TITLE

Lifelong Bilingualism: Reshaping Mind and Brain

ABSTRACT

All our experiences contribute to the way our minds and brains develop, but intense experiences have a special role in shaping our cognitive systems. As humans, no experience is more intense or pervasive than our use of language, so a lifetime of learning and using (at least) two languages has the potential to leave a profound mark on human cognition. A large body of research conducted with people at all stages in the lifespan, from infancy to old age, shows that the experience of being actively bilingual reshapes the mind and brain. Beginning with infants exposed to two languages at home and ending with older adults coping with dementia and neurodegenerative disease, cognitive and brain outcomes are different for monolinguals and bilinguals. These differences are generally in the direction of more precocious development for bilingual children and more protection against cognitive decline for bilingual older adults. This talk will review the evidence from these studies and propose an explanation for how exposure to and use of two languages leads to these cognitive and brain consequences.

BIO

Ellen Bialystok is a Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology and Walter Gordon York Research Chair of Lifespan Cognitive Development at York University. She is also an Associate Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute of the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care. Her research uses both behavioral and neuroimaging methods to examine the effect of experience on cognitive processes across the lifespan, with most attention on the effect of bilingualism. Participants in these studies include children, younger and older adults, and patients, in an attempt to identify the mechanism by which experience modifies cognitive systems. She has published extensively in the form of books, scientific articles, and book chapters. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Society for Experimental Psychology, American Psychological Society, and other professional organizations. Among her awards are the Canadian Society for Brain Behaviour and Cognitive Science Hebb Award (2011), Killam Prize for the Social Sciences (2010), York University President’s Research Award of Merit (2009), Donald T. Stuss Award for Research Excellence at the Baycrest Geriatric Centre (2005), Dean’s Award for Outstanding Research (2002), Killam Research Fellowship (2001), and the Walter Gordon Research Fellowship (1999). In 2016, she was named an Officer of the Order of Canada for her contributions to our understanding bilingualism and for opening up new avenues of research in her field.

The annual Quinn Memorial Lecture is made possible by a generous gift to our department from prominent alumnus, Dr. Michael J. Quinn (1927-2004). The event showcases leading-edge research that has theoretical, as well as practical significance, in the areas of consciousness, cognition, and memory. It brings together UBC Psychology faculty, students, staff, alumni and friends for an evening of dialogue.

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