How Multilingualism Reshapes Your Brain

Acquiring new languages actually alters your brain structure and boosts your mental capabilities. However, what truly occurs within the brain, and does being multilingual genuinely enhance your intelligence?

There are numerous motivations for acquiring a new language—such as career opportunities, romantic pursuits, or simply a deeper fascination with a particular area’s customs and inhabitants.

Studies indicate that acquiring new languages enhances your comprehensive skills. brain health too .

Acquiring a new language is akin to exercising your mind. Similar to how muscles become more robust through physical workouts, the neural connections in your brain strengthen and adapt as you acquire knowledge of a new tongue.

This is how neuroscientists explain that individuals fluent in several languages interpret data distinctively compared to those who know only one language. However, what actually occurs within your brain as you acquire a fresh linguistic skill, and can this enhance your intelligence?

Brain regions associated with language

Before addressing those questions, let’s cover some fundamentals regarding how language involves numerous distinct areas of the brain.

Language processing involves two key circuits — one for perceiving and producing sound, which forms the foundation of language, and another for selecting which language's sounds to use, said Arturo Hernandez, a neuroscientist at University of California San Diego, US.

"As we acquire new knowledge and alternate between different languages, these neural pathways get reconfigured. This process involves correlating phonetics and determining which linguistic system to utilize," Hernandez explained.

We require regions such as the auditory cortex for processing speech sounds, and extensive motor networks within the brain to manage the muscular activities involved in speaking, including control of the tongue, lips, and vocal cords.

This holds true for all languages, but alterations in ' higher processing Several regions of the brain are necessary for acquiring a new language.

For instance, the Broca’s area situated in the frontal lobe predominantly governs syntax—the manner in which we organize sentences. This region aids in formulating grammatically sound sentences and comprehending their structural composition.

The Broca’s region plays a crucial role in speech production and aids in the motor control necessary for pronouncing words.

Other brain regions like Wernicke's area play an important role in vocabulary comprehension and word retrieval. It helps in understanding the meaning of words and storing them in long-term memory .

Acquiring a new language actually alters the structure of the brain.

A study conducted in Germany in 2024 assessed the brain activity patterns. Syrian refugees Before, during, and after they acquired the German language.

The study revealed that individuals' brains underwent changes as they grew more skilled in German.

'Rewiring the brain' indicates that the brain's neural networks undergo physical alterations. This phenomenon—known as neuroplasticity—is the underlying principle behind the acquisition of knowledge.

Acquiring a new language thus demanded novel methods for participants' minds to encode, store, and retrieve information. new linguistic information .

"Structurally, [learning a language] increases gray matter structure in areas related to language processing and executive function," said Jennifer Wittmeyer, a cognitive neuroscientist at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, US.

Structural modifications in the brain also alter how it operates since these physical alterations modify neuron communication. This phenomenon is known as ' neural plasticity 'aids in quicker word retention, enhances the ability to discern new sounds, and refines pronunciation through control of facial musculature.'

"Functionally, [language learning] improves connections between different areas of the brain, enabling more effective communication among networks responsible for attention, memory, and cognitive control," Wittmeyer explained.

Acquiring languages at a young age is beneficial.

Research indicates that we utilize the same brain networks across all languages; however, the brain reacts distinctively to each one. native language A particular research revealed that the brain's activity within language networks diminished when individuals listened to their mother tongue.

Researchers indicate that the initial language one learns is processed more effortlessly in the brain, requiring less exertion.

Studies also indicate that it is significantly simpler for young children to acquire new languages compared to adults.

The young brain is still developing and thus exhibits greater adaptability for neural changes and learning compared to adult counterparts. Children do not need to convert information into their primary language; hence, acquiring new sounds, grammatical structures, and vocabulary happens much more naturally for them.

"During early years, the brain isn’t as rigid. When adults learn a new language, their brains have to adjust within pre-existing structures formed by their primary language, instead of developing separately, since they depend on already established neural pathways," explained Hernandez.

Can acquiring a new language increase your intelligence?

Certain studies indicate that being multilingual enhances cognitive skills such as memory and problem-solving capabilities. However, does this imply that individuals who speak multiple languages are more intelligent?

It's complex, yet likely not, stated Hernandez.

"If somebody speaks more than one language, it increases their verbal repertoire. They have more words across all languages, more items, necessarily more concepts," said Hernandez.

But it's unclear if having a bigger vocabulary is due to a bigger cognitive reserve or just having more words stored in the brain's memory banks. And this isn't the same thing as intelligence .

To truly determine whether polyglots possess higher intelligence, researchers would have to identify "a task unrelated to language," according to Hernandez.

At this point, the evidence doesn't really show much clarity that polyglots excel in activities not connected to linguistics.

Scientists remain uncertain whether alterations in cognitive abilities among multilingual individuals stem from acquiring multiple languages or from other elements such as their educational background or environmental influences. Researchers argue that numerous variables contribute to cognitive skills, making it difficult to attribute these changes solely to language acquisition.

However, irrespective of whether enhanced cognitive abilities equate to intelligence, it's evident that acquiring new languages introduces you to fresh cultural experiences in your life.

Edited by: Fred Schwaller

Sources:

White matter adaptability during bilingual acquisition inside and outside the hemispheres

Functional characterization of the language network in polyglots and hyperpolyglots using precise fMRI

Author: Hussna Mohamed

Share :