title: In-context language control with production tasks in bilinguals: an fMRI study.
abstract: Bilinguals exhibit a feat to control their two languages in conversation. The neural substrates of bilingual language control have been well investigated with language switching paradigm. Yet, most of those studies have taken single lexical items (i.e., words outside a context) as the investigative tool. In the present study, we examined the neural substrates of in-context language control in unbalanced bilinguals with a sentence-end switching paradigm. Our results showed that in-context language control in bilinguals recruited the neural mechanisms that were similar in kind to those responsible for cognitive control in general. When the direction of switching was considered, we found that backward switching called for more cognitive/language control relative to forward switching. Behaviorally, symmetric switching costs were found regardless of the switching factor (switching vs. non-switching) and the language factor (L1 vs. L2). We interpreted our imaging and behavioral results as the effects of context when unbalanced bilinguals controlled their two languages in a context.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Chongqing, China; School of Foreign Languages, Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Peiyu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Chongqing, China; Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: College of English Language and Literature, Sichuan International Studies University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: School of Foreign Languages, Chongqing Three Gorges University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Huaxi MR Research Centre (HMRRC), Dept. of Radiology, Center for Medical Imaging, West China Hospital/West China School of Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China. Electronic address: qiyonggong@hmrrc.org.cn.
authors.forename: Qiyong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Chongqing, China; Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China. Electronic address: xiepeng@cqmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D019303:Multilingualism; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Context effects; In-context; Language control; Language switching; Unbalanced bilinguals; fMRI