Learning foreign languages can sharpen our minds read more at here www.spinonews.com/index.php/item/764-learning-foreign-languages-can-sharpen-our-minds

Scientists from the Higher School of Economics (HSE) together with University of Helsinki have discovered, learning foreign languages enhances the our brain's elasticity and its ability to code information. The more foreign languages we learn, the more effectively our brain reacts and processes the data accumulated in the course of learning.

According to the study, the neurophysiologic mechanics of language and speech acquisition are underexplored when compared to the brain's other functions. The reason for such scarce attention is the inability to study verbal function on test animals.

Researchers carried out experiments where the brain's electrical activity was measured with EEG (electroencephalography).

Twenty-two students participated in the investigation, with the average age being 24. Electrodes placed on their heads and then listened to recordings of different words in their native language, as well in foreign languages, both known and completely unknown by the subjects.

When the known or unknown words popped up, changes in the brain's activity were tracked. Researchers especially focused on the speed at which the brain readjusted its activity to treat unknown words.

The experiment has shown that the brain's electrical activity of those participants, who had already known some foreign languages, was higher. The author of the study Yuriy Shtyrov said that, the more languages someone mastered, the faster the neuron network coding the information on the new words was formed. Consequently, this new data stimulates the brain's physiology loading the mind with more knowledge boosts its elasticity.

 

Scientists believe that understanding how the brain functions in acquiring language is of crucial importance in diagnosing speech impediments after accidents, strokes, and other related conditions, and finding ways to treat them. Moreover, when we achieve better insight into the principles of creating and strengthening neuron networks, we will be able to harness these mechanisms, speed them up and improve the learning process.