Lang, Merike K.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is an influence of bilingualism as well as musical experience and training on performance during tasks of executive function using electrophysiological (EEG) measures. The aims included: 1) analyzing differences across groups of bilinguals, monolinguals, bilingual musicians, and monolingual non-musicians on executive function tasks in their performance as well as in their corresponding event-related potentials (ERPs) to evaluate the effects of experience-dependent neuroplasticity, and 2) correlating the ERP measures during executive function tasks with measures of bilingualism and musical training.
We used three questionnaires to determine the level of bilingualism, years of instrument use, and musical experience, which were provided online in the first phase of the study through Qualtrics. For the second in-person testing phase of the study, three cognitive tasks that measured stimulus evaluation and working memory (Oddball), response inhibition (Go/No-Go), and cognitive flexibility (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; WCST) were administered. Also, three behavioral tasks: Digit Span, Short Term Visual Memory Binding, and Corsi block tapping test assessed differences in working memory across the groups.
Latency differences were observed for bilingual musicians in Standard trials at frontal electrodes, and faster reaction times to Deviant stimuli were observed in bilingual musicians compared to bilinguals, with no other significant results in response inhibition and cognitive flexibility. Therefore, this study demonstrated that musical experience may influence an individual’s speed in performing a task that uses working memory and stimulus evaluation of unexpected stimuli, as well as in their cognitive efficiency of updating as reflected by earlier peaks in the P300 ERP component.

Depression is associated with higher severity of memory disorders and has been
shown to predict lower levels of cognitive functioning in those diagnosed with Mild
Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or dementia. Yet, little is known about this association
cross-culturally, particularly between Hispanics and European Americans.
This study demonstrates that although levels of depression differed significantly
across diagnostic group, Hispanics and European Americans were similar in levels of
depression at each diagnosis. However, only for the European American group did
depression levels predict lower scores in confrontational naming and semantic memory.
Additionally, exploratory analyses of the entire sample demonstrated that lower
depression predicted less likelihood of MCI or dementia diagnoses. This could indicate
that there is a need for intervention and treatment of depression, in particular for later
stages of MCI and dementia, that should be culturally catered to individual ethnicities.