language-switch may be achieved by language-specific activation via the hyperdirect cortico-subthalamic nucleus route.
Keywords:
Aphasia,
Basal Ganglia,
subcortical,
Bilingual,
inhibitory selection and control
Conference:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014.
Presentation Type:
Poster
Topic:
Language
Citation:
Miller Amberber
A,
Nickels
L,
Coltheart
M and
Crain
S
(2015). Subcortical links in bilingual language representation.
Conference Abstract:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII).
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00226
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Received:
19 Feb 2015;
Published Online:
24 Apr 2015.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Amanda Miller Amberber, University of New South Wales, Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, Sydney, Australia, a.milleramberber@unsw.edu.au