Language as a pathway to promote cognitive health in older adults: effects of Between-dialect Interpreting Training (BIT) on cognitive control

• Wen, Hao ^[1] ; Dong, Yanping ^[1]
  1. [1] Zhejiang University
• Localización: Bilingualism: Language and cognition, ISSN 1366-7289, Vol. 29, Nº 4, 2026, págs. 940-954
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1017/s1366728925100527
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Older adults commonly experience declines in cognitive control, which significantly impacts their well-being. Although intensive language training, particularly interpreting, holds potential for mitigating these declines, its efficacy remains largely unexplored. Based on previous findings in the literature (especially our theoretical framework on interpreting), we designed a 24-hour programme of Between-Dialect Interpreting Training (BIT). Using a pretest-intervention-posttest design, we evaluated the efficacy of the BIT (over 8 weeks) against a control group on general cognitive ability (MoCA) and core cognitive control functions – working memory (via listening span and digit backward tasks), interference control (via Stroop and Flanker tasks) and cognitive flexibility (via colour-shape task and WCST). Results demonstrated notable between-group differences favouring the BIT, with significant improvements in listening span, Stroop effect and Stroop global RT, colour-shape switch cost and marginal improvements in digit backward score and MoCA. The implications of how language training promotes cognitive health during ageing are discussed.

• Referencias bibliográficas
  • Adesope, O. O., Lavin, T., Thompson, T., & Ungerleider, C. (2010). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the cognitive correlates of...
  • Antoniou, M., Gunasekera, G. M., & Wong, P. C. (2013). Foreign language training as cognitive therapy for age-related cognitive decline:...
  • Au, J., Gibson, B. C., Bunarjo, K., Buschkuehl, M., & Jaeggi, S. M. (2020). Quantifying the difference between active and passive control...
  • Babcock, L., & Vallesi, A. (2017). Are simultaneous interpreters expert bilinguals, unique bilinguals, or both? Bilingualism: Language...
  • Bialystok, E. (2021). Bilingualism: Pathway to cognitive reserve. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 25(5), 355–364.
  • Bialystok, E., & Craik, F. I. (2022). How does bilingualism modify cognitive function? Attention to the mechanism. Psychonomic Bulletin...
  • Bopp, K. L., & Verhaeghen, P. (2005). Aging and verbal memory span: A meta-analysis. Journals of Gerontology – Series B Psychological...
  • Bopp, K. L., & Verhaeghen, P. (2020). Aging and n-back performance: A meta-analysis. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B Psychological...
  • Braver, T., & West, R. (2008). Working memory, executive control, and aging. In Craik, F. & Salthouse, T. (Eds.), The handbook of...
  • Celik, S., Kokje, E., Meyer, P., Frölich, L., & Teichmann, B. (2022). Does bilingualism influence neuropsychological test performance...
  • Degirmenci, M. G., Grossmann, J. A., Meyer, P., & Teichmann, B. (2022). The role of bilingualism in executive functions in healthy older...
  • DeLuca, V., Rothman, J., Bialystok, E., & Pliatsikas, C. (2019). Redefining bilingualism as a spectrum of experiences that differentially...
  • Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168.
  • Diamond, A., & Ling, D. S. (2020). Review of the evidence on, and fundamental questions about, efforts to improve executive functions,...
  • Đokić, R., Koso-Drljević, M., & Đapo, N. (2018). Working memory span tasks: Group administration and omitting accuracy criterion do not...
  • Dong, Y. (2023). The unique bilingual profile of translators and interpreters. In Ferreira, A. & Schwieter, J. W. (Eds.), The Routledge...
  • Dong, Y., & Li, P. (2020). Attentional control in interpreting: A model of language control and processing control. Bilingualism: Language...
  • Dong, Y., & Cai, R. (2015). Working memory in interpreting: A commentary on theoretical models. In Wen, Z., Mota, M. & McNeill, A....
  • Dong, Y., & Liu, Y. (2016). Classes in translating and interpreting produce differential gains in switching and updating. Frontiers in...
  • Dong, Y., Liu, Y., & Cai, R. (2018). How does consecutive interpreting training influence working memory: A longitudinal study of potential...
  • Dong, Y., & Xie, Z. (2014). Contributions of second language proficiency and interpreting experience to cognitive control differences...
  • Dong, Y., & Zhong, F. (2017). Interpreting experience enhances early attentional processing, conflict monitoring and interference suppression...
  • Engle, R. W., & Kane, M. J. (2004). Executive attention, working memory capacity, and a two-factor theory of cognitive control. Psychology...
  • Gajewski, P. D., Ferdinand, N. K., Kray, J., & Falkenstein, M. (2018). Understanding sources of adult age differences in task switching:...
  • García, A. M., & Kogan, B. (2023). Interlingual reformulation as a window into the bilingual brain. In Ferreira, A. & Schwieter, J....
  • García, A. M., Muñoz, E., & Kogan, B. (2020). Taxing the bilingual mind: Effects of simultaneous interpreting experience on verbal and...
  • Ghiselli, S. (2022). Working memory tasks in interpreting studies: A meta-analysis. Translation, Cognition & Behavior, 5(1), 50–83.
  • Green, D. W., & Abutalebi, J. (2013). Language control in bilinguals: The adaptive control hypothesis. Journal of Cognitive Psychology,...
  • Greenwood, P. M. (2020). Far transfer and cognitive training: Examination of two hypotheses on mechanisms. In Thomas, A. K. & Gutchess,...
  • Guye, S., & von Bastian, C. C. (2017). Working memory training in older adults: Bayesian evidence supporting the absence of transfer....
  • Hasher, L., & Zacks, R. T. (1988). Working memory, comprehension, and aging: A review and a new view. Psychology of Learning and Motivation,...
  • Hervais-Adelman, A., & Babcock, L. (2020). The neurobiology of simultaneous interpreting: Where extreme language control and cognitive...
  • Hsu, H. L. (2021). Cognitive control in older Minnan-mandarin and Hakka-Mandarin bidialectal adults: Advantages in Stroop-type tasks. Lingua,...
  • Idowu, M. I., Szameitat, A. J., & Parton, A. (2024). The assessment of executive function abilities in healthy and neurodegenerative aging—A...
  • Karbach, J., & Verhaeghen, P. (2014). Making working memory work: A meta-analysis of executive-control and working memory training in...
  • Kerns, J. G., Cohen, J. D., MacDonald, A. W., Cho, R. Y., Stenger, V. A., & Carter, C. S. (2004). Anterior cingulate conflict monitoring...
  • Kirk, N. W., Declerck, M., Kemp, R. J., & Kempe, V. (2022). Language control in regional dialect speakers–monolingual by name, bilingual...
  • Kirova, A. M., Bays, R. B., & Lagalwar, S. (2015). Working memory and executive function decline across normal aging, mild cognitive impairment,...
  • Kompa, N. A., & Mueller, J. L. (2020). How abstract (non-embodied) linguistic representations augment cognitive control. Frontiers in...
  • Kray, J., & Ferdinand, N. K. (2014). Task switching and aging. In Grange, J. A. & Houghton, G. (Eds.), Task switching and cognitive...
  • Kulinskaya, E., Morgenthaler, S., & Staudte, R. G. (2008). Meta-analysis: A guide to calibrating and combining statistical evidence. John...
  • Laine, M., & Lehtonen, M. (2018). Cognitive consequences of bilingualism: Where to go from here? Language, Cognition and Neuroscience,...
  • Lehtonen, M., Soveri, A., Laine, A., Järvenpää, J., De Bruin, A., & Antfolk, J. (2018). Is bilingualism associated with enhanced executive...
  • Li, P., & Dong, Y. (2020). Language experiences and cognitive control: A dynamic perspective. The Psychology of Learning and Motivation,...
  • Lövdén, M., Bäckman, L., Lindenberger, U., Schaefer, S., & Schmiedek, F. (2010). A theoretical frame-work for the study of adult cognitive...
  • MacLeod, C. M. (1991). Half a century of research on the Stroop effect: An integrative review. Psychological Bulletin, 109(2), 163–203.
  • Macnamara, B. N., & Conway, A. R. (2014). Novel evidence in support of the bilingual advantage: Influences of task demands and experience...
  • Mair, P., & Wilcox, R. (2020). Robust statistical methods in R using the WRS2 package. Behavior Research Methods, 52, 464–488.
  • Maldonado, T., Orr, J. M., Goen, J. R. M., & Bernard, J. A. (2020). Age differences in the subcomponents of executive functioning. The...
  • Mellor, D., Lewis, M., McCabe, M., Byrne, L., Wang, T., Wang, J., Zhu, M., Cheng, Y., Yang, C., Dong, S., & Xiao, S. (2016). Determining...
  • Meltzer, J. A., Kates Rose, M., Le, A. Y., Spencer, K. A., Goldstein, L., Gubanova, A., … Bialystok, E. (2023). Improvement in executive function...
  • Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive...
  • Nasreddine, Z. S., Phillips, N. A., Bédirian, V., Charbonneau, S., Whitehead, V., Collin, I., Cummings, J. L., & Chertkow, H. (2005)....
  • Nguyen, L., Murphy, K., & Andrews, G. (2019). Cognitive and neural plasticity in old age: A systematic review of evidence from executive...
  • Nicosia, J., Cohen-Shikora, E. R., & Balota, D. A. (2021). Re-examining age differences in the Stroop effect: The importance of the trees...
  • Nicosia, J., Cohen-Shikora, E. R., & Strube, M. J. (2022). What can Brinley plots tell us about cognitive aging? Exploring simulated data...
  • Nozari, N., Freund, M., Breining, B., Rapp, B., & Gordon, B. (2016). Cognitive control during selection and repair in word production....
  • Paap, K. (2022). The Bilingual Advantage in Executive Functioning Hypothesis: How the Debate Provides Insight into Psychology’s Replication...
  • Paap, K. R., Johnson, H. A., & Sawi, O. (2015). Bilingual advantages in executive functioning either do not exist or are restricted to...
  • Park, D. C., & Bischof, G. N. (2013). The aging mind: neuroplasticity in response to cognitive training. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience,...
  • Purdon, S. E., & Waldie, B. (2001). A short form of the Wisconsin card sorting test. Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience, 26(3),...
  • Read, K. L., Kendall, P. C., Carper, M. M., & Rausch, J. R. (2013). Statistical methods for use in the analysis of randomized clinical...
  • Redick, T. S., & Lindsey, D. R. B. (2013). Complex span and n-back measures of working memory: A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin &...
  • Reuter-Lorenz, P. A., Festini, S. B., & Jantz, T. K. (2021). Executive functions and neurocognitive aging. In Schaie, K. W. & Willis,...
  • Rey-Mermet, A., & Gade, M. (2018). Inhibition in aging: What is preserved? What declines? A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin &...
  • Rhodes, M. G. (2004). Age-related differences in performance on the Wisconsin card sorting test: A meta-analytic review. Psychology and Aging,...
  • Richmond, L. L., Burnett, L. K., Morrison, A. B., & Ball, B. H. (2022). Performance on the processing portion of complex working memory...
  • Roelofs, A., & Piai, V. (2011). Attention demands of spoken word planning: A review. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 307.
  • Salthouse, T. A. (1991). Mediation of adult age differences in cognition by reductions in working memory and speed of processing. Psychological...
  • Seitz, A. R. (2018). A new framework of design and continuous evaluation to improve brain training. Journal of cognitive enhancement, 2(1),...
  • Turnbull, A., Seitz, A., Tadin, D., & Lin, F. V. (2022). Unifying framework for cognitive training interventions in brain aging. Ageing...
  • Unsworth, N., Heitz, R. P., Schrock, J. C., & Engle, R. W. (2005). An automated version of the operation span task. Behavior Research...
  • Verhaeghen, P. (2014). The elements of cognitive aging: Meta-analyses of age-related differences in processing speed and their consequences....
  • Verreckt, E., Grimm, E., Agrigoroaei, S., Hubert, M., Philippot, P., Cremer, G., & Schoevaerdts, D. (2022). Investigating the relationship...
  • Ware, A. T., Kirkovski, M., & Lum, J. A. (2020). Meta-analysis reveals a bilingual advantage that is dependent on task and age. Frontiers...
  • Wechsler, D. (2008). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale--Fourth Edition [dataset]. In PsycTESTS Dataset. American Psychological Association...
  • Wen, H., & Dong, Y. (2019). How does interpreting experience enhance working memory and short-term memory: A meta-analysis. Journal of...
  • Wilcox, R. R. (1995). A regression smoother for resistant measures of location and scale. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical...
  • Wilcox, R. R. (1997). ANCOVA based on comparing a robust measure of location at empirically determined design points. British Journal of Mathematical...
  • Wilcox, R. R. (2017). Modern statistics for the social and Behavioral sciences: A practical introduction (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis Group.
  • Wilcox, R. R. (2022). Introduction to robust estimation and hypothesis testing. Elsevier.
  • Wilcox, R. R. (2023). A guide to robust statistical methods. Springer Nature Switzerland.
  • Wilcox, R. R., & Keselman, H. J. (2001). Using trimmed means to compare K measures corresponding to two independent groups. Multivariate...
  • Wu, R., & Rebok, G. W. (2020). Maximizing the impact of cognitive engagement interventions for older adults. In Thomas, A. K. & Gutchess,...
  • Wu, Y. J., Dang, Q., Zhang, Z., Zhang, H., & Guo, T. (2023). Multivariate decoding methods reveal how speaking two dialects affects executive...
  • Wu, Y. J., Zhang, H., & Guo, T. (2016). Does speaking two dialects in daily life affect executive functions? An event-related potential...
  • Xie, Z., & Dong, Y. (2017). Contributions of bilingualism and public speaking training to cognitive control differences among young adults....
  • Ye, Z., & Zhou, X. (2009). Executive control in language processing. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 33(8), 1168–1177.
  • Zhao, H., Chen, X., & Dong, Y. (2023). Interference control in interpreting. In Ferreira, A. & Schwieter, J. W. (Eds.), The Routledge...
  • Zhao, H., Chen, X., & Dong, Y. (2024). Young interpreting trainees’ better adaptation to the flanker conflicting environment: An ERP study....
  • Zhao, H., & Dong, Y. (2020). The early presence and developmental trend of interpreter advantages in cognitive flexibility: Effects from...