Bilingual language control may involve cognitive control, including inhibition and switching. These types of control have been previously associated with neural activity in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). In previous studies, the DRD2 gene, related to dopamine availability in the striatum, has been found to play a role in neural activity during cognitive control tasks, with carriers of the gene's A1 allele showing different patterns of activity in inferior frontal regions during cognitive control tasks than non-carriers. The current study sought to extend these findings to the domain of bilingual language control. Forty-nine Spanish-English bilinguals participated in this study by providing DNA samples through saliva, completing background questionnaires, and performing a language production task (picture-naming), a non-verbal inhibition task (Simon task), and a non-verbal switching task (shape-color task) in the fMRI scanner. The fMRI data were analyzed to determine whether variation in the genetic background or bilingual language background predicts neural activity in the IFG and ACC during these three tasks. Results indicate that genetic and language background variables predicted neural activity in the IFG during English picture naming. Variation in only the genetic background predicted neural activity in the ACC during the shape-color switching task; variation in only the language background predicted neural activity in the ACC and IFG during the Simon task. These results suggest that variation in the DRD2 gene should not be ignored when drawing conclusions about bilingual verbal and non-verbal cognitive control.

中文翻译：

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双语大脑的个体差异：语言背景和 DRD2 基因型在语言和非语言认知控制中的作用

双语语言控制可能涉及认知控制，包括抑制和转换。这些类型的控制以前与额下回 (IFG) 和前扣带回皮层 (ACC) 的神经活动有关。在之前的研究中，已发现与纹状体中多巴胺可用性相关的 DRD2 基因在认知控制任务期间的神经活动中发挥作用，该基因的 A1 等位基因的携带者在认知控制期间在下额叶区域显示出不同的活动模式任务比非载体。目前的研究试图将这些发现扩展到双语语言控制领域。49 名西英双语者通过唾液提供 DNA 样本、完成背景调查问卷、并在 fMRI 扫描仪中执行语言生成任务（图片命名）、非语言抑制任务（西蒙任务）和非语言转换任务（形状-颜色任务）。分析 fMRI 数据以确定遗传背景或双语语言背景的变化是否预测了这三项任务期间 IFG 和 ACC 的神经活动。结果表明，遗传和语言背景变量预测了英语图片命名过程中 IFG 的神经活动。在形状-颜色切换任务期间，仅遗传背景的变化预测了 ACC 中的神经活动；在西蒙任务期间，仅语言背景的变化预测了 ACC 和 IFG 的神经活动。