How Does Language Change Your Brain?
Summary
TLDRThis episode of 'Test-Tube Plus' explores how learning a new language can physically grow the brain and enhance cognitive function. Studies reveal that bilingual young adults perform better on attention and concentration tests, and learning a second language early can delay the onset of Alzheimer's. The script delves into how language influences thought processes and perception, with examples from various languages. It also discusses the ease of learning languages based on their linguistic relationship to English and the unique challenges posed by tonal languages like Mandarin.
Takeaways
- 🧠 Learning a new language can physically increase the size of specific brain areas as shown by MRI scans from a study at the Swedish Armed Forces interpreter Academy.
- 📈 Bilingual young adults perform better on attention and concentration tests compared to those who speak only one language, according to a study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.
- 👴 Learning a second language at an early age can slow down brain aging and delay Alzheimer's by over four years, as indicated by a longitudinal study in the annals of Neurology.
- 🌐 Language processing in the brain is similar to predictive text, where the brain anticipates and forms words based on sequential sounds it receives.
- 🌍 Language does not determine what you think, but it can influence how you think about things, as suggested by Roman Jakobson, a renowned linguist.
- 🗣 The gender of words in different languages can affect how people perceive and describe them, as demonstrated by a study involving French and Spanish speakers.
- 🧭 Indigenous tribes that use cardinal directions instead of left and right tend to have better spatial orientation due to the consistency of their language.
- 🎨 Speakers of languages with more words for different shades of a color may physically see more colors, as suggested by theories on language and perception.
- 🏫 English speakers find it easier to learn languages that are Germanic or Latin-based due to shared linguistic roots, but languages like Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Arabic are more challenging due to the lack of common origins.
- 📚 The Foreign Service Institute categorizes languages based on ease of learning for English speakers, with some languages requiring as little as 600 hours of study and others up to 2200 hours.
- 🎼 Speakers of tonal languages may have advantages in understanding and playing musical instruments due to their inherent pitch and tone understanding, as shown in a study with Cantonese speakers.
Q & A
What is the main topic of the 'Test-Tube Plus' show?
-The main topic of the 'Test-Tube Plus' show is to break down big topics into smaller, more understandable pieces. In this specific episode, the focus is on how learning a new language can literally make your brain bigger.
How does learning a new language affect the size of the brain according to the Swedish Armed Forces interpreter Academy study?
-The study found that when students were tasked with learning a language at a fast rate, MRI scans showed that specific parts of their brains developed in size, indicating that learning a language can cause the brain to grow.
What cognitive benefits does learning a new language provide, as mentioned in the script?
-Learning a new language significantly improves cognitive function. Young adults proficient in two languages performed better on attention tests and had better concentration compared to those who spoke only one language.
What did the longitudinal study by the American Neurological Association find regarding the effects of learning a second language at an early age?
-The study found that learning a second language at an early age leads to better cognitive function at an older age, slowing down brain aging and delaying Alzheimer's by more than four years.
How does the brain process language when hearing a word?
-The brain processes language by predicting the rest of the word in a sequential order, similar to how Google autocomplete works, by starting to put words together based on the initial sounds it hears.
What is the concept of 'language determining how you think about things' as discussed in the script?
-The concept suggests that while language doesn't determine what you think, it can influence how you think about things. For example, the gender of nouns in different languages can affect how people perceive objects.
How does the gender of a word in different languages influence perception as per the script?
-The gender of a word in different languages can influence perception by ascribing certain characteristics to objects based on their grammatical gender. For instance, the word 'fork' is feminine in French and masculine in Spanish, which can affect how people describe it.
What is the impact of having more words for specific concepts on perception, as mentioned in the script?
-Having more words for specific concepts, like different shades of blue in Russian, can enhance the ability to visually discriminate those concepts. This can also apply to people in professions that require detailed color descriptions, suggesting they may physically see more nuances in color.
According to the Foreign Service Institute, what is the easiest language for an English speaker to learn and why?
-The easiest languages for an English speaker to learn are Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, and French, which are in category 1. These languages are easier because they are either Germanic or Latin-based, sharing origins with English.
Why are languages like Mandarin, Arabic, Japanese, and Korean considered difficult for English speakers to learn?
-These languages are considered difficult for English speakers because they do not share any origin with English. They also have unique features such as tonal languages, where different pitches can change the meaning of words, which is not a feature of English.
What advantage do tonal language speakers have when learning musical instruments, as suggested by the script?
-Tonal language speakers, such as Cantonese speakers, have a distinct advantage when learning musical instruments due to their inherent pitch and tone understanding, which is similar to that of trained musicians, making it easier for them to grasp musical concepts.
Outlines
🧠 The Brain-Boosting Power of Language Learning
This paragraph discusses the impact of language learning on brain development. It explains that learning a new language can cause the brain to grow in size, as it forms new connections to accommodate the linguistic information. The Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy's study is highlighted, showing that students' brains physically developed as they rapidly learned a language. In contrast, a control group learning non-linguistic skills did not exhibit such changes. The benefits of bilingualism or multilingualism on cognitive function are also emphasized, with studies indicating improved attention and concentration, as well as a slower rate of cognitive decline with age. The paragraph also touches on how language processing in the brain works, similar to predictive text, and how language might shape culture and thought, rather than determining it.
🌐 Language and Perception: How Words Shape Our Worldview
The second paragraph delves into how language can influence perception and thought processes. It provides examples of how gendered words in different languages can affect how people conceptualize objects, as demonstrated in a study where participants used voices reflecting the gender of objects in their native languages. The paragraph also explores how the vocabulary available in a language can affect color perception, suggesting that those with more descriptive language for colors may perceive them more vividly. It discusses the ease with which English speakers can learn languages with shared origins, such as Scandinavian or Latin-based languages, versus the difficulty of learning languages with no origin sharing, like Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Arabic. The Foreign Service Institute's language difficulty categories for English speakers are outlined, with Mandarin and Arabic being the most challenging due to their tonal nature and lack of similarity to English. The paragraph concludes by highlighting the cognitive advantages of tonal language speakers in music understanding.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Cognitive Function
💡Longitudinal Study
💡Bilingual
💡Brain Aging
💡Language Perception
💡Grammatical Gender
💡Spatial Orientation
💡Tonal Language
💡Foreign Service Institute
💡Idea Grams
💡Roman Jakobson
Highlights
Learning a new language can cause your brain to grow in size, as it makes more connections.
A study by the Swedish Armed Forces interpreter Academy showed that students' brains developed in size while learning a language rapidly.
Another study found that young adults proficient in two languages performed better on attention and concentration tests compared to those who spoke only one language.
A longitudinal study by the American neurological Association showed that learning a second language at an early age can slow down brain aging and delay Alzheimer's.
Bilingualism and multilingualism can improve cognitive function and brain health in adulthood.
The brain processes language by predicting the rest of a word as it is heard, similar to auto-complete functions.
Bilingual brains consider words from both languages when processing language, requiring more cognitive effort.
Language does not determine what you think, but it can influence how you think about things.
A study showed that gendered words in different languages influenced the pitch of participants' voices when speaking a word.
Indigenous tribes' use of cardinal directions instead of left and right can lead to better spatial orientation.
Russian speakers, with more words for light and dark blue, are better at visually discriminating shades of blue.
Professionals in design, fashion, or color-related fields may physically see more colors due to their language and vocabulary.
English speakers find it easier to learn languages like Scandinavian and Dutch due to their Germanic roots.
The Foreign Service Institute categorizes languages based on ease of learning for English speakers, with categories ranging from 1 to 5.
Tonal languages, such as Mandarin, are difficult for English speakers due to the need to understand and use different tones for meaning.
Tonal language speakers have advantages in understanding and playing musical instruments due to their pitch and tone understanding.
Learning languages is beneficial for brain health and cognitive function, regardless of the number of languages known.
Transcripts
hey everyone thanks for tuning into
test-tube plus today I'm trace this is a
show where we take a big topic we break
it down into a bunch of different pieces
so we all get it a little better this is
episode two of five on language and
today we're gonna talk about how
language makes your brain bigger
literally it does that when you have a
new language in your brain your brain
has to essentially grow in size it has
to make more connections it has to learn
how to do this whole new thing and a
Swedish Armed Forces interpreter Academy
had a study where students were tasked
with learning a language at a very fast
rate MRI scans were showing that
specific parts of the brain were
developing in size they were getting
bigger just because they were learning a
language another group was tasked with
learning something else just something
you guys learned this their brain
structures didn't change in size at all
so learning a language is really great
for your brain for a number of different
reasons it also significantly improves
cognitive function when you pick up a
new language a study found that young
adults proficient in two languages
performed better on attention tests had
better concentration as well than those
who spoke only one language this is a
study published in the journal frontiers
in psychology there was also a landmark
study in the annals of Neurology by the
American neurological Association this
was a longitudinal study so what they
did is it was over time they scammed
kids brains and then came back decades
later and scanned their brains again and
they found better cognitive function at
an older age when they learned a second
language at an early age so if they
learned a language when they were young
they had better cognitive function when
they were older it actually slowed down
brain aging and held off Alzheimer's in
these people for more than four point
three years or approximately that
cognitive functions were not hindered
and in fact their brains worked
healthier as adults because they've
learned a second language as a kid then
great being bilingual or trilingual or
more is really awesome for your brain so
what happens in your brain when you hear
a word is that the sound is arriving in
sequential order so your brain starts to
pop you
the rest of the word is that here is it
sort of like like Google autocomplete
right you start typing and you're
getting things and it's trying to figure
out what you're typing it's the same
thing your brain does that too so if I
were trying to say the word canister
your brain here's can and your brain
just now when I said that started
putting words together inside of itself
it was like can Canada cannot cannery
cannabis candle canonical canal it was
like I'm trying to figure this out of
course that's just English words when
you're bilingual it's also going to
include words from your second language
and if you're trying well third language
it's gonna try all of these different
combinations that is a lot of processing
requires a lot of effort the thing is
though that would make you think that
like language was determining what
you're thinking which isn't really true
at all although it's still debated one
of our writers here came up with a quote
based on a number of other different
kind of ideas which is culture could be
shaped through the prism of language
which we really liked nice when Jules
according to Roman Jakobson
a world-renowned linguist languages
differ essentially in what they must
convey not in what they may convey right
so language doesn't determine what you
think but it can determine how you think
about things so the word fork in French
is a feminine word in Spanish it's a
masculine word many Latin based
languages have masculine and feminine
words so the word playa in Spanish means
Beach and it is a feminine word because
it ends in an A if it ended an O it
would be a masculine word so what they
did in this study is they asked people
to say a word like the word fork in a
cartoon voice the participants in French
made a high-pitched voice because that
word is feminine in Spanish they made a
masculine grunty voice because that word
is masculine
it's the same word it's a fork it's just
a thing but we ascribe ideas to it based
on our own language right our language
determines its if
prism in which we see the world it's
really an interesting way to look at it
another example might be some indigenous
tribes will say north south east and
west rather than saying left or right so
when we're walking down the street and
you ask somebody where to go they'll say
oh I'll go down there and turn right
some people when in English but also
some tribes will just say go down here
and turn east now depending on which way
you're facing East is never going to
change but right will and as a
consequence that people in these tribes
have usually better spatial orientation
because they always understand where
they're facing Russian speakers who have
more words for light and dark blue are
better able to visually discriminate
shades of blue and that also works in
English think about it this way
designers or people who work in fashion
or people who work in color are better
at describing color and some theories
would suggest that they actually see
physically see more color than people
who don't have words for that if you see
three different pinks in a row and some
people say well that's pink and that's
magenta and that's fuchsia some people
would just say pink and that's also pink
it's like a different pink and that's a
different pink they may physically
remember those things later as just one
shade of pink because that's how their
language has changed their perception
English is a Germanic language which
makes languages like Scandinavian and
Dutch easier to learn and it's also
Latin based which makes French Italian
and Spanish easier to learn the thing is
there's no origin sharing with Chinese
Japanese Korean or Arabic so that makes
them very difficult to learn the easiest
language to learn when you're an English
speaker according to the Foreign Service
Institute comes in various categories so
category 1 takes about 23 to 24 weeks or
about 600 hours at most
and you can learn Afrikaans Danish Dutch
French Italian Latin based languages
especially easy because English also
based in their category 2 takes about 30
weeks 750 hours at German completely
different pronunciations and things lots
of different words much more complicated
category 336 weeks are about 900 hours
you can get Indonesia
Asian Swahili you're getting more and
more complicated less and less similar
to your native language again this is
for English speakers category 4 is 44
weeks or about 1100 hours you get Thai
Albanian Vietnamese Russian category 5
is 2200 hours and that's Arabic Mandarin
Cantonese Japanese in Korean and these
are languages just like English except
they're not at all like English some of
these languages have basis in idea grams
instead of you know vocabulary
construction in the way that English
does and on top of that Mandarin has is
very famously has tones that is to say
it's got a variety of different tonal
levels that you will have to speak in
and different tones mean different
things there's also something else when
you get to things like Mandarin we have
tonal languages languages where if I say
high versus high those can be two very
different meanings and this is why
Chinese and similar languages are very
difficult for English speakers we're not
used to speaking in tones and science
does say though interestingly that tonal
language speakers have distinct
advantages when they're learning to play
or at least understand musical
instruments because applause one study
looked at Cantonese speakers who had no
musical training they possessed pitch
and tone understanding similar to
trained musicians as opposed to English
speakers with no tone base we don't
understand it as easily so languages are
good for your brain I think we can all
agree do you know any other languages
how many do you know tell us down in the
comments make sure you subscribe for
more test-tube plus come back tomorrow
we're gonna talk a little bit about how
language evolves and also how they
sometimes die if you want to see that
make sure you subscribe also check out
yesterday's episode if you didn't
already this was episode two of five on
language so hopefully you'll come back
tomorrow and we'll see you then
[Music]
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