“…The fact that coding can be learned in adulthood suggests that it may rely on existing cognitive systems. Here, we tested the role of two candidate neural systems in computer code comprehension: the domain-general multiple demand (MD) system (Duncan, 2010) that has been linked to diverse executive demands and implicated in both math and logic (e.g., Amalric & Dehaene, 2019;Goel, 2007;Monti et al, 2007Monti et al, , 2009, and the language-selective system (Fedorenko et al, 2011) that has been linked to lexical and combinatorial linguistic processes (e.g., Bautista & Wilson, 2016;Fedorenko et al, 2010Fedorenko, Nieto-Castañon, et al, 2012;Keller et al, 2001;Mollica et al, 2020). We found robust bilateral responses to code problems within the MD system, a pattern that held across two very different programming languages (Python and ScratchJr), types or problems (math and string manipulation), and problem structure (sequential statements, for loops, and if statements).…”