M I Gómez-Ruiz1. 1. Departamento de Neurología, Hospital General de L'Hospitalet, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, España. misabelgr@gmail.com
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The description of bilingual aphasic patients goes back to the 19th century. Since then, the study of the relationship between bilingualism and the brain has questioned whether the neuroanatomical representation of two languages in the same brain is similar or different. The answer to this question has generated erroneous interpretations based on the results of the investigations carried out on this topic. DEVELOPMENT: The present paper will try to distinguish between myth and reality of the following statements: a) the neuroanatomical organization of language in bilinguals is different from that of monolinguals, and b) language is less lateralized in bilingual speakers. RESULTS: There is no reason to believe in the existence of qualitative differences in the cerebral organization of language between bilinguals and monolinguals. It is mostly likely that two languages are represented as different microanatomical subsystems in the same cerebral regions. CONCLUSIONS: The differences are quantitative rather than qualitative, that is, the degree of participation of the different neurofunctional mechanisms involved in the use of language, such as metalinguistic knowledge and implicit linguistic competence.
INTRODUCTION: The description of bilingual aphasic patients goes back to the 19th century. Since then, the study of the relationship between bilingualism and the brain has questioned whether the neuroanatomical representation of two languages in the same brain is similar or different. The answer to this question has generated erroneous interpretations based on the results of the investigations carried out on this topic. DEVELOPMENT: The present paper will try to distinguish between myth and reality of the following statements: a) the neuroanatomical organization of language in bilinguals is different from that of monolinguals, and b) language is less lateralized in bilingual speakers. RESULTS: There is no reason to believe in the existence of qualitative differences in the cerebral organization of language between bilinguals and monolinguals. It is mostly likely that two languages are represented as different microanatomical subsystems in the same cerebral regions. CONCLUSIONS: The differences are quantitative rather than qualitative, that is, the degree of participation of the different neurofunctional mechanisms involved in the use of language, such as metalinguistic knowledge and implicit linguistic competence.