Effects of bilingualism and lifestyle choices on the neural indices of cognitive control in older adults

The use of domain-general executive functions during language control is suggested to result in cognitive advantages for bilinguals. However, the conditions behind this advantage are not clear. Here, we use a visual Go/NoGo paradigm to measure electrophysiological indices of cognitive control in monolinguals and bilingual older adults. Bilingual older adults exhibited brain activity similar to younger adults. This effect of bilingualism was associated with increased L2 use and proficiency. Age did not influence this effect in bilinguals, but lifestyle factors did. Monolinguals exhibited typical age-related reductions in conflict monitoring and stimulus evaluation. These results suggest that bilingualism can attenuate age-related cognitive decline but lifestyle factors can interact with the cognitive advantages provided by bilingualism.