Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41569392›Full record

ArticleJournal of psycholinguistic research2026

An ERP Study on the Neural Mechanisms of Code-Switching Processing Among Chinese-English-Japanese Trilinguals.

Zilong Zhong, Lin Fan, Mengling Xu, Jiaxing Jiang, Di Xin

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Article in Journal of psycholinguistic research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Zilong ZhongCollege of Foreign Languages, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
Lin FanNational Research Centre for Foreign Language Education, Beijing Foreign Studies University, No. 19 Xisanhuan North Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100089, China. fanlin@bfsu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8684-046X
Mengling XuNational Research Centre for Foreign Language Education, Beijing Foreign Studies University, No. 19 Xisanhuan North Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100089, China.
Jiaxing JiangCollege of Foreign Languages, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China.
Di XinDepartment of Foreign Languages, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong, China.

Funding

Double First-Class Disciplines Project of Beijing Foreign Studies University 2022SYLZD008Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities 2024JX063Zhejiang Provincial Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project 22JCXK14YB
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study investigates the neural mechanisms involved in lexical code-switching among Chinese–English–Japanese trilinguals using event-related potential (ERP) technique. Focusing on the effects of switching condition, cue-stimulus interval (CSI) length, and language dominance, the present study yields insights into the cognitive and neural dynamics of multilingual language processing. It was found that (a) in the L1–L3 language pair, switching stimuli elicited greater P200 amplitudes than non-switching stimuli, indicating increased attentional allocation and early-stage conflict detection during language switching, while non-switching stimuli elicited more negative N400 responses than switching stimuli, reflecting deeper lexical integration and expectation-driven processing. (b) Across all language pairs, short CSI (250 ms) led to significantly larger P200 amplitudes than long CSI (800 ms), suggesting heightened attentional allocation to manage upcoming switches. In contrast, long CSI (800 ms) elicited more negative N400 responses than short CSI (250 ms), indicating that extended preparation time facilitates deeper lexical-semantic processing, leading to a stronger N400 response. (c) L3 stimuli elicited significantly larger P200 amplitudes than L1 and L2 stimuli, reflecting enhanced early attentional processing and conflict detection when switching into the least dominant language. Additionally, the dominant language (L1) produced more negative N400 responses compared to the non-dominant one (L3), emphasizing the role of language proficiency in neural processing efficiency. (d) The study identified significant interaction effects in various brain regions, based on language type, switching condition, and the length of CSI, illustrating the complex neural mechanisms in trilingual code-switching. The study contributes to neurolinguistics and multilingual language processing by providing novel insights into trilingual individuals’ code-switching processing and the impact of temporal factors on semantic processing. It also highlights the neural correlates of language dominance, offering a more comprehensive understanding of the multilingual brain’s workings and paving the way for further exploration in this field.

Indexed as

AttentionEvoked PotentialsLanguageMultilingualismPsycholinguisticsAdultEast Asian PeopleElectroencephalographyFemaleHumansMaleReaction TimeSemanticsYoung AdultChinese–English–Japanese trilingualsCode-switchingCue-stimulus intervalInhibitionLanguage controlSemantic processing

Identifiers

PMID41569392

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.