Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Neuroscience Bulletin logoLink to Neuroscience Bulletin
. 2014 Mar 6;30(3):461–468. doi: 10.1007/s12264-013-1427-7

Endogenous language control in Chinese-English switching: an event-related potentials study

Zhen-Lan Jin 1, Jin-Xiang Zhang 1, Ling Li 1,✉
PMCID: PMC5562608  PMID: 24604633

Abstract

The neural basis of language switching, especially endogenous language control, remains largely unclear. We used a cue-stimulus paradigm and measured behavioral indices and scalp event-related potentials to investigate the endogenous control of switching between Chinese and English. In the experiment, unbalanced Chinese (L1) - English (L2) speakers named pictures in L1 or L2 according to an auditory cue presented 700 ms (cue-stimulus interval) before the picture onset. The reaction time (RT) was longer in the switch condition and the switch cost (difference of RTs between switch and repeat conditions) of L1 (L2→L1) was greater than L2 (L1→L2). P2 component elicited by the cue onset showed the neural switch cost of L1 at the frontocentral regions, with a leftward distribution, but not the switch cost of L2. The greater switch cost of L1 in behavioral responses and neural activity suggests that the frontocentral areas play an important role in endogenous language control, and switching back to the native language might require more endogenous control.

Keywords: language switching, frontocentral region, neural switch cost, P2

References

  • [1].Green DW. Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system. Biling Lang Cogn. 1998;1:67–81. doi: 10.1017/S1366728998000133. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • [2].Meuter RFI, Allport A. Bilingual language switching in naming: Asymmetrical costs of language selection. J Mem Lang. 1999;40:25–40. doi: 10.1006/jmla.1998.2602. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • [3].Allport A, Styles E, Hsieh S. Shifting intentional set: Exploring the dynamic control of tasks. In: Umilta C, Moscovitch M, editors. Attention and Performance XV: Conscious and Nonconscious Information Processing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press; 1994. pp. 421–452. [Google Scholar]
  • [4].Costa A, Santesteban M. Lexical access in bilingual speech production: Evidence from language switching in highly proficient bilinguals and L2 learners. J Mem Lang. 2004;50:491–511. doi: 10.1016/j.jml.2004.02.002. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • [5].Wang Y, Xue G, Chen C, Xue F, Dong Q. Neural bases of asymmetric language switching in second-language learners: an ER-fMRI study. Neuroimage. 2007;35:862–870. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.09.054. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [6].Verhoef K, Roelofs A, Chwilla DJ. Role of inhibition in language switching: evidence from event-related brain potentials in overt picture naming. Cognition. 2009;110:84–99. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.10.013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [7].Verhoef KM, Roelofs A, Chwilla DJ. Electrophysiological evidence for endogenous control of attention in switching between languages in overt picture naming. J Cogn Neurosci. 2010;22:1832–1843. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2009.21291. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [8].Waszak F, Hommel B, Allport A. Task-switching and longterm priming: role of episodic stimulus-task bindings in taskshift costs. Cogn Psychol. 2003;46:361–413. doi: 10.1016/S0010-0285(02)00520-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [9].Rogers R, Monsell S. The costs of a predictable switch between simple cognitive tasks. J Exp Psychol Gen. 1995;124:207–231. doi: 10.1037/0096-3445.124.2.207. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • [10].Damasio AR, Tranel D. Nouns and verbs are retrieved with differently distributed neural systems. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993;90:4957–4960. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.11.4957. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [11].Petersen SE, Fox PT, Posner MI, Mintun M, Raichle ME. Positron emission tomographic studies of the processing of singe words. J Cogn Neurosci. 1989;1:153–170. doi: 10.1162/jocn.1989.1.2.153. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [12].Li P, Jin Z, Tan LH. Neural representations of nouns and verbs in Chinese: an fMRI study. Neuroimage. 2004;21:1533–1541. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.10.044. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [13].Tan LH, Liu HL, Perfetti CA, Spinks JA, Fox PT, Gao JH. The neural system underlying Chinese logograph reading. Neuroimage. 2001;13:836–846. doi: 10.1006/nimg.2001.0749. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [14].Hernandez AE, Dapretto M, Mazziotta J, Bookheimer S. Language switching and language representation in Spanish-English bilinguals: an fMRI study. Neuroimage. 2001;14:510–520. doi: 10.1006/nimg.2001.0810. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [15].Mondor TA, Amirault KJ. Effect of same- and differentmodality spatial cues on auditory and visual target identification. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1998;24:745–755. doi: 10.1037/0096-1523.24.3.745. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [16].Ward LM. Supramodal and modality-specific mechanisms for stimulus-driven shifts of auditory and visual attention. Can J Exp Psychol. 1994;48:242–259. doi: 10.1037/1196-1961.48.2.242. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [17].Li L, Wang M, Zhao QJ, Fogelson N. Neural mechanisms underlying the cost of task switching: an ERP study. PLoS One. 2012;7:e42233. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042233. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [18].Dumontheil I, Thompson R, Duncan J. Assembly and use of new task rules in fronto-parietal cortex. J Cogn Neurosci. 2011;23:168–182. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2010.21439. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [19].Bates E, D’Amico S, Jacobsen T, Szekely A, Andonova E, Devescovi A, et al. Timed picture naming in seven languages. Psychon Bull Rev. 2003;10:344–380. doi: 10.3758/BF03196494. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [20].Li L, Gratton C, Yao D, Knight RT. Role of frontal and parietal cortices in the control of bottom-up and top-down attention in humans. Brain Res. 2010;1344:173–184. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2010.05.016. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [21].Jackson G, Swainson R, Cunnington R. ERP correlates of executive control during repeated language switching. Biling Lang Cogn. 2001;4:169–178. [Google Scholar]
  • [22].Christoffels IK, Firk C, Schiller NO. Bilingual language control: an event-related brain potential study. Brain Res. 2007;1147:192–208. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2007.01.137. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [23].Kroll JF, Bobb SC, Misra M, Guo T. Language selection in bilingual speech: evidence for inhibitory processes. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2008;128:416–430. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.02.001. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [24].Davidson RJ. Anterior cerebral asymmetry and the nature of emotion. Brain Cogn. 1992;20:125–151. doi: 10.1016/0278-2626(92)90065-T. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [25].Davidson RJ, Fox NA. Frontal brain asymmetry predicts infants’ response to maternal separation. J Abnorm Psychol. 1989;98:127–131. doi: 10.1037/0021-843X.98.2.127. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [26].Harmon-Jones E, Allen JJ. Behavioral activation sensitivity and resting frontal EEG asymmetry: covariation of putative indicators related to risk for mood disorders. J Abnorm Psychol. 1997;106:159–163. doi: 10.1037/0021-843X.106.1.159. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [27].Lahat A, Todd RM, Mahy CE, Lau K, Zelazo PD. Neurophysiological correlates of executive function: a comparison of European-canadian and chinese-canadian 5-year-old children. Front Hum Neurosci. 2009;3:72. doi: 10.3389/neuro.09.072.2009. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Neuroscience Bulletin are provided here courtesy of Springer

RESOURCES