How Learning a Second Language Changes Brain Connections

Neuropsychologists have discovered how studying a second language alters brain connections. Scientists conducted intensive language courses for Arabic-speaking individuals who moved to Germany, monitoring their progress using MRI. Analysis revealed enhanced interneuronal connections in the brain's language network in the white matter and the involvement of additional areas in the right hemisphere. However, simultaneously, connections between the right and left halves of the brain, connected by the corpus callosum, decreased. This may have freed up additional resources for acquiring the new language. Overall, the adult brain adapted to new cognitive demands by modulating structural connections within and between hemispheres. These findings have helped improve understanding of how people acquire languages.