Improving Language Acquisition and Processing With Cognitive Stimulation

Abstract

Cognitive functions are essential in human development in general, and they play a key role\nin language learning, as well as in reading and writing. A large body of evidence makes the\nrelationship between executive functions and language acquisition and processing indisputable\n[Moser et al., 2007; Mazuka et al., 2009; Woodard et al., 2016; see also the meta-analysis by Swanson\net al. (2009)]. Lexical-semantic processing has been associated with inhibition skills (Khanna and\nBoland, 2010) and with working memory and information updating (Weiland et al., 2014), whereas\nsyntactic processing has been linked with inhibition, shifting, updating (Novick et al., 2005; Roberts\net al., 2007). Memory updating has been suggested to underlie both sentence comprehension\n(Daneman and Carpenter, 1980) and production (Slevc, 2011). Furthermore, executive functions\nhave also been correlated with the development of phonological awareness (Risso et al., 2015).\nBroadly speaking, the neuroscientific literature has consistently shown that executive functions and\nlanguage skills are interrelated, suggesting an overlap of the neural processes involved [see Slot and\nVon Suchodoletz (2018)].\nDespite the large body of research demonstrating the close link between executive functions\nand language skills, it is yet to be established the possible bidirectionality or reciprocality between\nthe development of both macro-systems and the associated skills. Following the notion of brain\nplasticity and the expansion-partial renormalization hypothesis (EPH) (Pliatsikas, 2020), any\nnew cognitive effort, such as acquiring a new language, may produce a change in the neural\nsystem and pathways (e.g., increasing the number of synapses, generating new dendritic spines, or\nstrengthening neural connections) related to this learned skill. With this being so, and using digital\nbiomarkers, one could potentially quantify the specific changes in the cognitive system induced by\nlanguage learning, but more importantly, one could also determine the best cognitive foundations\non which language learning could be built by virtue of establishing the reciprocal connections\nbetween domain-general executive functions and language acquisition. Furthermore, as RojasBarahona et al. (2015) proposed, a cognitive stimulation intervention focused on these biomarkers\ncould potentially increase and strengthen the neural network underlying language skills.

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