- Although certain core brain regions are involved in the processing of all languages, these regions show distinct activation patterns during the processing of different languages.
- The different brain activation patterns observed during the processing of specific languages suggest that individuals with different native languages would show structural differences in the brain.
- A new study found that native Arabic and German speakers showed differences in the wiring of brain regions involved in the processing of language.
- These findings suggest that learning one’s native language during childhood shapes the connections in the brain and may explain why differences in native languages affect how people think.
An individual’s native language can shape how they think. For instance, while there is a single word for colors in the blue spectrum in English, there are two distinct words in Russian that distinguish between light and dark blue.
Interestingly, native Russian speakers tend to be much faster in tests involving the discrimination of light and dark blue than native English speakers. Similarly, results have also been observed for the words used to describe directions in different native languages and the sense of orientation an individual has.
A recent study published in NeuroImageprovides evidence for differences in the wiring of language processing regions in the brain of native Arabic and German speakers.
This suggests that learning one’s native language during childhood could lead to structural changes in the brain, potentially explaining the differences in cognitive function in individuals who speak different first languages.
Scientists have, over the years, shown that language is processed and produced by a complex network of interconnected brain regions, predominantly in the left half or hemisphere of the brain. Moreover, studies have revealed that distinct brain pathways are associated with processing particular aspects of language, including semantics…
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