The representation of language in bilinguals: Neural overlap as a function of modality, representational level, language proficiency and context.

Bilinguals use their two (or more) languages in their everyday lives and may need to switch back and forth between them frequently. In order for bilinguals to flexibly use their different languages, they need clear representations (lexical, semantical, …) of each language and a language control mechanism to coordinate the continuous interactions between these representations. In this project, we focus on the neuronal representations of the two languages when speaking and when comprehending language, and on the neural representation of language control under these circumstances. Recent fMRI analysis methods (e.g. multivoxel pattern classification) provide new means to examine the neuronal overlap between the different language representations in both language production and comprehension. Additionaly, we will examine the interactions between language processing areas and language control areas (using functional connectivity analyses). The combination of state of the art fMRI analyses, a unitary approach (which covers both comprehension and production) and keeping into account possibly modulating factors such as language proficiency and language switching experience, the research will increase our understanding of how the brain copes with the representation of and coordination between different languages, both when speaking and comprehending language.