Language Learning ISSN 0023-8333

CONCEPTUAL REVIEW ARTICLE

The Many Shades of Bilingualism:

Language Experiences Modulate
Adaptations in Brain Structure
Christos Pliatsikas ,a,b Vincent DeLuca ,c
a
and Toms Voits
a
University of Reading, b Universidad Nebrija, and c University of Birmingham

Recent years have seen an expansion in the research related to structural brain adap-
tations related to the acquisition and processing of additional languages. However, the
accumulating evidence remains to a great extent inconsistent, with a large variety of cor-
tical, subcortical, and cerebellar effects reported in various studies. Here we propose that
the variability in the data can be explained by the differences in the language background
and experiences of the tested samples. We also propose that the field should move away
from monolithic bilingual versus monolingual comparisons; instead, it should focus on
the experiences of the bilingual groups as predictors of structural changes in the brain,
and also employ longitudinal designs to test the dynamic effects of active bilingualism.
The implications of the proposed approaches for the suggested benefits of bilingualism
on ageing and patient populations are also discussed.

Keywords bilingualism; brain structure; ageing; individual differences; neuroplasticity

Bilingualism and Neuroplasticity. Where Are We?

The past decade has seen a boom in evidence that learning and using additional
languages causes structural adaptations in the brain. These adaptations have
been expressed as volumetric and/or shape changes in cortical and subcortical

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Christos Pliatsikas, School of Psy-
chology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Harry Pitt Building, Whiteknights,
Reading, RG6 6AL, United Kingdom. Email: [email protected]

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.

Language Learning 00:0, xxxx 2019, pp. 1–17 1


C 2019 The Authors. Language Learning published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Language

Learning Research Club, University of Michigan

DOI: 10.1111/lang.12386
Pliatsikas, DeLuca, and Voits The Many Shades of Bilingualism

regions underlying language learning and control, as well as adaptations in

the diffusivity of white matter tracts connecting these regions (for a detailed
review see Pliatsikas, 2019a). The available evidence has come from a variety
of bilingual populations, including children, younger and older healthy adults,
and patients, with distinct profiles of language backgrounds and use, includ-
ing simultaneous and sequential bilinguals, individuals immersed in a bilingual
environment, and simultaneous interpreters. However, and perhaps understand-
ably, the evidence that has emerged from such a diverse collection of samples
has appeared inconsistent, and therefore inconclusive with respect to how bilin-
gualism affects brain structure, and seemingly inadequate to contribute to a
theoretical framework describing these effects; indeed, while some groups only
demonstrated cortical grey matter adaptations, others demonstrated only sub-
cortical ones, and others only white matter adaptations. Several explanations
have been put forward to address this variability, including the methodological
inconsistencies between studies (e.g., different MRI scanners, different ana-
lytical methods, etc.; Garcı́a-Pentón, Fernández Garcı́a, Costello, Duñabeitia,
& Carreiras, 2016), as well as concerns about the statistical power of some
of these studies (Munson & Hernandez, 2019). However, a key factor may
be the aforementioned diversity in the tested samples, and also the fact they
have typically been simply compared to monolingual groups with no account of
the quality and quantity of their bilingual experiences (Luk & Pliatsikas, 2015).
This issue is not unique to this particular literature; indeed, similar practice in
behavioral and functional neuroimaging literature have led to recent calls for
the field to shift toward more elaborate designs that take into account the in-
dividual experiences of the bilinguals. For example, de Bruin (2019) argued
that despite bilinguals and monolinguals typically being treated and compared
as two uniform and distinct groups, it is very rare that two bilinguals are the
same. Instead, a bilingual is defined by his/her experiences, including age of
acquisition, immersion in a bilingual environment, quantity, and quality of
switching between languages, and so on. Moreover, Surrain and Luk (2019)
surveyed the literature and reported that bilinguals are most typically described
by their L2 proficiency level but very rarely by usage-based measures or by
the sociolinguistic context they found themselves in. These observations beg
the question of whether the variability of the findings (structural or otherwise)
will be more meaningful if viewed through an experience-based perspective,
and whether the field should shift toward designs that take into account these
experiences. The next sections of this article present a recent theoretical sug-
gestion accounting for the effects of bilingual experiences on neuroplasticity,
followed by examples of recent approaches accounting for these experiences. It

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Pliatsikas, DeLuca, and Voits The Many Shades of Bilingualism

concludes with some discussion regarding the implications of these approaches

for ageing and patient populations.

The Dynamic Restructuring Model

Based on the suggestions that individual differences in bilingual experiences
might explain the reported variability in bilingualism-induced neuroplasticity,
Pliatsikas (2019b) revisited the available literature and evaluated it according
to the linguistic experiences of the tested samples. He put forward three inter-
esting observations: First, that simultaneous bilinguals showed similar patterns
of structural adaptations as immersed sequential bilinguals only (i.e., bilinguals
with substantial experience in using their second language). These effects were
mainly found in the shape and volume of the basal ganglia and the thalamus
(Burgaleta, Sanjuán, Ventura-Campos, Sebastián-Gallés, & Ávila, 2016; Pli-
atsikas, DeLuca, Moschopoulou, & Saddy, 2017), as well as the integrity of
white matter structures such as the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF)
and the corpus callosum (CC; Garcı́a-Pentón, Pérez Fernández, Iturria-Medina,
Gillon-Dowens, & Carreiras, 2014; Mohades et al., 2012). Second, that cortical
grey matter effects were mainly reported in young adult sequential bilinguals
with limited immersion in bilingual environments, but also in older lifelong
bilinguals; conversely, subcortical and white matter adaptations were mainly
reported in experienced bilinguals, young and old (Luk, Bialystok, Craik, &
Grady, 2011; Pliatsikas, Moschopoulou, & Saddy, 2015). Third, adaptations
in simultaneous interpreters, which arguably have the most frequent and in-
tense language switching needs, were reported as reductions in grey matter
volume and white matter integrity when compared to non-interpreter bilingual
or multilingual controls. Particular trajectories of structural adaptations were
also observed in language training studies, where cortical grey matter adap-
tations appeared to be followed by white matter and subcortical grey matter
adaptations, while the original grey matter adaptations disappeared in more
experienced users. Pliatsikas (2019b) suggested that structural adaptations in
the brain are dynamic, can go through cycles of local tissue increases and de-
creases during language learning (with a cycle kickstarted every time a new
language is acquired), and cannot be viewed independently of where in the
cycle of additional language learning and use the bilingual is.
Based on these observations, Pliatsikas put forward the dynamic restructur-
ing model (Pliatsikas, 2019b), a theoretical framework organizing the available
evidence according to the bilinguals’ place in the cycle of learning and using an
additional language. Based on previous models explaining neuroplasticity dur-
ing the acquisition of a new skill (Lövdén, Bäckman, Lindenberger, Schaefer, &

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Pliatsikas, DeLuca, and Voits The Many Shades of Bilingualism

Schmiedek, 2010), Pliatsikas proposed that the reported bilingualism-induced

effects can be classified into three distinct stages of language learning and
use: At Stage 1, where participants are initially exposed to a second language,
either by means of immersion in a foreign environment or in a language train-
ing course, increases in grey matter volume are reported in a series of brain
regions related to vocabulary acquisition (for example, the inferior and superior
parietal lobules, the anterior temporal lobe and Heschl’s gyrus) and language
control (for example, the inferior and middle frontal gyri and the anterior cin-
gulate gyrus). Since language learning typically entails vocabulary learning,
especially in classroom-type instruction, these findings indicate that the re-
lated brain regions respond to the increased demands for efficient vocabulary
learning and controlling between lexical alternatives by increasing their size,
possibly by creating more local neural connections. With increased exposure to
a second language environment (i.e., with increased L2 experience) the initial
growth of these regions disappears, possibly due to the process of pruning after
efficient connections are identified. The L2 learners are now entering Stage 2,
or the consolidation stage, where the weight shifts from vocabulary acquisition
to grammatical and phonological acquisition (Caffarra, Molinaro, Davidson,
& Carreiras, 2015; Flege, 2009; Pliatsikas & Marinis, 2013), and subsequently
to control of lexical, phonological, and grammatical alternatives. It is in these
bilinguals that subcortical and cerebellar adaptations first emerge, in regions
that are central to language control (Abutalebi & Green, 2016). This is also when
adaptations in white matter tracts such as the inferior and superior longitudinal
fasciculi (ILF and SLF) and the IFOF first emerge, as the brain becomes more
efficient in relaying information between frontal, temporal, and parietal regions
involved in semantic, phonological, and syntactic processing. Similarly, this is
the stage where adaptations are reported in the CC, a tract crucial to executive
control (Just, Cherkassky, Keller, Kana, & Minshew, 2007). With increasing
experience bilinguals are expected to reach Stage 3, that of peak efficiency,
with simultaneous interpreters being the best representatives of this stage. This
is when adaptations reported at Stage 2, mainly white matter and subcorti-
cal grey matter changes, are expected to slowly disappear, possibly signifying
pruning processes, at least in grey matter, resembling the reversing at Stage 2
of the effects from Stage 1. In white matter, the previously reported frontal
adaptations are replaced by more posterior adaptations of the same tracts. This
possibly signifies increased automatization/efficiency, which requires less in-
volvement of frontal regions (see also Grundy, Anderson, & Bialystok, 2017).
Although the last stage is the less well-described, due to the relative scarcity
of evidence, the dynamic restructuring model proposes that brain modulations

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are dynamic and continuous and can be predicted by the bilingual experiences.
This suggests that the typically employed between-groups bilingual versus
monolingual comparisons might be inadequate to capture the full extent of the
effects of bilingualism on the brain, and certainly inappropriate to investigate
the dynamicity of these effects.
It is important to point out that the dynamic restructuring model is not a
model about second language acquisition (lexical, grammatical, or otherwise)
or processing, or even control; it is a model about the neurostructural corre-
lates of the above processes, and, crucially, their trajectories. As such, it is
compatible with related models of bilingualism-induced neuroplasticity, such
as the adaptive control hypothesis (ACH; Abutalebi & Green, 2016) and the
bilingual anterior to posterior and subcortical shift (BAPSS) model (Grundy
et al., 2017), which also link structure to function. The dynamic restructuring
model complements the ACH by accounting for newer findings, especially with
respect to white matter plasticity, and by adding a temporal dimension and dy-
namicity to its predictions; it also accounts for the reductions reported in highly
experienced language switchers, like simultaneous interpreters, which are not
accounted for by the BAPSS. Finally, it accounts for the limited findings from
multilinguals, in an attempt to place all types of bi-/multilingual experiences
on a continuum (see also Pliatsikas, 2019b).

Moving Forward: Examining the (Long-term) Effects of Individual

Experiences on Brain Structure
The need for the field to move away from dichotomous bilingual/monolingual
comparisons has recently been acknowledged by a few studies employing a
variety of new approaches that put individual experiences/differences of bilin-
guals at center stage. Such approaches are in accordance with the basic premise
of the dynamic restructuring model and will help further elaborate the effects
of bilingualism on the brain, and ultimately the model itself. The remainder of
this section describes the two general approaches that have recently been used
in this direction.
One approach is the use of cross-sectional designs, which examine indi-
vidual differences in bilingual language use, using multiple factors to exam-
ine their respective effects. Ideally, factors related to type, profile, duration,
and intensity of bilingual language use are examined, as these will likely in-
teract with respect to delimiting the latency and extent of neuroanatomical
adaptation. A handful of studies have examined such effects within bilingual
groups, usually in the absence of a monolingual control group. Results from
these studies provide support for aspects of the dynamic restructuring model,

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specifically adaptations at specific stages of bilingual language exposure and

use. For example, Nichols and Joannise (2016) examined neurocognitive ef-
fects of L2 age of acquisition (AoA) and proficiency. They reported a positive
correlation of AoA and white matter integrity in several tracts including the
CC, arcuate fasciculus (AF), and ILF. Some overlapping effects were found
by DeLuca, Rothman, Bialystok, and Pliatsikas (2019) who reported a pos-
itive correlation with AoA and white matter integrity in the CC. This study
also reported longer duration of L2 exposure to correlate with reshaping in
subcortical structures associated with language control, including the caudate
nucleus and thalamus. Another recent study by Hervais-Adelman, Egorova,
and Golestani (2018) tested multilinguals and reported positive correlations of
both volumetric and shape adaptations in the caudate nucleus with the degree
of multilingualism, as determined by a composite measure relating to length
of use and proficiency. Taken together, these studies indicate that prolonged
L2 learning and/or use leads to increased efficiency, which is expressed by
continuous and dynamic restructuring of brain regions involved in language
control. A more recent approach that follows similar principles has been put
forward by Gullifer and Titone (2019), who presented a measure of language
entropy as a predictor of neurofunctional modulations in the bilingual brain.
Language entropy is a single measure accounting for the individuals’ history in
all of the spoken languages (and partially capturing the profiles of language use
distinguished in the ACH) and provides additional predictive power over more
traditional predictors such as amount of immersion or age of acquisition. Al-
though this approach has not been tested on structural brain data yet, language
entropy has been shown to modulate resting state functional connectivity in the
bilingual brain (Gullifer et al., 2018), suggesting that this is a promising future
avenue for the study of brain structure too.
The second approach that is clearly relevant to the predictions of the dy-
namic restructuring model, and to the field in general, is the use of longitudinal
designs with bilinguals. These designs provide ideal within-subjects measures
of language use, and their interactions with brain structure. The majority of
longitudinal studies to date cover mainly language acquisition and early aspects
of exposure in highly instructed training environments. These studies suggest
that the brain responds to initial learning via increases in cortical grey mat-
ter volume in regions associated with language processing and control. For
example, Mårtensson and colleagues (2012) reported volumetric increases in
several regions associated with language acquisition and processing, specifi-
cally the inferior, middle, and superior frontal gyri (IFG, MFG, and SFG) and
the hippocampus. Stein et al. (2012) echoed some of these findings by reporting

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increased grey matter volume in left IFG and anterior temporal lobe (ATL) in
L2 learners of German living in Switzerland. Support for a notion of consolida-
tion in neuroanatomical adaptation to L2 use has also been seen in longer term
exposure. Hosoda, Tanaka, Nariai, Honda, and Hanakawa (2013), for exam-
ple, found increases in structural connectivity between cortical and subcortical
regions (specifically IFG and caudate nucleus) in Japanese L2 learners of En-
glish who were consistently practicing for a year. To date, and to the best of
our knowledge, only one study has examined later stages of bilingual language
use in adults with a longitudinal design that did not involve language training.
DeLuca et al. (2019) tested longer-term neuroanatomical effects of language
use in already immersed bilinguals. They reported volumetric increases in the
cerebellum, which were positively correlated with the amount of prior immer-
sion, accompanied by subcortical restructuring and increases in diffusivity in
the forceps minor (an anterior extension of the corpus callosum connecting it to
the frontal lobes). These findings were interpreted as increased automation and
efficiency of bilingual language processing with prolonged intensive L2 expo-
sure, suggesting that the effects of bilingualism on brain structure are dynamic
in nature and can be observed even in highly experienced bilingual users.

The Dynamic Effects of Bilingualism and Their Implications for

Later Life
Since the effects of active language use on brain structure are observable in
bilinguals across different ages and independently of language training, it is
important to look at how this “enhancement” of brain structure might interact
with brain decline as brought about by healthy ageing or neurodegenerative dis-
eases. While the body of research looking at bilingualism in ageing and patient
populations is comparatively smaller, initial evidence shows that adaptations in
brain structure do indeed extend to the older age. These studies report mono-
lingual and bilingual group differences, in a way where healthy older bilingual
population exhibit resilience to age-related neurodegeneration. This resilience
is expressed as preservation of grey matter in brain areas implicated in language
acquisition and control, such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cin-
gulate cortex and ATL (Abutalebi et al., 2014, 2015), the IFG and IPL (Borsa
et al., 2018; Heim et al., 2019), and the hippocampus (Voits, Robson, Rothman,
& Pliatsikas, 2019), and higher integrity in white matter tracts such as CC, ILF,
and IFOF (Anderson et al., 2018; Gold, Johnson, & Powell, 2013; Luk et al.,
2011), all regions central to the predictions of the dynamic restructuring model,
especially at Stages 2 and 3. All of this adds to the idea of bilingualism as a
contributing factor to a neural reserve (i.e., build-up of structural scaffolding of

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neural tissue in the brain, supporting it against tissue or synaptic loss). It is worth
noting that these studies typically tested lifelong bilinguals (i.e., individuals
with extensive experience in switching between languages) who have presum-
ably gone through all the stages described by the dynamic restructuring model,
implying long-term neuroplastic effects.
The suggestion of a bilingualism-induced neural reserve has raised the
question of whether bilingualism has clinical implications in the form of pro-
tection from healthy and/or pathological neurodegeneration, which might even
extend to delay of the clinical symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases such as
Alzheimer’s (Perani & Abutalebi, 2015). The related literature is relatively re-
cent, and it initially involved examining clinical records of life-long bilinguals,
which showed that bilingualism may delay the onset of clinical symptoms of
dementia by 4 to 5 years (Alladi et al., 2013; Bialystok, Craik, & Freedman,
2007). The direct evidence from brain structure is quite limited, but the effects
of neural reserve have been observed in clinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and
mild cognitive impairment (MCI) populations: Duncan and colleagues (2018)
reported French-English bilingual patients to have higher cortical thickness
in language and cognitive control areas than monolinguals. A more common
finding in clinical populations is that bilingual clinical populations have a
greater extent of brain atrophy than cognitively matched monolingual popula-
tions (Gold, Kim, Johnson, Kryscio, & Smith, 2013; Schweizer, Ware, Fischer,
Craik, & Bialystok, 2012), suggesting a bilingualism-induced increase in neu-
ral connectivity and more efficient use of spared neural tissue, or a cognitive
reserve. This finding is further supported by other proxy measures, such as
reduced resting state brain metabolism, which indicates lower synaptic activity
in bilinguals, while maintaining cognitive performance corresponding with a
higher rate of metabolism in monolingual AD patients (Perani et al., 2017).
If bilingualism is shown to counteract cognitive and/or brain decline related
to AD and MCI, it might be the case that its beneficial effects are not constrained
to these diseases only, although other neurodegenerative disorders have hardly
been studied in this context (Voits, Pliatsikas, Robson, & Rothman, 2019). For
example, there are very few studies examining progressive neurodegeneration
in diseases such as Huntington’s and Parkinson’s in connection with bilingual-
ism. Studying these conditions in bilinguals may prove highly informative, as
they primarily target the basal ganglia, a group of structures that are commonly
reported to be affected by bilingualism, especially in more experienced bilin-
guals, as per the dynamic restructuring model suggestions. However, a recent
study reported bilingualism to only be associated with increased grey matter
volume in inferior frontal gyrus and significantly increased metabolism in an

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array of cortical regions in Catalan-Spanish bilingual Huntington’s disease pa-

tients, without reporting any subcortical effects (Martı́nez-Horta et al., 2019).
Bilingualism and Parkinson’s disease have not been yet studied at the brain
level, but it has been shown that increased cognitive reserve in general (as
measured by an overall cognitive lifestyle score) results in better cognitive and
motor outcomes in Welsh-English bilinguals (Hindle et al., 2017). Similarly,
preliminary results have been presented pointing toward a cognitive reserve in
bilinguals diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease that primarily affects
the white matter (Aveledo et al., in press). It even seems to be the case that
bilingualism-induced neural efficiency may prove beneficial in cases of acute
neural tissue loss. Significantly more bilinguals than monolinguals report intact
cognitive functions following a stroke (Alladi et al., 2016) and bilingual indi-
viduals experience less severe post-stroke aphasia (Paplikar et al., 2019). These
results have been interpreted as evidence for faster, more efficient, rewiring of
lost connections and adapting to a new situation following sudden onset brain
damage. In sum, although the limited available evidence points to benefits of
bilingualism in the case of neurodegenerative diseases beyond AD, much more
work needs to be done to understand the tangible clinical repercussions of bilin-
gualism. However, the common denominator of the available evidence is that
it has been observed in patient groups from bilingual regions (India, Quebec,
Catalonia, and Wales), suggesting a link between these benefits and active use
of two languages.

Putting It to the Test

Since the dynamic restructuring model was conceived mostly based on pre-
viously published data, its specific predictions should, and could, be directly
tested with tailored designs. For example, a long-term longitudinal design
conducted in highly proficient bilinguals that are freshly immersed in a L2-
speaking environment should see them cycling through the three stages as an
effect of immersion, starting from cortical grey matter restructuring at the start
of immersion, gradually decreasing before giving way to subcortical and cere-
bellar restructuring and white matter enhancement. Similar effects would be
expected in tri-, quatri-, n-linguals immersed in an Ln environment, although
it is possible that a previously optimized language control mechanism would
face smaller scale adaptations. It is also possible that the adaptations within
the stages themselves might vary between different groups of bilinguals for
example, and reconciling with the predictions of the ACH. Bilinguals in dense
code-switching contexts, where the demands for switching and control are the
highest, may transition faster between the three stages, especially between Stage

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Pliatsikas, DeLuca, and Voits The Many Shades of Bilingualism

2 and 3, than bilinguals in dual-language contexts, who in turn might transition

faster than those in single language contexts.1 It is also possible that, since these
effects are dynamic, switching between contexts might interrupt this trajectory,
or even backtrack it. In the context of the BAPSS model, this would mean
an interruption of the shift to posterior structures, with less reliance on them
observed in bilinguals that face smaller language switching demands. Turning
to ageing bilinguals, it might be the case that the proposed neural reserve will
be contingent upon the stage the bilinguals find themselves into, in that while
lifelong bilinguals will experience benefits across the board, bilinguals with
limited immersion might only report benefits in brain structures affected at
Stage 1. Similar predictions could be made for patient studies, in that benefits
for the brain are more likely to emerge in highly experienced bilinguals.

Concluding Remarks
This article has used contemporary theories and evidence to show that the
location, type, and trajectory of neuroplasticity related to bilingualism is inex-
tricably linked to nuances related to the individual experiences of the bilinguals,
which cannot be reliably and consistently captured by traditional bilingual ver-
sus monolingual comparisons. We therefore endorse the view that the field
should shift toward longitudinal designs that describe the trajectory of these
effects by taking into account the quantity and quality of bilingual language use,
an approach that also applies to the study of bilingualism-induced adaptations
in cognition and brain function. Given the implications that active bilingual-
ism might have for later life, an emphasis should be placed on examining the
brain and bilingualism across various clinical disorders, both cross-sectionally
and also longitudinally, to study effects of bilingualism on the rate of brain
decline over time and any structural differences arising as a result of language
use patterns. In all cases, we maintain that it is paramount to move beyond
the simplistic binary view of bilingualism as a categorical variable, treat bilin-
gualism as the nuanced experience it is, and identify factors that contribute to
anatomical changes in the brain across the whole lifespan.

Final revised version accepted 19 September 2019

Note
1 It is worth noting here that the ACH and its derivatives (Green, 2018) have also
described an “open control” context, which might imply a specific rather than
global interference from L2 (e.g., interference at the level of selecting equally active
language alternatives during production, which in turn implies reactive suppression
of the non-selected item).

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Appendix: Accessible Summary (also publicly available at

https://oasis-database.org)

Pliatsikas, C., Deluca, V., & Voits, T. (2019). The manifold effects of bilingual-
ism on brain structure, and their implications for ageing and neurodegeneration.
Article accepted in Language Learning on August 8, 2019.

The Manifold Effects of Bilingualism on Brain Structure

What This Research Was About and Why It Is Important
Recent evidence has shown that the experience of learning and using additional
languages can cause measurable changes in the brain regions involved in lan-
guage acquisition and control; however, this evidence remains fragmented. In
this article, the authors revisited the available findings and presented a recent
experience-based model of brain plasticity which attempts to unify them. The
authors proposed future research avenues and explored how these proposals
relate to suggestions for protective effects of bilingualism in older age.

What the Researchers Did

r We point out clear distinctions regarding the parts of the brain that might be
affected by bilingual experience. Long-term, experienced bilinguals show
adaptations in regions mainly related to language control. Adaptations in
bilingual individuals who are still acquiring, and/or have limited experi-
ence in using, their second language, are mostly found in regions related to
vocabulary acquisition.
r We summarize the dynamic restructuring model (DRM; Pliatsikas, 2019b),
which proposes that adaptations occur in distinct stages across time, as the
brain becomes efficient at handling multiple languages.

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Pliatsikas, DeLuca, and Voits The Many Shades of Bilingualism

What the Researchers Found

r Most of the available literature compares bilinguals and monolinguals; how-
ever, the predictions of the DRM would be better tested within bilinguals.
Therefore, two future directions are proposed:
r First, we need measures of individual differences in bilingual language use to
investigate how different experiences lead to different adaptations. The lim-
ited evidence available shows that longer exposure to additional languages is
marked by dynamic adaptations that signify more efficient language control;
r Second, longitudinal studies are encouraged, that focus on bilingualism-
induced adaptations over long periods of time. Most evidence comes from
language training studies and shows initial adaptations in regions related
to language acquisition. However, one longitudinal study on experienced
bilinguals suggests that with prolonged experience these adaptations give
way to others, in regions linked to language control.
r Finally, we highlight the implications of these findings and the predictions
of the DRM for later life, in light of recent suggestions that bilingualism can
interact with brain decline in healthy ageing or in patients with neurodegen-
erative diseases. Compared to monolinguals, healthily ageing bilinguals tend
to show better preservation of regions related to language acquisition and
control, similar to the regions highlighted by the DRM. The limited research
on progressive and acute neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s and
stroke, respectively) has shown better preservation of cognitive functions in
bilingual patients, suggesting more efficient recruitment of the spared brain
tissue. This finding appears related to active long-term bilingualism, but
given the limited evidence, this suggestion remains tentative.

Things to Consider
r The field is still relatively young but promising; importantly, the seemingly
contradictory findings to date actually appear to fit into a trajectory of adap-
tation, if viewed from an experience-based perspective.
r Bilingualism should not be viewed as a monolithic attribute, but as a nuanced
and dynamic experience.
r Bilingualism could be studied as a cost-effective strategy against ageing-
and disease-related brain decline.

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Pliatsikas, DeLuca, and Voits The Many Shades of Bilingualism

How to cite this summary: Pliatsikas, C., Deluca, V., & Voits, T. (2019): The
manifold effects of bilingualism on brain structure, and their implications for
ageing and neurodegeneration. OASIS Summary of Pliatsikas et al. in Language
Learning. https://oasis-database.org

This summary has a CC BY-NC-SA license.

17 Language Learning 00:0, xxxx 2019, pp. 1–17