Season 3 | Episode 1 : My Brain on Bilingual Mode

Épisode de Neurêkha! par Tann Audio · 28 octobre 2026 · 17 min

Do you need to speak two languages perfectly to be bilingual? Is it too late to learn a new one? And in practical terms, what does it actually change in our brain?

In this Creole Month, Dr. Rekha explores what bilingualism and multilingualism really do to the brain: how a baby learns to tell two languages apart even before knowing how to speak, why code-switching is a true cognitive workout, how each language carves up the world in its own way… and why speaking multiple languages could help the brain age better.

An episode for anyone who juggles several languages daily, and for all those dreaming of getting started.

REFERENCES

Abutalebi, J., & Green, D. W. (2007). Bilingual language production: The neurocognition of language representation and control. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 20(3), 242–275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2006.10.003 ⏳

Alladi, S., Bak, T. H., Mekala, S., Rajan, A., Chaudhuri, J. R., Mioshi, E., Krovvidi, R., Surampudi, B., Duggirala, V., & Kaul, S. (2016). Impact of bilingualism on cognitive outcome after stroke. Stroke, 47(1), 258–261. https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.115.010418 ✅

Amoruso, L., Hernández, H., Santamaría-García, H., [...] Ibáñez, A. (2025). Multilingualism protects against accelerated aging in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of 27 European countries. Nature Aging, 5, 2340–2354. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-025-01000-2 ✅ (liste complète des auteurs à reprendre depuis l’article)

Argyri, F., Goksan, S., Li, W., Clayden, J. D., & Liégeois, F. (2026). Bilingual experience shapes brain connectivity in childhood. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728926101849 ✅

Bak, T. H., Nissan, J. J., Allerhand, M. M., & Deary, I. J. (2014). Does bilingualism influence cognitive aging? Annals of Neurology, 75(6), 959–963. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.24158 ✅

Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., & Freedman, M. (2007). Bilingualism as a protection against the onset of symptoms of dementia. Neuropsychologia, 45(2), 459–464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.10.009 ✅

Byers-Heinlein, K., Burns, T. C., & Werker, J. F. (2010). The roots of bilingualism in newborns. Psychological Science, 21(3), 343–348. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797609360758 ⏳

Costa, A., Foucart, A., Hayakawa, S., Aparici, M., Apesteguia, J., Heafner, J., & Keysar, B. (2014). Your morals depend on language. PLoS ONE, 9(4), e94842. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0094842 ⏳

Green, D. W., & Abutalebi, J. (2013). Language control in bilinguals: The adaptive control hypothesis. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 25(5), 515–530. https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2013.796377 ⏳

Kim, K. H. S., Relkin, N. R., Lee, K.-M., & Hirsch, J. (1997). Distinct cortical areas associated with native and second languages. Nature, 388(6638), 171–174. https://doi.org/10.1038/40623 ✅

Marian, V., & Spivey, M. (2003). Competing activation in bilingual language processing: Within- and between-language competition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 6(2), 97–115. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728903001068 ⏳

Poplack, S. (1980). Sometimes I’ll start a sentence in Spanish y termino en español: Toward a typology of code-switching. Linguistics, 18(7–8), 581–618. https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1980.18.7-8.581 ⏳

Werker, J. F., & Tees, R. C. (1984). Cross-language speech perception: Evidence for perceptual reorganization during the first year of life. Infant Behavior and Development, 7(1), 49–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0163-6383(84)80022-3 ⏳

Winawer, J., Witthoft, N., Frank, M. C., Wu, L., Wade, A. R., & Boroditsky, L. (2007). Russian blues reveal effects of language on color discrimination. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(19), 7780–7785. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0701644104 ✅

Dr Rekha est votre "dealeuse de dopamine" prête à vous injecter votre dose de sérotonine et pimenter votre curiosité.

Neurêkha! est le premier podcast de neurosciences traitant des thématiques liées aux territoires ultramarins et produit par le studio Tann Audio.

Que vous venez de la réunion, de la guadeloupe, de la guyane ou encore de la Martinique, ce podcast est pour vous !

Plongez au cœur des mystères du cerveau avec “Neurêkha!”, où chaque épisode allie neuropsychologie et neurosciences pour vous offrir des découvertes captivantes et enrichissantes.

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Bienvenue dans Neurêkha!, le podcast le premier podcast ultramarins de neurosciences qui fait vibrer vos neurones et titille vos synapses. Je suis Dr Rekha, neuropsychologue et dealeuse de dopamine, prête à vous injecter votre dose de sérotonine et pimenter votre curiosité. A chaque épisode, je…

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