Learning new languages boosts brain health

A new study has shown that learning a new language is a workout for the brain as it changes the brain's network both structurally and functionally.

The study conducted at Penn State University found out that the participants who were successful learners had a more connected network than the other participants even before learning took place.

Ping Li, professor of psychology, linguistics and information sciences and technology, said that learning and practicing something, for instance a second language, strengthened the brain and like physical exercise, the more one used specific areas of their brain, the more it grew and get stronger.

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.

Participants each underwent two fMRI scans i.e. one before the experiment began and one after in order for the researchers to track neural changes and at the end of the study period, the researchers found that the brains of the successful learners had undergone functional changes and the brain network was better integrated.

Li, also co-chair of the interdisciplinary graduate degree program in neuroscience, said that a very interesting finding was that, contrary to previous studies, the brain was much more plastic than they thought and they could still see anatomical changes in the brain in the elderly which was very encouraging news for aging and learning a new language could help lead to more graceful aging.