How Learning Languages Affects Our Brain

How learning languages AFFECTS OUR BRAIN As travel experiences go, there are few things as satisfying as successfully ordering a meal ina foreign language. But while the practical and social aspects are obvious, multilingualism also has a transformative effect on the brain – improving brain power and changing the way we see the world. Your brain on languages Higher language skills are linked to growth in the hippocampus and areas of the cerebral cortex - associated with memory, thought and action. A 2012 Swedish MRI study show that learning a language improves cortical thickness - a layered mass of neurons largely responsible for: Thought Language Consciousness Memory Learning a second language later in life This increased size is associated with better memory and sharp thinking in old age. changes the brain in the same way as learning complex motor skills, such as juggling or dancing. A 2013 study by McGill University showed that learning two languages from birth has no effect on the brain. How language changes the way we think Throughout history, many thinkers have suggested that differences in language lead to large differences in experience and thought. This theory is called linguistic relativity. Color perception is an ideal way of testing this view because there is a huge variation between how different languages describe color. Lost in translation In Japanese, there are more terms for light blue and dark blue - these are not found in English. Monolingual Japanese speakers can distinguish more between shades of blue than English speakers. Conversely, languages with fewer terms have the opposite effect: the Namibian Himba people label color according to only 5 categories. Buru Some shades of Vapa green and blue Dambu White and some Other shades of shades of yellow green, red and brown Zuzu Serandu Dark shades of blue, red, orange or pink red, green and purple 2 3 3 33 33333 34 89012 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 vapa 111 A 12 3 4 5 67 8 9012 |B|| yapa dumbu burou F serandu serandu zoozu "As well as learning vocabulary and grammar you're also unconsciously learning a whole new way of seeing the world. There's an inextricable link between language, culture and cognition." - Professor Panos Athanasopoulos, Lancaster University If you're regretting not paying attention in French at school, don't worry - it's never too late to learn. Reap the cognitive benefits from learning a new language. In fact, by making it that little bit FRANÇAIS OUR TOUS harder, your brain will end up stronger for it. Produced by Designed by Sunbelt Staffing• NeoMam Studios Sources Athanasopopulos, P.et al. Representation of color concep s in bilingual cognition: The case of Japanese blues. (2011). Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 14. Bak, T.H. et al. (2014). Does bilingualism influence cognitive aging? Annals of Neurology, 75. Costa, A. and Sebastián-Gallés, N. (2014). How does the bilingual experience sculpt the brain? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 15. al. (2013). Age of language learning shapes brain structure: A cortical thickness study of bilingual and monolingual individuals. Brain and Language, 131. Klein, D. Kone, A.M. (2013). Between Linguistic Universalism and Linguistic Relativism: Perspectives on Human Understandings of Reality. Mårtensson, J. et al. (2012). Growth of language-related brain areas after foreign language learning. Neurolmage, 63. Muñoz, M.A. (2014). Does being bilingual make you smarter? britishcouncil.org Roberson, D. et al. (2005). Color categories: Evidence for the cultural relativity hypothesis. Cognitive Psychology, 50. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2003). The Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis. plato.stanford.edu Verga, L. and Kotz, SA. (2013). How relevant is social interaction in second language learning? Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7 (550). This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License - www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0