Learning new language changes your brain: study

Learning a new language changes both the structure and function of your brain network, regardless of your age, according to new research.

"Learning and practising something, for instance a second language, strengthens the brain," said Ping Li, professor of psychology, linguistics and information sciences and technology at the Penn State University in the US.

"Like physical exercise, the more you use specific areas of your brain, the more it grows and gets stronger," said Li.

Li and colleagues studied 39 native English speakers' brains over a six-week period as half of the participants learned Chinese vocabulary.

Of the subjects learning the new vocabulary, those who were more successful in attaining the information showed a more connected brain network than both the less successful participants and those who did not learn the new vocabulary.

The researchers also found that the participants who were successful learners had a more connected network than the other participants even before learning took place.
A better-integrated brain network is more flexible and efficient, making the task of learning a new language easier.

The efficiency of brain networks was defined by the researchers in terms of the strength and direction of connections, or edges, between brain regions of interest, or nodes.

The stronger the edges going from one node to the next, the faster the nodes can work together, and the more efficient the network.

Participants each underwent two fMRI scans - one before the experiment began and one after - in order for the researchers to track neural changes.

At the end of the study period, the researchers found that the brains of the successful learners had undergone functional changes - the brain network was better integrated.

Such changes, Li and colleagues suggested while reviewing a number of related studies, are consistent with anatomical changes that can occur in the brain as a result of learning a second language, no matter the age of the learner.

The research was published in the Journal of Neurolinguistics.