Experience-based individual differences modulate language, mind and brain outcomes in multilinguals

Abstract

Being able to speak and/or understand multiple languages is a ubiquitous human behavior. Over the past decades in particular, an increasing amount of research has investigated the acquisition, processing, and use of multiple languages as well as how variation therein associates with differential cognitive performance, brain functions and structures (see Bialystok, 2016, Bialystok, 2017, De Houwer, 2021, Fricke et al., 2019, Grundy and Timmer, 2017, Kroll and Bialystok, 2013, Li and Dong, 2020, Sulpizio et al., 2020 for reviews). Taken together, this research strongly suggests that these behavioral and neural consequences reflect individual differences in how one adapts to her environment through multilingualism. Paying homage to the reality of language diversities around the world, we have opted to use herein the term multilingualism, as opposed to simply bilingualism, given that linguistic experiences can, and often do, extend beyond managing only two languages on a daily basis. The present special issue presents a collection of 15 papers examining the linguistic, cognitive and neural consequences of multilingualism, using innovative approaches to characterize relevant experiences.