Neural correlates of working memory control in aged bilinguals

Obiettivo

Identification of factors that slow down cognitive depletion in ageing is today one of the main objectives of the aged society. Within the concept of cognitive reserve (CR), bilingualism has evidenced to shape cognition by enhancing the capacity of cognitive control (CgCnt). CgCnt and working memory (WM) capacities are strongly interrelated systems which are depleted by ageing. However, the exploration of how bilingualism shapes cognition in old populations is scarce and recently subjected to debate. Under this framework, sensitive approaches (such as the exploration of the neural oscillatory activity) that enable objective investigation of the effects of bilingualism on cognitive ageing are necessary. Neural oscillations represent the mechanisms responsible for cognition. Furthermore, they offer a direct measure of the cognitive architecture and of any reorganizational process accounting in the brain by factors as bilingualism. Nevertheless, the neural code of WM control in old bilinguals has not been explored yet. The current project aims to investigate, with magnetoencephalography (MEG), the neural correlates of WM control in young and old adult bilingual individuals. Resulting data will open a window into the role of bilingualism on the neural architecture of the working brain.