Memory and language improvements following cognitive control training.

Cognitive control refers to adjusting thoughts and actions when confronted with conflict during information processing. We tested whether this ability is causally linked to performance on certain language and memory tasks by using cognitive control training to systematically modulate people's ability to resolve information-conflict across domains. Different groups of subjects trained on 1 of 3 minimally different versions of an n-back task: n-back-with-lures (High-Conflict), n-back-without-lures (Low-Conflict), or 3-back-without-lures (3-Back). Subjects completed a battery of recognition memory and language processing tasks that comprised both high- and low-conflict conditions before and after training. We compared the transfer profiles of (a) the High- versus Low-Conflict groups to test how conflict resolution training contributes to transfer effects, and (b) the 3-Back versus Low-Conflict groups to test for differences not involving cognitive control. High-Conflict training-but not Low-Conflict training-produced discernable benefits on several untrained transfer tasks, but only under selective conditions requiring cognitive control. This suggests that the conflict-focused intervention influenced functioning on ostensibly different outcome measures across memory and language domains. 3-Back training resulted in occasional improvements on the outcome measures, but these were not selective for conditions involving conflict resolution. We conclude that domain-general cognitive control mechanisms are plastic, at least temporarily, and may play a causal role in linguistic and nonlinguistic performance. (PsycINFO Database Record

The effects of bilingualism on conflict monitoring, cognitive control, and garden-path recovery.

Bilinguals demonstrate benefits on non-linguistic tasks requiring cognitive control-the regulation of mental activity to resolve information-conflict during processing. This "bilingual advantage" has been attributed to the consistent management of two languages, yet it remains unknown if these benefits extend to sentence processing. In monolinguals, cognitive control helps detect and revise misinterpretations of sentence meaning. Here, we test if the bilingual advantage extends to parsing and interpretation by comparing bilinguals' and monolinguals' syntactic ambiguity resolution before and after practicing N-back, a non-syntactic cognitive-control task. Bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on a high-conflict but not a no-conflict version of N-back and on sentence comprehension, indicating that the advantage extends to language interpretation. Gains on N-back conflict trials also predicted comprehension improvements for ambiguous sentences, suggesting that the bilingual advantage emerges across tasks tapping shared cognitive-control procedures. Because the overall task benefits were observed for conflict and non-conflict trials, bilinguals' advantage may reflect increased cognitive flexibility.

Cingulo-Opercular Function During Word Recognition in Noise for Older Adults with Hearing Loss.

BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: Adaptive control, reflected by elevated activity in cingulo-opercular brain regions, optimizes performance in challenging tasks by monitoring outcomes and adjusting behavior. For example, cingulo-opercular function benefits trial-level word recognition in noise for normal-hearing adults. Because auditory system deficits may limit the communicative benefit from adaptive control, we examined the extent to which cingulo-opercular engagement supports word recognition in noise for older adults with hearing loss (HL). METHODS: Participants were selected to form groups with Less HL (n = 12; mean pure tone threshold, pure tone average [PTA] = 19.2 ± 4.8 dB HL [hearing level]) and More HL (n = 12; PTA = 38.4 ± 4.5 dB HL, 0.25-8 kHz, both ears). A word recognition task was performed with words presented in multitalker babble at +3 or +10 dB signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) during a sparse acquisition fMRI experiment. The participants were middle-aged and older (ages: 64.1 ± 8.4 years) English speakers with no history of neurological or psychiatric diagnoses. RESULTS: Elevated cingulo-opercular activity occurred with increased likelihood of correct word recognition on the next trial (t(23) = 3.28, p = .003), and this association did not differ between hearing loss groups. During trials with word recognition errors, the More HL group exhibited higher blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) contrast in occipital and parietal regions compared with the Less HL group. Across listeners, more pronounced cingulo-opercular activity during recognition errors was associated with better overall word recognition performance. CONCLUSION: The trial-level word recognition benefit from cingulo-opercular activity was equivalent for both hearing loss groups. When speech audibility and performance levels are similar for older adults with mild to moderate hearing loss, cingulo-opercular adaptive control contributes to word recognition in noise.