Bilingualism Is Associated with Significant Structural and Connectivity Alterations in the Thalamus in Adulthood

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dc.authorid0000-0002-5611-2656
dc.contributor.authorAyyildiz, Behcet
dc.contributor.authorSayman, Dila
dc.contributor.authorAyyildiz, Sevilay
dc.contributor.authorOktem, Ece Ozdemir
dc.contributor.authorArslan, Ruhat
dc.contributor.authorColak, Tuncay
dc.contributor.authorBamac, Belgin
dc.date.accessioned2026-01-24T12:29:04Z
dc.date.available2026-01-24T12:29:04Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.departmentAlanya Alaaddin Keykubat Üniversitesi
dc.description.abstractLanguage is a sophisticated cognitive skill that relies on the coordinated activity of cerebral cortex. Acquiring a second language creates intricate modifications in brain connectivity. Although considerable studies have evaluated the impact of second language acquisition on brain networks in adulthood, the results regarding the ultimate form of adaptive plasticity remain inconsistent within the adult population. Furthermore, due to the assumption that subcortical regions are not significantly involved in language-related tasks, the thalamus has rarely been analyzed in relation to other language-relevant cortical regions. Given these limitations, we aimed to evaluate the functional connectivity and volume modifications of thalamic subfields using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modalities following the acquisition of a second language. Structural MRI and fMRI data from 51 participants were collected from the OpenNeuro database. The participants were divided into three groups: monolingual (ML), early bilingual (EB), and late bilingual (LB). The EB group consisted of individuals proficient in both English and Spanish, with exposure to these languages before the age of 10 years. The LB group consisted of individuals proficient in both English and Spanish, but with exposure to these languages after the age of 14 years. The ML group included participants proficient only in English. Our results revealed that the ML group exhibited increased functional connectivity in all thalamic subfields (anterior, intralaminar-medial, lateral, ventral, and pulvinar) compared with the EB and LB groups. In addition, a significantly decreased volume of the left suprageniculate nucleus was found in the bilingual groups compared with the ML group. This study provides valuable evidence suggesting that acquiring a second language may be protective against dementia, due to its high plasticity potential, which acts synergistically with cognitive functions to slow the degenerative process.
dc.identifier.doi10.1162/jocn_a_02304
dc.identifier.endpage1256
dc.identifier.issn0898-929X
dc.identifier.issn1530-8898
dc.identifier.issue7
dc.identifier.pmid39869332
dc.identifier.scopus2-s2.0-105005997127
dc.identifier.scopusqualityQ2
dc.identifier.startpage1238
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_02304
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12868/5116
dc.identifier.volume37
dc.identifier.wosWOS:001491337100003
dc.identifier.wosqualityQ1
dc.indekslendigikaynakWeb of Science
dc.indekslendigikaynakScopus
dc.indekslendigikaynakPubMed
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherMit Press
dc.relation.ispartofJournal of Cognitive Neuroscience
dc.relation.publicationcategoryMakale - Uluslararası Hakemli Dergi - Kurum Öğretim Elemanı
dc.rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.snmzKA_WoS_20260121
dc.subjectLanguage
dc.subjectBrain
dc.subjectFmri
dc.subjectAge
dc.subjectAcquisition
dc.subjectIntegrity
dc.subjectNetworks
dc.titleBilingualism Is Associated with Significant Structural and Connectivity Alterations in the Thalamus in Adulthood
dc.typeArticle

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