The Cognitive Neurology of Bilingualism in the Age of Globalization

As globalization advances, more people become bilingual or multilingual. Indeed, in the age of globalization, where people can connect through Internet to someone else across the globe, where the mass media provides information from around the globe, and where migration means multilingual and multicultural societies, the necessity of speaking more than a single language becomes more evident as never before. Some languages like English, French, and Spanish for cultural and political reasons are widespread because of their international use for communication, tourism, and trade. Some languages like Mandarin are emergent and are most likely about to substitute one or two of the aforementioned world languages in the future. As a matter of fact, modern world is becoming more bilingual and modern behavioural neurology and neuroscience must be prepared to deal with challenging research questions originating from the study of the bilingual brain.