Emotional words differentially influence language control in bilinguals: An fMRI study.

Previous studies have found that cross-language interference mainly stems from bilingual's own language switch rather than from their interlocutor's response language. However, processing emotional stimuli influences bilinguals' cognitive processing, and emotional words are processed differently in first (L1) and second (L2) languages. It remains unclear whether, and to what extent, auditory emotional words influence bilinguals' language control system. The current study introduced an emotional word listening task into a neutral picture-naming task involving language switch. Behavioral results revealed significant switch costs only after hearing positive words in the L2 condition. Neuroimaging results showed that both positive and negative words modulated language control in the L1. This was evidenced by increased activation in the right supplementary motor area (SMA), left precentral gyrus, bilateral superior temporal gyrus (STG), and left cerebellum after listening to positive words, and by enhanced functional connectivity after listening to negative words. In the L2, these same brain regions were also activated, with additional activation in the right SMA and a broader pattern of functional connectivity observed after listening to negative words. Together, these findings suggest that auditory emotional words differentially modulate L1 and L2 language control in bilinguals.