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. 2022 Feb 26;12(3):316.
doi: 10.3390/brainsci12030316.

In a Bilingual Mood: Mood Affects Lexico-Semantic Processing Differently in Native and Non-Native Languages

Marcin Naranowicz  1 , Katarzyna Jankowiak  1 , Patrycja Kakuba  1 , Katarzyna Bromberek-Dyzman  1 , Guillaume Thierry  1   2
Affiliations

In a Bilingual Mood: Mood Affects Lexico-Semantic Processing Differently in Native and Non-Native Languages

Marcin Naranowicz et al. Brain Sci. .

Abstract

Positive and negative moods tend to have differential effects on lexico-semantic processing in the native language (L1). Though accumulating evidence points to dampened sensitivity to affective stimuli in the non-native language (L2), little is known about the effects of positive and negative moods on L2 processing. Here, we show that lexico-semantic processing is differently affected by positive and negative moods only in L1. Unbalanced Polish-English bilinguals made meaningfulness judgments on L1 and L2 sentences during two EEG recording sessions featuring either positive- or negative-mood-inducing films. We observed a reduced N1 (lexical processing) for negative compared to positive mood in L2 only, a reduced N2 (lexico-semantic processing) in negative compared to positive mood in L1 only, a reduced N400 (lexico-semantic processing) for meaningless compared to meaningful L1 sentences in positive mood only, and an enhanced late positive complex (semantic integration and re-analysis) for L2 compared to L1 meaningful sentence in negative mood only. Altogether, these results suggest that positive and negative moods affect lexical, lexico-semantic, and semantic processing differently in L1 and L2. Our observations are consistent with previous accounts of mood-dependent processing and emotion down-regulation observed in bilinguals.

Keywords: bilingualism; emotion regulation; event-related potentials; lexico-semantic processing; meaning integration; mood.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Time sequence of stimulus presentation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mood ratings for the mood valence scale (left), the PANAS (middle), and the arousal scale (right) with CI of 95% (** p < 0.001, * p < 0.01).
Figure 3
Figure 3
A correlation plot depicting the relationship between the P1 mood effect and participants’ empathy level.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Topographic distribution of the difference between ERP amplitudes in the positive and negative mood conditions for Polish (L1) and English (L2) sentences in the 170–230 ms time window.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Grand averages for Polish (L1) and English (L2) sentences in the positive and negative mood conditions over parietal (P7, P8) and parieto-occipital (PO7, PO8) electrodes.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Topographic distribution of the ERP amplitude difference between positive and negative mood conditions for Polish (L1) and English (L2) sentences in the 250–350 ms time window.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Grand average ERPs for Polish (L1) and English (L2) sentences in the positive and negative mood conditions over frontal (F1, Fz, F2) and fronto-central (FC1, FCz, FC2) electrodes.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Topographic distribution of the difference between ERP amplitudes in the meaningful and meaningless conditions for Polish (L1) and English (L2) sentences in the positive and negative mood conditions in the 300–500 ms time window.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Grand averages for Polish (L1) and English (L2) meaningful and meaningless sentences in the positive and negative mood conditions over centro-parietal (CP1, CPz, CP2) electrodes.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Topographic distribution of the difference between ERP amplitudes in the meaningful and meaningless conditions for Polish (L1) and English (L2) sentences in the positive and negative mood conditions in the 600–800 ms time window.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Grand averages for Polish (L1) and English (L2) meaningful and meaningless sentences in the positive and negative mood conditions over fronto-central (FC1, FCz, FC2), central (C1, Cz, C2), and centro-parietal (CP1, CPz, CP2) electrodes.
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