Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-12T09:01:21.123Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The neurobiology of simultaneous interpreting: Where extreme language control and cognitive control intersect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2019

Alexis Hervais-Adelman Open the ORCID record for Alexis Hervais-Adelman [Opens in a new window]  and
Laura Babcock Open the ORCID record for Laura Babcock [Opens in a new window]
Alexis Hervais-Adelman*
Affiliation:
Neurolinguistics Division, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich
Laura Babcock
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet
*
Author for correspondence: Prof. Alexis Hervais-Adelman, E-mail: alexis.hervais-adelman@psychologie.uzh.ch
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Simultaneous interpreting is a complex cognitive task that requires the concurrent execution of multiple processes: listening, comprehension, conversion of a message from one language to another, speech production, and self-monitoring. This requires the deployment of an array of linguistic and cognitive control mechanisms that must coordinate the various brain systems implicated in handling these tasks. How the brain handles this challenge remains an open question, and recent brain imaging investigations have begun to complement the theories based on behavioural data. fMRI studies have shown that simultaneous interpreting engages a network of brain regions encompassing those implicated in speech perception and production, language switching, self-monitoring, and selection. Structural imaging studies have been carried out that also indicate modifications to a similar set of structures. In the present paper, we review the extant data and propose an integrative model of simultaneous interpreting that piggybacks on existing theories of multilingual language control.

Keywords

simultaneous interpretingneuroimagingmultilingualismlanguage controlcognitive controladaptive control hypothesisconditional routingstriatumcerebellumSMA/ACC complex
Type
Review Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 23 , Special Issue 4: Interpreting: A window into bilingual processing , August 2020 , pp. 740 - 751
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abutalebi, J, Annoni, JM, Zimine, I, Pegna, AJ, Seghier, ML, Lee-Jahnke, H, Lazeyras, F, Cappa, SF and Khateb, A (2008) Language control and lexical competition in bilinguals: an event-related FMRI study. Cerebral Cortex 18(7), 1496–1505. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhm182CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abutalebi, J and Green, DW (2007) Bilingual language production: The neurocognition of language representation and control. Journal of Neurolinguistics 20(3), 242–275.10.1016/j.jneuroling.2006.10.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ackermann, H (2008) Cerebellar contributions to speech production and speech perception: psycholinguistic and neurobiological perspectives. Trends in Neuroscience 31(6), 265–272. doi:10.1016/j.tins.2008.02.011CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ackermann, H and Hertrich, I (2000) The contribution of the cerebellum to speech processing. Journal of Neurolinguistics 13(2), 95–116 %@ 0911-6044.10.1016/S0911-6044(00)00006-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ackermann, H, Mathiak, K and Riecker, A (2007) The contribution of the cerebellum to speech production and speech perception: clinical and functional imaging data. Cerebellum 6(3), 202–213. doi:10.1080/14734220701266742CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ackermann, H, Wildgruber, D, Daum, I and Grodd, W (1998) Does the cerebellum contribute to cognitive aspects of speech production? A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in humans. Neuroscience letters 247(2–3), 187–190.10.1016/S0304-3940(98)00328-0CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ahrens, B, Kalderon, E, Krick, CM and Reith, W (2010) fMRI for exploring simultaneous interpreting. In Gile, D, Hansen, G & Pokorn, NK (eds), Why translation studies matters. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, pp. 237–247.10.1075/btl.88.20ahrCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Babcock, L (2015) The neurocognitive fingerprint of simultaneous interpretaiton. (Ph.D), Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Trieste, Italy.Google Scholar
Bak, TH (2016) The impact of bilingualism on cognitive ageing and dementia: Finding a path through a forest of confounding variables. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 6(1–2), 205–226. doi:10.1075/lab.15002.bakCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, M, Schubert, T, Strobach, T, Gallinat, J and Kuhn, S (2016) Simultaneous interpreters vs. professional multilingual controls: Group differences in cognitive control as well as brain structure and function. Neuroimage 134, 250–260. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.03.079CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bialystok, E (2017) The bilingual adaptation: How minds accommodate experience. Psychological Bulletin 143(3), 233–262. doi:10.1037/bul0000099CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Booth, JR, Wood, L, Lu, D, Houk, JC and Bitan, T (2007) The role of the basal ganglia and cerebellum in language processing. Brain Research 1133(1), 136–144. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2006.11.074CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calabria, M, Costa, A, Green, DW and Abutalebi, J (2018) Neural basis of bilingual language control. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. doi:10.1111/nyas.13879CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chernov, GV (1992) Conference Interpreting in the USSR: History, Theory, New Frontiers. Meta: Journal des traducteurs 37(1), 149. doi:10.7202/002227arCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crinion, J, Turner, R, Grogan, A, Hanakawa, T, Noppeney, U, Devlin, JT, Aso, T, Urayama, S, Fukuyama, H, Stockton, K, Usui, K, Green, DW and Price, CJ (2006) Language control in the bilingual brain. Science 312(5779), 1537–1540. doi:10.1126/science.1127761CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Daró, V (1997) Experimental studies on memory in conference interpretation. Meta: Journal des traducteurs 42(4), 622–628.10.7202/002484arCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daró, V and Fabbro, F (1994) Verbal memory during simultaneous interpretation: Effects of phonological interference. Applied Linguistics 15(4), 365–381.10.1093/applin/15.4.365CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elmer, S (2016) Broca Pars Triangularis Constitutes a “Hub” of the Language-Control Network during Simultaneous Language Translation. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 10, 491. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2016.00491CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elmer, S, Hanggi, J and Jancke, L (2014) Processing demands upon cognitive, linguistic, and articulatory functions promote grey matter plasticity in the adult multilingual brain: Insights from simultaneous interpreters. Cortex 54, 179–189. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2014.02.014CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elmer, S, Hanggi, J, Meyer, M and Jancke, L (2011) Differential language expertise related to white matter architecture in regions subserving sensory-motor coupling, articulation, and interhemispheric transfer. Human brain mapping 32(12), 2064–2074. doi:10.1002/hbm.21169CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fabbro, F (Ed.) (1999) The Neurolinguistics of Bilingualism : An Introduction. Hove: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Fabbro, F and Daro, V (1995) Delayed auditory feedback in polyglot simultaneous interpreters. Brain and Language 48(3), 309–319. doi:10.1006/brln.1995.1013CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feinberg, DA, Moeller, S, Smith, SM, Auerbach, E, Ramanna, S, Gunther, M, Glasser, MF, Miller, KL, Ugurbil, K and Yacoub, E (2010) Multiplexed echo planar imaging for sub-second whole brain FMRI and fast diffusion imaging. PLoS ONE 5(12), e15710. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0015710CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gerver, D (1975) A Psychological Approach to Simultaneous Interpretation. Meta: Journal des traducteurs 20(2), 119–128. doi:10.7202/002885arCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilbert, SJ, Spengler, S, Simons, JS, Steele, JD, Lawrie, SM, Frith, CD, and Burgess, PW (2006) Functional specialization within rostral prefrontal cortex (area 10): a meta-analysis. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 18(6), 932–948.10.1162/jocn.2006.18.6.932CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gile, D (2001) The History of Research into Conference Interpreting: A Scientometric Approach, International Journal of Translation Studies 12 (2), 297–321.10.1075/target.12.2.07gilCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grahn, JA, Parkinson, JA and Owen, AM (2008) The cognitive functions of the caudate nucleus. Progress in Neurobiology 86(3), 141–155. doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2008.09.004CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grahn, JA, Parkinson, JA and Owen, AM (2009) The role of the basal ganglia in learning and memory: neuropsychological studies. Behavioural Brain Research 199(1), 53–60. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2008.11.020CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Granert, O, Peller, M, Jabusch, HC, Altenmuller, E and Siebner, HR (2011) Sensorimotor skills and focal dystonia are linked to putaminal grey-matter volume in pianists. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry 82(11), 1225–1231. doi:10.1136/jnnp.2011.245811CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Graybiel, AM (2005) The basal ganglia: learning new tricks and loving it. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 15(6), 638–644. doi:10.1016/j.conb.2005.10.006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, DW (1986) Control, activation, and resource: a framework and a model for the control of speech in bilinguals. Brain and Language 27(2), 210–223.10.1016/0093-934X(86)90016-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, DW (1998) Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 1(02), 67–81.10.1017/S1366728998000133CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, DW and Abutalebi, J (2013) Language control in bilinguals: The adaptive control hypothesis. Journal of Cognitive Psychology (Hove, England), 25(5), 515–530. doi:10.1080/20445911.2013.796377CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Green, DW and Abutalebi, J (2015) Language control and the neuroanatomy of bilingualism: in praise of variety. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience 31(3), 340–344. doi:10.1080/23273798.2015.1084428CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, DW, Crinion, J and Price, CJ (2007) Exploring cross-linguistic vocabulary effects on brain structures using voxel-based morphometry. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 10(2), 189–199.10.1017/S1366728907002933CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamrick, P, Lum, J. A. G. and Ullman, MT (2018) Child first language and adult second language are both tied to general-purpose learning systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115(7), 1487–1492. doi:10.1073/pnas.1713975115CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hanggi, J, Koeneke, S, Bezzola, L and Jancke, L (2010) Structural neuroplasticity in the sensorimotor network of professional female ballet dancers. Human brain mapping 31(8), 1196–1206. doi:10.1002/hbm.20928Google ScholarPubMed
Hervais-Adelman, A, Moser-Mercer, B and Golestani, N (2015a) Brain functional plasticity associated with the emergence of expertise in extreme language control. Neuroimage 114, 264–274. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.03.072CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hervais-Adelman, A, Moser-Mercer, B and Golestani, N (2018) Commentary: Broca Pars Triangularis Constitutes a “Hub” of the Language-Control Network during Simultaneous Language Translation. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 12, 22. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00022CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hervais-Adelman, A, Moser-Mercer, B, Michel, CM and Golestani, N (2015b) fMRI of Simultaneous Interpretation Reveals the Neural Basis of Extreme Language Control. Cerebral Cortex 25(12), 4727–4739. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhu158CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hervais-Adelman, A, Moser-Mercer, B, Murray, MM and Golestani, N (2017) Cortical thickness increases after simultaneous interpretation training. Neuropsychologia 98, 212–219. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.01.008CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hervais-Adelman, AG, Moser-Mercer, B and Golestani, N (2011) Executive control of language in the bilingual brain: integrating the evidence from neuroimaging to neuropsychology. Frontiers in Psychology 2, 234. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00234CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Houk, JC, Bastianen, C, Fansler, D, Fishbach, A, Fraser, D, Reber, PJ, Roy, SA and Simo, LS (2007) Action selection and refinement in subcortical loops through basal ganglia and cerebellum. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 362(1485), 1573–1583. doi:10.1098/rstb.2007.2063CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Houk, JC and Wise, SP (1995) Feature article: Distributed modular architectures linking basal ganglia, cerebellum, and cerebral cortex: Their role in planning and controlling action. Cerebral Cortex 5(2), 95–110.10.1093/cercor/5.2.95CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, CE, Oechslin, MS, Van De Ville, D, Hauert, CA, Descloux, C and Lazeyras, F (2014) Musical training intensity yields opposite effects on grey matter density in cognitive versus sensorimotor networks. Brain Structure & Function 219(1), 353–366. doi:10.1007/s00429-013-0504-zCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klein, C, Metz, SI, Elmer, S, and Jancke, L (2018) The interpreter's brain during rest - Hyperconnectivity in the frontal lobe. PLoS ONE, 13(8), e0202600. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0202600CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kotz, SA and Schwartze, M (2010) Cortical speech processing unplugged: a timely subcortico-cortical framework. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 14(9), 392–399. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2010.06.005CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kotz, SA, Schwartze, M and Schmidt-Kassow, M (2009) Non-motor basal ganglia functions: a review and proposal for a model of sensory predictability in auditory language perception. Cortex 45(8), 982–990. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2009.02.010CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, P, Legault, J and Litcofsky, KA (2014) Neuroplasticity as a function of second language learning: anatomical changes in the human brain. Cortex 58, 301–324. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2014.05.001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lieberman, P (2000) Human language and our reptilian brain: the subcortical bases of speech, syntax, and thought. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Lovden, M, Wenger, E, Martensson, J, Lindenberger, U and Backman, L (2013) Structural brain plasticity in adult learning and development. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 37(9 Pt B), 2296–2310. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.02.014CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luk, G, Green, DW, Abutalebi, J and Grady, C (2012) Cognitive control for language switching in bilinguals: A quantitative meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies. Language and Cognitive Processes 27(10), 1479–1488. doi:10.1080/01690965.2011.613209CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lv, Q and Liang, J (2018) Is consecutive interpreting easier than simultaneous interpreting? – a corpus-based study of lexical simplification in interpretation. Perspectives 27(1), 91–106. doi:10.1080/0907676x.2018.1498531CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mathiak, K, Hertrich, I, Grodd, W and Ackermann, H (2002) Cerebellum and speech perception: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 14(6), 902–912. doi:10.1162/089892902760191126CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moser, B (1978) Simultaneous interpretation: A hypothetical model and its practical application. In Gerver, D & Sinaiko, HW (eds.), Language, interpretation and communication. New York: Plenum Press, pp. 353–368.10.1007/978-1-4615-9077-4_31CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Obler, LK (2012) Conference interpreting as extreme language use. International Journal of Bilingualism 16(2), 177–182. doi:10.1177/1367006911403199CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paap, KR, Johnson, HA and Sawi, O (2015) Bilingual advantages in executive functioning either do not exist or are restricted to very specific and undetermined circumstances. Cortex 69, 265–278. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2015.04.014CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paap, KR, Johnson, HA and Sawi, O (2016) Should the search for bilingual advantages in executive functioning continue? Cortex 74, 305–314. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2015.09.010CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersen, SE and Posner, MI (2012) The attention system of the human brain: 20 years after. Annual Review of Neuroscience 35, 73–89. doi:10.1146/annurev-neuro-062111-150525CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, CJ, Green, DW and von Studnitz, R (1999) A functional imaging study of translation and language switching. Brain 122 (Pt 12), 2221–2235. doi:10.1093/brain/122.12.2221CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quaresima, V, Ferrari, M, van der Sluijs, MC, Menssen, J and Colier, WN (2002) Lateral frontal cortex oxygenation changes during translation and language switching revealed by non-invasive near-infrared multi-point measurements. Brain Research Bulletin 59(3), 235–243.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rinne, JO, Tommola, J, Laine, M, Krause, BJ, Schmidt, D, Kaasinen, V, Teras, M, Sipila, H and Sunnari, M (2000) The translating brain: cerebral activation patterns during simultaneous interpreting. Neuroscience letters 294(2), 85–88. doi:10.1016/S0304-3940(00)01540-8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rushworth, MF, Walton, ME, Kennerley, SW and Bannerman, DM (2004) Action sets and decisions in the medial frontal cortex. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 8(9), 410–417. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2004.07.009CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Setton, R (1999) Simultaneous interpretation: A cognitive-pragmatic analysis, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing.10.1075/btl.28CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stocco, A, Lebiere, C and Anderson, JR (2010) Conditional routing of information to the cortex: a model of the basal ganglia's role in cognitive coordination. Psychological Review 117(2), 541–574. doi:10.1037/a0019077CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stocco, A, Yamasaki, B, Natalenko, R and Prat, CS (2012) Bilingual brain training: A neurobiological framework of how bilingual experience improves executive function. International Journal of Bilingualism 18(1), 67–92. doi:10.1177/1367006912456617CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tommola, J, Laine, M, Sunnari, M and Rinne, JO (2000) Images of shadowing and interpreting. Interpreting 5(2), 147–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tzourio-Mazoyer, N, Landeau, B, Papathanassiou, D, Crivello, F, Etard, O, Delcroix, N, Mazoyer, B and Joliot, M (2002) Automated anatomical labeling of activations in SPM using a macroscopic anatomical parcellation of the MNI MRI single-subject brain. Neuroimage, 15(1), 273–289. doi:10.1006/nimg.2001.0978CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van de Putte, E, De Baene, W, Garcia-Penton, L, Woumans, E, Dijkgraaf, A and Duyck, W (2018) Anatomical and functional changes in the brain after simultaneous interpreting training: A longitudinal study. Cortex 99, 243–257. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2017.11.024CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wenger, E, Kuhn, S, Verrel, J, Martensson, J, Bodammer, NC, Lindenberger, U and Lovden, M (2017) Repeated structural imaging reveals nonlinear progression of experience-dependent volume changes in human motor cortex. Cerebral Cortex 27(5), 2911–2925. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhw141Google ScholarPubMed
Woumans, E and Duyck, W (2015) The bilingual advantage debate: Moving toward different methods for verifying its existence. Cortex 73, 356–357. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2015.07.012CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zaitsev, M, Akin, B, LeVan, P and Knowles, BR (2017) Prospective motion correction in functional MRI. Neuroimage 154, 33–42. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.11.014CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: PDF

Hervais-Adelman and Babcock supplementary material

Table S1 and Figures S1-S2

Download Hervais-Adelman and Babcock supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 1.2 MB