Language comprehension in the bilingual brain: fMRI and ERP support for psycholinguistic models

Abstract

In this paper, we review issues in bilingual language comprehension in the light of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and event-related brain potential (ERP) data. Next, we consider to what extent neuroimaging data are compatible with assumptions and characteristics of available psycholinguistic models of bilingual word processing, in particular the BIA+ model. We argue that this model provides a theoretical framework that is useful for interpreting both the spatial brain activation patterns observed with fMRI and the temporal brain wave patterns of ERP studies. Finally, we demonstrate that neuroimaging data stimulate the specification of hitherto only globally described components of functional psycholinguistic models.