Maria M. Arredondo|Xiao?Su Hu|Teresa Satterfield|Ioulia Kovelman
Bilingualism alters children's frontal lobe functioning for attentional control
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor|University of Michigan–Ann Arbor|University of Michigan–Ann Arbor|University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
bilingualism typical linguistic experience yet relatively little known impact childrens cognitive brain development theories bilingualism suggest early duallanguage acquisition improve childrens cognitive abilities specifically relying frontal lobe functioning behavioral findings present much conflicting evidence little known effects childrens frontal lobe development using functional nearinfrared spectroscopy fnirs findings suggest spanishenglish bilingual children n 13 ages 713 greater activation left prefrontal cortex nonverbal attentional control task relative agematched english monolinguals contrast monolinguals n 14 showed greater right prefrontal activation bilinguals present findings suggest early bilingualism yields significant changes functional organization childrens prefrontal cortex attentional control carry implications understanding early life experiences impact cognition brain development