> that the āGPUā doing all that fast, effortless processing is largely the emotional system
@hongminhee I don't think so... to me it sounds more plausible that the neural pathways that are used for native language are a lot more used than the ones for foreign languages so they trigger with less energy expenditure.
Speaking your native language is basically "muscle memory", speaking in a different language is like navigating a maze: you have to plan your route, change direction often, sometimes backtrack all together, and as such is requiring a lot more brain power.
Caveat emptor: these are non scientific musings, I have no citation for anything. :D