![]() ![]() Switching costs are usually measured as the difference between switch and non-switch trials in blocks where tasks randomly vary ( Monsell, 2003). Concretely, one of the most consistent and reliable bilingual advantages through the lifespan is a reduced switching cost in nonlinguistic task-switching paradigms ( Gunnerud et al., 2020 Ware et al., 2020). Recent meta-analyses suggest that such advantage is, in fact, smaller than initially thought, and it is not an overall effect on executive functions but rather depends on the type of executive function studied. However, the size and even the existence of the “bilingual advantage” is still a matter of fervid debate ( Dick et al., 2019 Paap et al., 2014, 2020 Sanchez-Azanza et al., 2017). In this vein, results suggest that even a short language switching training can reduce switch costs in nonlinguistic tasks, revealing the transfer of training effects from linguistic to nonlinguistic domains ( Timmer et al., 2019). Given the impact of experience on cognitive performance (e.g., Bengtsson et al., 2005), it has been proposed that the extensive use of executive functions in language control may improve these functions outside the language domain, leading to a bilingual advantage over monolinguals ( Barac & Bialystok, 2012 Bialystok, 1999 Christoffels et al., 2013 Kroll & Chiarello, 2016 Luk et al., 2010 Mechelli et al., 2004 Wiseheart et al., 2016). The fact that language control in bilinguals shares, at least partially, functional and neural mechanisms with domain-general executive control processes has led to the idea that the bilingual brain may rely on executive functions to avoid interference from the language not currently in use and to switch between languages ( Green & Abutalebi, 2013). Neuroimaging studies have revealed that both language monitoring and switching engage key brain regions of cognitive control such as the anterior cingulate cortex, the inferior frontal gyrus, the basal ganglia, and parietal areas ( Abutalebi & Green, 2007 Garbin et al., 2010 Rodriguez-Fornells et al., 2006 van Heuven et al., 2008). Our results provide clear evidence favoring the bilingual advantage, yet only when the task imposes greater executive demands and does not involve language control. ![]() On the other hand, no bilingual advantage was found when a new sample of comparable bilinguals and monolinguals completed a within-language switching task. On the one hand, our results show that bilinguals were overall faster and presented reduced switch costs compared to monolinguals when performing perceptual geometric judgments with no time for task preparation. The present work explored this issue by studying bilingualism’s effects on task switching within the visual and language domains. Nevertheless, because bilinguals need to control for the interference of another language, they may show a disadvantage when dealing with task-switching paradigms requiring language control, particularly when those are performed in their less dominant language. By handling two languages throughout their lifespan, bilinguals appear to train their executive functions and show benefits in nonlinguistic switching tasks compared to monolinguals. Even so, in switching tasks, these effects seem robust, although smaller than initially thought ( Gunnerud et al., 2020 Ware et al., 2020). The benefits of bilingualism in executive functions are highly debated. ![]()
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