Neuroplasticity, bilingualism, and mental mathematics: A behavior-MEG study.

Bilingual experience alters brain structure and enhances certain cognitive functions. Bilingualism can also affect mathematical processing. Reduced accuracy is commonly reported when arithmetic problems are presented in bilinguals' second (L2) vs. first (L1) language. We used MEG brain imaging during mental addition to characterize spatiotemporal dynamics during mental addition in bilingual adults. Numbers were presented auditorally and sequentially in bilinguals' L1 and L2, and brain and behavioral data were collected simultaneously. Behaviorally, bilinguals showed lower accuracy for two-digit addition in L2 compared to L1. Brain data showed stronger response magnitude in L2 versus L1 prior to calculation, especially when two-digit numbers were involved. Brain and behavioral data were significantly correlated. Taken together, our results suggest that differences between languages emerge prior to mathematical calculation, with implications for the role of language in mathematics.

• Publication year

  2019

• Venue

  Brain and Cognition

• Publication date

  2019-08-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Linguistics, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.bandc.2019.03.006PMID 30975509
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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