Published on: October 6, 2015
by Rebekah Marcarelli for Headlines & Global News:
New research suggests learning another language could significantly strengthen the brain.
Researchers looked at the brains of native English speakers as they learned Chinese vocabulary. A group of controls who did not learn new vocabulary were also included in the study, Penn State reported. The findings highlighted the cognitive benefits of learning foreign vocabulary.
“There is good reason for the recent excitement surrounding the study of the bilingual brain: globalization and widespread use of digital technology have enabled increased cross-cultural communication with people becoming bilingual, while bilingualism confers clear social, economic, and even cognitive benefits to the individual and society as a whole,” Ping Li, professor of psychology, linguistics and information sciences and technology said in a commentary on the study, which was published in a recent edition of the journal Elsevier.
The team found those who were most successful at learning the new vocabulary exhibited a more connected brain network than both those who were less successful and those who did not learn the vocabulary at all. The individuals who were most successful at learning the new vocabulary also showed better brain connectivity before the study even began.
Brain efficiency was defined as the strength of connections between brain nodes; the stronger the edges going from one node to another, the faster they can work together. FMRI scans revealed after the participants had learned the new vocabulary they showed signs of functional brain changes such as the brain networks being better integrated.
The findings suggest the brain is more plastic than was previously believed and that learning new languages could help the brain age more gracefully.
“We have now embarked on a study to systematically identify effects of context and mode of learning, in which we compare classroom based learning method with cyber-enabled 3D virtual environment with real immersion learning. We hope to see that different learning methods and contexts will result in different brain patterns and changes,” Li said in an email to HNGN in reference to the next steps for the study.
Source: http://bit.ly/1VBV5EJ
Staying socially connected is extremely important for our overall health, including our brain health. A 2019 review article published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found that various aspects of social isolation, including low levels...
Although it’s great to celebrate the big achievements, it’s also important to celebrate the small wins.
Women are affected by Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia in much larger numbers than men. Approximately two-thirds of Canadians and Americans living with dementia are women. Why are women disproportionately affected? Partly, it...
The material presented through the Think Tank feature on this website is in no way intended to replace professional medical care or attention by a qualified practitioner. WBHI strongly advises all questioners and viewers using this feature with health problems to consult a qualified physician, especially before starting any treatment. The materials provided on this website cannot and should not be used as a basis for diagnosis or choice of treatment. The materials are not exhaustive and cannot always respect all the most recent research in all areas of medicine.
