Growth of language-related brain areas after foreign language learning

Mårtensson, Johan; Eriksson, Johan; Bodammer, Nils; Lindgren, Magnus; Johansson, Mikael; Nyberg, Lars; Lövdén, Martin

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.06.043

Cited by 290 publications

(267 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In addition, corresponding increases in brain volume due to engagement in aerobic exercise (Ahlskog, Geda, Graff-Radford, & Petersen, 2011;Colcombe et al, 2006;Erickson et al, 2011) and playing a musical instrument (Gaser & Schlaug, 2003;Zatorre, Fields, & Johansen-Berg, 2012) have been reported. There is an emerging literature that has examined structural differences in the brain with respect to learning a second language (e.g., Mårtensson et al, 2012;Mechelli et al, 2004;Schlegel, Rudelson, & Tse, 2012;Stein et al, 2012). For example, following immersion in a second language, young adults demonstrated increases in grey matter in the inferior frontal gyrus and anterior temporal lobe .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of lifelong bilingualism on regional grey and white matter volume

et al. 2015

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Lifelong bilingualism is associated with the delayed diagnosis of dementia, suggesting bilingual experience is relevant to brain health in aging. While the effects of bilingualism on cognitive functions across the lifespan are well documented, less is known about the neural substrates underlying differential behavior. It is clear that bilingualism affects brain regions that mediate language abilities and that these regions are at least partially overlapping with those that exhibit age-related decline.Moreover, the behavioural advantages observed in bilingualism are generally found in executive function performance, suggesting that the frontal lobes may also be sensitive to bilingualism, which exhibit volume reductions with age. The current study investigated structural differences in the brain of lifelong bilingual older adults (n = 14, mean age = 70.4) compared with older monolinguals (n = 14, mean age= 70.6). We employed two analytic approaches: 1) we examined global differences in grey and white matter volumes; and, 2) we examined local differences in volume and cortical thickness of specific regions of interest previously implicated in bilingual/monolingual comparisons (temporal pole) or in aging (entorhinal cortex and hippocampus). We expected bilinguals would exhibit greater volume of the frontal lobe and temporal lobe (grey and white matter), given the importance of these regions in executive and language functions, respectively. We further hypothesized that regions in the medial temporal lobe, which demonstrate early changes in aging and exhibit neural pathology in dementia, would be more preserved in the bilingual group. As predicted, bilinguals exhibit greater frontal lobe white matter compared with monolinguals. Moreover, increasing age was related to decreasing temporal pole cortical thickness in the monolingual group, but no such relationship was observed for bilinguals. Finally, Stroop task performance was positively correlated with frontal lobe white matter, emphasizing the importance of preserved white matter in maintaining executive function in aging.These results underscore previous findings implicating an association between bilingualism and preserved frontal and temporal lobe function in aging.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of lifelong bilingualism on regional grey and white matter volume

et al. 2015

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“…Previous studies show that gray matter volume and density are related to foreign language speech learning (1,2), and that the degree of volumetric change in an individual predicts the level of foreign language proficiency achieved by that person (3,4). Recent studies using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) techniques further show that diffusion properties of brain white matter structure are correlated with foreign language learning (5)(6)(7).…”

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confidence: 99%

Brain white matter structure and COMT gene are linked to second-language learning in adults

Mamiya

Richards

Coe

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Adult human brains retain the capacity to undergo tissue reorganization during second-language learning. Brain-imaging studies show a relationship between neuroanatomical properties and learning for adults exposed to a second language. However, the role of genetic factors in this relationship has not been investigated. The goal of the current study was twofold: (i) to characterize the relationship between brain white matter fiber-tract properties and second-language immersion using diffusion tensor imaging, and (ii) to determine whether polymorphisms in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene affect the relationship. We recruited incoming Chinese students enrolled in the University of Washington and scanned their brains one time. We measured the diffusion properties of the white matter fiber tracts and correlated them with the number of days each student had been in the immersion program at the time of the brain scan. We found that higher numbers of days in the English immersion program correlated with higher fractional anisotropy and lower radial diffusivity in the right superior longitudinal fasciculus. We show that fractional anisotropy declined once the subjects finished the immersion program. The relationship between brain white matter fiber-tract properties and immersion varied in subjects with different COMT genotypes. Subjects with the Methionine (Met)/Valine (Val) and Val/Val genotypes showed higher fractional anisotropy and lower radial diffusivity during immersion, which reversed immediately after immersion ended, whereas those with the Met/Met genotype did not show these relationships. Statistical modeling revealed that subjects' grades in the language immersion program were best predicted by fractional anisotropy and COMT genotype.genetic variation | short-term plasticity | dopamine S econd-language learning in adulthood is becoming increasingly prevalent as globalization advances. Previous studies show that gray matter volume and density are related to foreign language speech learning (1, 2), and that the degree of volumetric change in an individual predicts the level of foreign language proficiency achieved by that person (3, 4). Recent studies using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) techniques further show that diffusion properties of brain white matter structure are correlated with foreign language learning (5-7). One of these studies demonstrated that the changes in diffusion properties predicted students' second-language proficiency at the end of a language immersion program (7). These findings suggest that the properties of brain structure change with the acquisition of a new language, and that the adult human brain is capable of tissue reorganization in response to intense use of a new language after the putative "critical period."What remains unknown is whether and how genetic factors are related to brain white matter fiber-tract properties as learning ensues. Cumulative evidence using DTI analysis has suggested that brain white matter fiber-tract properties are related to skill learning ...

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“…Learning a new language is also proved to increase the size of the brain. A study conducted by the Swedish Armed Forced Interpreter's Academy has shown that the size of the hippocampus, the part related to language of the brain, increased significantly after thirteen months of intense language learning (Martensson et al,2012).…”

Section: The Benefits Of Bilingual Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bilingual Education Helps to Improve the Intelligence of Children

Nguyen¹

2017

WJEL

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This study uses an IQ test to test the "intelligence" of two pupil groups: one is studying the bilingual program and the other is learning the monolingual program plus English subject as a foreign language. The study discovers that both groups have increased the IQ score after seven months at schools. This result proves that IQ scores are not fixed but can increase through ages of children from 6 to 11 as well as through education. However, the group of bilingual pupils has higher increase of IQ scores in comparison with the monolingual group, proving the bilingual education can help to better improve the intelligence of children. This is agreeable with the results of many previous researches.

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Growth of language-related brain areas after foreign language learning

Cited by 290 publications

References 25 publications

The effect of lifelong bilingualism on regional grey and white matter volume

The effect of lifelong bilingualism on regional grey and white matter volume

Brain white matter structure and COMT gene are linked to second-language learning in adults

Bilingual Education Helps to Improve the Intelligence of Children

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