Does bilingualism make the brain more efficient?

In a recent study, the answer to that question has been sought.

The study is the work of a team including, among others, Zeus Gracia-Tabuenca of the University of Zaragoza in Spain, and Elise B. Barbeau, of McGill University in Canada.

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to create connections within itself, adapting to the environment around it. The brain is more plastic in childhood and forms new pathways in reaction to stimuli such as language.

Previous research has shown that learning a second language can positively influence attention, healthy aging, and even recovery after brain injury.

The authors of the new study recruited 151 participants who spoke French, English, or both languages, and recorded the age at which they began learning their second language. Participants were scanned using resting-state fMRI to record whole-brain connectivity, rather than focusing on specific regions as had been done in previous studies on bilingualism.

Functional MRI scans revealed that bilingual participants had greater connectivity between brain regions than monolingual participants, and that this connectivity was greater in those who learned their second language at a younger age. This effect was especially strong between the cerebellum and the left frontal cortex.

The brains of bilingual people work with two languages ​​on a regular basis, and this entails brain changes that also serve other functions. The image artistically summarizes the concept, in this case with Spanish-English bilingualism. (Illustration: Amazings/NCYT)

The results support previous studies that concluded that brain regions do not function in isolation, but rather interact with others to understand and produce language.

This latest study reveals more about how bilingualism influences the brain connections we use to think, communicate and experience the world around us.

“Our work suggests that learning a second language during childhood helps build a more efficient brain organization in terms of functional connectivity,” says Zeus Gracia Tabuenca. «The results indicate that the earlier the experience with a second language, the greater the extension of the brain areas involved in neuroplasticity. “That is why we observed greater connectivity of the cerebellum with the cortex in earlier exposures to a second language.”

The study is titled “Enhanced efficiency in the bilingual brain through the inter-hemispheric cortico-cerebellar pathway in early second language acquisition.” And it has been published in the academic journal Communications Biology. (Source: McGill University)