Bilingual education and cognitive control: An educational neuroscience perspective.

چکیده اصلی

BACKGROUND: Bilingual education provides a natural framework for studying how experience shapes the developing and aging brain. Managing two languages engages neural networks supporting executive function and cognitive control, offering a model of experience-dependent plasticity. METHODS: This narrative review synthesizes developmental, neuroimaging, electrophysiological, and longitudinal studies published primarily between 2010 and 2025, with earlier seminal studies included to provide theoretical context. The review is based on English-language literature identified through major international databases and is not a systematic review. RESULTS: Bilingual experience induces structural and functional changes in frontoparietal and frontostriatal networks, improves white matter integrity, and enhances neural efficiency in cognitive control tasks. ERP and longitudinal studies indicate benefits for attention, working memory, and metalinguistic awareness. In older adults, lifelong bilingualism supports executive function and cognitive resilience, contributing to cognitive reserve. Behavioral effects are inconsistent, but neural adaptations are robust. CONCLUSION: Bilingual education illustrates how socially embedded, cognitively demanding learning shapes brain networks. It provides a valuable model for understanding experience-dependent neuroplasticity across the lifespan, with implications for education and cognitive health in aging.

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