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The moral foreign language effect (MFLE) describes how people’s decisions may change when a moral dilemma is presented in either their native (NL) or foreign language (FL). Growing attention is being directed to unpacking what aspects of bilingualism may influence the MFLE, though with mixed or inconclusive results. The current study aims to bridge this gap by adopting a conceptualization of bilingualism that frames this construct as a composite and continuous measure. In a between-group analysis, we asked 196 Italian–English bilinguals to perform a moral dilemmas task in either their NL (i.e., Italian) or FL (i.e., English). In a within-group analysis, we evaluated the effects of FL age of acquisition, FL proficiency, and language dominance – all measured as continuous variables – on moral decision-making. Overall, findings indicate that differences within bilinguals’ language experience impact moral decisions in an FL. However, the effect of the linguistic factors considered was not ubiquitous across dilemmas, and not always emerged into a MFLE. In light of these results, our study addresses the importance of treating bilingualism as multidimensional, rather than a unitary variable. It also discusses the need to reconceptualize the FLE and its implications on moral decision-making.

Inhibitory control is the capacity to withhold or suppress a thought or action intentionally. The anterior Midcingulate Cortex (aMCC) participates in response inhibition, a proxy measure of inhibitory control. Recent research suggests that response inhibition is modulated by individual variability in the aMCC sulcal morphology. However, no study has investigated if this phenomenon is associated with neurofunctional differences during a task. In this study, 42 participants performed an Attention Network Task and a Numerical Stroop task in an MRI scanner. We investigated differences in brain activity and response inhibition efficiency between individuals with symmetric and asymmetric aMCC sulcal patterns. The results showed that aMCC morphological variability is partly associated with inhibitory control, and revealed greater activation in individuals with symmetric patterns during the Stroop task. Our findings provide novel insights into the functional correlates of the relationship between aMCC morphology and executive abilities.

BackgroundIn recent years, resting‐state fMRI (rsfMRI)‐based brain entropy (BEN) has gained increasing interest as a tool to characterize brain activity. While previous studies indicate that BEN is correlated with cognition, it remains unclear whether BEN is influenced by other factors that typically affect brain activity measured by fMRI.PurposeTo investigate the relationship between BEN and physiological indices, including respiratory rate (RR), heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (s‐BP), and body mass index (BMI), and to investigate whether and to what extent the relationship between BEN and cognition is influenced by physiological variables.Study TypeRetrospective.SubjectsOne thousand two hundred six healthy subjects (mean age: 28.83 ± 3.69 years; 550 male) with rsfMRI datasets selected from the Human Connectome Project (HCP).Field Strength/SequenceMultiband echo planar imaging (EPI) sequence at 3.0 Tesla.AssessmentNeurocognitive, physical health (RR, HR, s‐BP, BMI), and rsfMRI data were retrieved from the HCP datasets. Neurocognition was measured through the total cognition composite (TCC) score provided by HCP. BEN maps were calculated from rsfMRI data.Statistical TestsMultiple regression models, pheight‐family wise error (FWE) < 0.05 and pcluster‐FWE < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.ResultsBEN was negatively associated with RR (T‐thresholds ranging from 4.75 to 4.8; r‐threshold = |0.15|) and positively associated with s‐BP and BMI (T‐thresholds ranging from 4.75 to 4.8; r‐threshold = |0.15|) in areas overlapping with the default mode network. After controlling the physiological effects, BEN still showed regional associations with TCC, including negative associations (T‐thresholds = 3.09; r‐threshold = |0.1|) in the fronto‐parietal cortex and positive associations (T‐thresholds = 3.09; r‐threshold = |0.1|) in the sensorimotor system (motor network and the limbic system).Data ConclusionsRR negatively affects rsfMRI‐derived BEN, while s‐BP and BMI positively affect BEN. The positive associations between BEN and cognition in the motor network and the limbic system might indicate a facilitation of information processing in the sensorimotor system.Evidence Level3Technical EfficacyStage 3

Computational morphometry of magnetic resonance images represents a powerful tool for studying macroscopic differences in human brains. In the present study (N participants = 829), we combined different techniques and measures of brain morphology to investigate one of the most compelling topics in neuroscience: sexual dimorphism in human brain structure. When accounting for overall larger male brains, results showed limited sex differences in gray matter volume (GMV) and surface area. On the other hand, we found larger differences in cortical thickness, favoring both males and females, arguably as a result of region-specific differences. We also observed higher values of fractal dimension, a measure of cortical complexity, for males versus females across the four lobes. In addition, we applied source-based morphometry, an alternative method for measuring GMV based on the independent component analysis. Analyses on independent components revealed higher GMV in fronto-parietal regions, thalamus and caudate nucleus for females, and in cerebellartemporal cortices and putamen for males, a pattern that is largely consistent with previous findings.

Entropy indicates irregularity of a dynamic system with higher entropy indicating higher irregularity and more transit states. In the human brain, regional brain entropy (BEN) has been increasingly assessed using resting state fMRI (rsfMRI), while changes of regional BEN during task-based fMRI have been scarcely studied. The purpose of this study is to characterize task-induced regional BEN alterations using the large Human Connectome Project (HCP) data. To control the potential modulation by the block-design, BEN of task-fMRI was calculated from the fMRI images acquired during the task conditions only and then compared to BEN of rsfMRI. Moreover, BEN was separately calculated from the control blocks of the task-fMRI runs and compared to BEN of task conditions. Finally, BEN of control conditions was compared to rsfMRI-derived BEN to test for residual task effects in the control condition. With respect to resting state, task-performance unanimously induced BEN reduction in the peripheral cortical area, including both task-related regions and task non-specific regions, and BEN increase in the centric part of the sensorimotor and perception networks. Task control condition showed large residual task effects. After controlling the task non-specific effects using the control BEN vs task BEN comparison, regional BEN showed task specific effects in target regions.

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