Mapping individual aspects of bilingual experience to adaptations in brain structure

Abstract

Individual differences in using multiple languages are thought to differentially affect brain structure and function. The present study assessed the neuroanatomical predictions of an emerging theory, the Unifying the Bilingual Experience Trajectories framework, which provides the most comprehensive set of predictions of how individual differences in bilingual experiences lead to specific neural and cognitive adaptations. A total of 140 young adults with variable language experiences were scanned using magnetic resonance imaging and completed demographic questionnaires. Brain structure measures implicated in predictions of the Unifying the Bilingual Experience Trajectories model were extracted and regressed against the model’s experiential factors. Consistent with the model’s predictions, greater intensity and diversity of bilingual language use resulted in changes in gray matter volume in cortical regions involved in executive control (including inferior frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, angular gyrus, and medial frontal gyrus), indicating adaptations toward handling increased executive control demands. Conversely, duration of bilingual engagement resulted in changes within white matter microstructure (bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus) and increases in subcortical gray matter (left caudate), indicative of adaptations toward increased efficiency of control. Overall, this research enhances our understanding of how bilingual experiences influence brain structure and provides the first direct empirical evidence for the predictions made by the Unifying the Bilingual Experience Trajectories framework.