Learning foreign languages may sharpen our minds

Researchers from Higher School of Economics in Russia, together with researchers from University of Helsinki in Finland have found that mastering foreign languages improves our brain's elasticity and its capacity to cipher information. Therefore, more foreign languages we master, the more successfully our brain processes the data collected during learning.

When comparing all the brain’s functions, the neurophysiological processes of language and speech attainment aspects are not explored enough, according to the study. The reason behind such inadequate attention is not being able to research verbal function on animal models.

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Researchers recruited 22 students (10 men and 12 women) with an average age of 24. Electrodes were placed on their heads. The participants then listened to various words in their mother tongue, and also in foreign languages, both familiar and entirely unfamiliar by the participants. When the familiar or unfamiliar words popped up, researchers tracked changes in the brain’s activity using EEG (electroencephalography).The main focus was on the pace at which the brain modified its action to handle unfamiliar words.

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Afterwards, the researchers compared resulted neurophysiological data to the participants' linguistic background: the number of languages they spoke, at which age they began to master it, and so on. Seemingly, the brain’s ability to swiftly manage information depends on one's "linguistic anamneses."

The researchers found that the brain's electrical activity of the subjects, who were already familiar with some non-native languages, was higher. Yuriy Shtyrov, study author, explained that the more languages a participant learned, the faster the network of neuron ciphering the data on the fresh words was formed. Therefore, the brain's physiology gets stimulated by this new data, and packing the mind with additional knowledge improves its elasticity.

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The researchers say that comprehending how the brain works to learn a language is vital in diagnosing speech handicap after strokes, accidents, and other similar conditions, and finding new therapy for them. Furthermore, by gaining better insight into the fundamentals of creating and fortifying neuron networks, we can tackle these mechanisms, accelerate them and enhance the learning process.

The research was carried out by Yury Shtyrov, Leading Research Fellow of the HSE Centre for Cognition & Decision Making, and Lilli Kimppa and Teija Kujala of University of Helsinki.

Findings appeared in the journal Scientific Reports.