Second language interferes with word production in fluent bilinguals: brain potential and functional imaging evidence

Bilingual individuals need effective mechanisms to prevent interference between their languages. Using event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we present evidence for interference of phonological information from the nontarget language in German-Spanis...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Rodríguez Fornells, Antoni, van der Lugt, Arie, Rotte, Michael, Britti, Belinda, Heinze, Hans-Jochen, Münte, Thomas F.
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2005
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Barcelona
Repository:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/105793
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/105793
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Interferència (Lingüística)
Imatges per ressonància magnètica
Interference (Linguistics)
Magnetic resonance imaging
Description
Summary:Bilingual individuals need effective mechanisms to prevent interference between their languages. Using event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we present evidence for interference of phonological information from the nontarget language in German-Spanish bilinguals. A tacit picture-naming task was used in which bilinguals and monolinguals had to make speeded responses based on the first letter of the picture's name in the target language. In one condition, subjects were required to respond when the name began with a vowel and to withhold a response if it started with a consonant. Stimuli had been selected such that in half of the trials, the names in both languages necessitated the same response, whereas in the other half, responses were different for the two languages. For the bilinguals, the language in which the stimuli had to be named was changed after each block. Bilinguals showed phonological interference compared with monolingual performance, which was evident in their performance, ERPs, and fMRI patterns. Nonlanguagespecific brain areas such as the left middle prefrontal cortex were found to be crucial for the control of interference.