Language has the power to shape cognition, behavior, and even the form and function of the brain. Technological and scientific developments have recently yielded an increasingly diverse set of tools with which to study the way language changes neural structures and processes. Here, we review research investigating the consequences of multilingualism as revealed by brain imaging. A key feature of multilingual cognition is that two or more languages can become activated at the same time, requiring mechanisms to control interference. Consequently, extensive experience managing multiple languages can influence cognitive processes as well as their neural correlates. We begin with a brief discussion of how bilinguals activate language, and of the brain regions implicated in resolving language conflict. We then review evidence for the pervasive impact of bilingual experience on the function and structure of neural networks that support linguistic and non-linguistic cognitive control, speech processing and production, and language learning. We conclude that even seemingly distinct effects of language on cognitive operations likely arise from interdependent functions, and that future work directly exploring the interactions between multiple levels of processing could offer a more comprehensive view of how language molds the mind.

中文翻译：

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神经体系结构多语言化的后果。

语言具有塑造认知，行为乃至大脑形态和功能的能力。最近，科学技术的发展产生了越来越多的工具集，用于研究语言改变神经结构和过程的方式。在这里，我们回顾了研究大脑影像学揭示的多语种后果的研究。多语言认知的关键特征是可以同时激活两种或多种语言，从而需要控制干扰的机制。因此，丰富的管理多种语言的经验可能会影响认知过程及其神经相关性。我们首先简要讨论双语者如何激活语言，以及涉及解决语言冲突的大脑区域。然后，我们回顾了双语经验对支持语言和非语言认知控制，语音处理和产生以及语言学习的神经网络的功能和结构的普遍影响的证据。我们得出的结论是，语言对认知操作的甚至看似明显的影响也可能是由相互依赖的功能引起的，而未来的工作直接探索多个处理层次之间的相互作用可能会提供关于语言如何塑造思维的更全面的观点。