Learn new language to boost your brain power

Studies find that bilingual people have more developed brains, and more so the earlier they learn a second language

LONDON - Learning a second language 'boosts' brain power, more so if one begins the process at a younger age, according to a new study.

Researchers at University College London (UCL) found that learning other languages altered grey matter, the area of the brain which processes information, in the same way that exercise builds muscles, the BBC reported.

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People who learned a second language at a younger age were also more likely to have more advanced grey matter than those who learned later, said the team.

Scientists already know that the brain can change its structure as a result of stimulation, an effect known as plasticity. But the latest research, published in the journal Nature, shows how learning languages develops it.

The team took scans of 25 Britons who speak only one language, 25 people who had learned another European language before the age of five and 33 bilinguals who had learned a second language between 10 and 15 years old.

The scans revealed that the density of the grey matter in the brain's left inferior parietal cortex was greater in bilinguals than in those with no second-language knowledge.

The effect was particularly noticeable in the 'early' bilinguals.

The findings were replicated in a study of 22 native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of two and 34.

Lead researcher Andrea Mechelli, of the Institute of Neurology at UCL, said the findings explained why younger people found it easier to learn second languages.

But Cilt, Britain's National Centre for Languages, cast doubt on whether learning languages was easier at a younger age.

The BBC quoted a Cilt spokesman as saying: 'There are conflicting views about the comparative impact of language learning on different age groups, based both on findings and anecdotal evidence.'

hi...

my first daughter could speak 3 languages fluently by the time she was 4, I can also speak 3 languages now, after many more years of learning .... and she continually corrects me!

she's 8 now and i haven't got a chance !

amarka

Learn new language to boost your brain power

Learn Thai And Boost Your Brain Power

Maybe that's why I could become a member of some high IQ societies!

Thai is great!

Snowleopard.

In Belgium we grow up with 3 languages , Dutch , French , and German , then we learn Englisch from TV ..... and learn some Thai maybe ?

I don't see much smart people around here ....

In Belgium we grow up with 3 languages , Dutch , French , and German , then we learn Englisch from TV ..... and learn some Thai maybe ? 

I don't see much smart people around here .... 

I don't see much smart people around here ....

The problem is that the Be-Ne-Luxians aren't proficient enough in Thai yet.

Snowleopard.