Abstract

The bilingual brain has been long established as a distinct research construct. Interlingual Reformulation (IR) refers to any neurocognitive activity through which linguistic input in one language is rendered into a different language. Beyond the milestones above, these tools have been leveraged in IR research to characterize numerous aspects of the bilingual brain. In brief, IR studies have long contributed insights on the asymmetrical nature of bilingual memory. Experiments tapping unconscious IR have also revealed specific neural mechanisms underpinning language co-activation. As a complex form of cross-linguistic processing, IR represents a fundamental window into bilingual neurocognitive systems. A rich body of work has profited from relevant tasks to characterize their architecture, interaction, and adaptability, leading to theoretical and methodological innovations. For all its shortcomings, brain-based research on IR reveals specific dynamics operating within and across a bilingual’s two languages.