The Bilingual Lexicon, Back and Forth: Electrophysiological Signatures of Translation Asymmetry
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Date
2022Author
Pérez, Gonzalo
Hesse, Eugenia
Dottori, Martín
Birba, Agustina
Amoruso, Lucia
Martorell Caro, Miguel
Ibáñez, Agustín
García, Adolfo M.
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Gonzalo Pérez, Eugenia Hesse, Martín Dottori, Agustina Birba, Lucía Amoruso, Miguel Martorell Caro, Agustín Ibáñez, Adolfo M. García, The Bilingual Lexicon, Back and Forth: Electrophysiological Signatures of Translation Asymmetry, Neuroscience, Volume 481, 2022, Pages 134-143, ISSN 0306-4522, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.11.046.
Neuroscience
Neuroscience
Abstract
Mainstream theories of first and second language (L1, L2) processing in bilinguals are crucially
informed by word translation research. A core finding is the translation asymmetry effect, typified by slower performance
in forward translation (FT, from L1 into L2) than in backward translation (BT, from L2 into L1). Yet, few
studies have explored its neural bases and none has employed (de)synchronization measures, precluding the
integration of bilingual memory models with neural (de)coupling accounts of word processing. Here, 27 proficient
Spanish-English bilinguals engaged in FT and BT of single words as we obtained high-density EEG recordings to
perform cluster-based oscillatory and non-linear functional connectivity analyses. Relative to BT, FT yielded
slower responses, higher frontal theta (4–7 Hz) power in an early window (0–300 ms), reduced centro-posterior
lower-beta (14–20 Hz) and centro-frontal upper-beta (21–30 Hz) power in a later window (300–600 ms), and lower
fronto-parietal connectivity below 10 Hz in the early window. Also, the greater the behavioral difference between
FT and BT, the greater the power of the early theta cluster for FT over BT. These results reveal key (de)coupling
dynamics underlying translation asymmetry, offering frequency-specific constraints for leading models of bilingual
lexical processing.