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Simultaneous interpreting is a complex cognitive task that requires the concurrent execution of multiple processes: listening, comprehension, conversion of a message from one language to another, speech production, and self-monitoring. This requires the deployment of an array of linguistic and cognitive control mechanisms that must coordinate the various brain systems implicated in handling these tasks. How the brain handles this challenge remains an open question, and recent brain imaging investigations have begun to complement the theories based on behavioural data. fMRI studies have shown that simultaneous interpreting engages a network of brain regions encompassing those implicated in speech perception and production, language switching, self-monitoring, and selection. Structural imaging studies have been carried out that also indicate modifications to a similar set of structures. In the present paper, we review the extant data and propose an integrative model of simultaneous interpreting that piggybacks on existing theories of multilingual language control.

Supplemental material, QJE-STD-18-051.R1-Supplemental_Material for Working memory in older adults declines with age, but is modulated by sex and education by Christos Pliatsikas, João Veríssimo, Laura Babcock, Mariel Y Pullman, Dana A Glei, Maxine Weinstein, Noreen Goldman and Michael T Ullman in Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

Much recent research in the fields of SLA and Bilingualismhas focused on the social, linguistic, and cognitive benefits ofbilingualism (Cook, 1997; Bialystok, 2001; Bialystok, 2004;Sanz, 2000; Sanz, 2007). This research has sought to establishthe nature of these benefits and the point at which they emerge.Cummins’ Threshold Theory posits that these benefits aredetermined by level of proficiency in both languages (Cummins, 1976). This threshold, however, has not been adequatelyoperationalized. Based on the Declarative/Procedural model inL2 speakers (Ullman, 2001a; Ullman, 2005), we hypothesizedthat the onset of use of procedural memory in both languagesmarks the emergence of cognitive benefits for bilinguals. In apreliminary attempt to investigate this effect, we measured theverbal and non-verbal memory of participants before and afterlearning an artificial language to high proficiency. ERP measureswere used to determine reliance on procedural memory duringL2 language processing. The results indicate that the use ofprocedural memory during L2 language processing may affectnon-verbal memory measures; no effects were found for verbalmemory measures. Contrary to the hypothesis, however, theparticipants who used procedural memory showed lower scoreson these measures than those who did not use proceduralmemory. These results suggest that procedural memory andnon-verbal memory may be related.

Performance on tasks involving cognitive control such as the Stroop task is often associated with left lateralized brain activations. Based on this neuro-functional evidence, we tested whether leftward structural grey matter asymmetries would also predict inter-individual differences in combatting Stroop interference. To check for the specificity of the results, both a verbal Stroop task and a spatial one were administered to a total of 111 healthy young individuals, for whom T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images were also acquired. Surface thickness and area estimations were calculated using FreeSurfer. Participants' hemispheres were registered to a symmetric template and Laterality Indices (LI) for the surface thickness and for the area at each vertex in each participant were computed. The correlation of these surface LI measures with the verbal and spatial Stroop effects (incongruent-congruent difference in trial performance) was assessed at each vertex by means of general linear models at the whole-brain level. We found a significant correlation between performance and surface area LI in an inferior posterior temporal cluster (overlapping with the so-called visual word form area, VWFA), with a more left-lateralized area in this region associated with a smaller Stroop effect only in the verbal task. These results point to an involvement of the VWFA for higher-level processes based on word reading, including the suppression of this process when required by the task, and could be interpreted in the context of cross-hemispheric rivalry.