title: Language Experience Changes Language and Cognitive Ability.
abstract: The sustained use of two languages by bilinguals has been shown to induce broad changes in language and cognitive abilities across the lifespan. The largest changes are seen as advantages in executive control, a set of processes responsible for controlled attention, inhibition, and shifting. Moreover, there is evidence that these executive control advantages mitigate cognitive decline in older age and contribute to cognitive reserve. In this paper, we examine some of the evidence for these findings and explain their relation to bilingual language use. These effects are considered in terms of their implications for our understanding of cognitive and brain plasticity. Some implications for social policy are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto M3J 1P3, Ontario.
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bialystok
authors.affiliation: Department of English Linguistics, University of Tübingen, Wilhelmstraße 50, 72074 Tübingen, Deutschland.
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Poarch
keywords: Aging; Attention; Bilingualism; Cognitive ability; Cognitive and brain plasticity; Executive control