 |
|
|
|
|
September 23rd, 2010
08:00 AM ET
From brain to language to accent
Ping Li, of Pennsylvania State University's Brain, Language, and Computation Lab, wants to know what distinguishes someone who can easily pick up a new language from someone who struggles. Research has shown that early exposure is key to mastering a second language, but scientists have lots of unanswered questions about how the brain learns a new language or dialect. The two parts of the brain that are critical for language and speech development are called Broca's area and Wernicke's area (here's more on those). Broca's area is involved in speech articulation and producing sounds, while Wernicke's area deals more with comprehension of words, Li said. Recent research has also implicated nearby brain regions that include the parts of the temporal lobe for storing and retrieving meanings, the parietal lobe for for mediating speech and motor representation, and the angular gyrus for integrating different sources - for instance, understanding idioms. It turns out that the language you speak does change the way your brain processes language, studies have shown. Li's research has compared the brains of native English speakers and Chinese speakers who are bilingual in English. The Chinese language does not differentiate verbs and nouns in the same way that English does, and some interesting brain patterns result from that distinction: In native English speakers, the Broca's area appears to handle verbs and the Wernicke's area deals with nouns. Chinese speakers who are bilingual from an early age show the same brain behavior, Li said. But when presented with the same nouns and verbs in Chinese, the Chinese bilinguals do not show a difference between Broca's and Wernicke's area with nouns and verbs. What's more, Chinese bilinguals who learned English in college do not show the noun-verb distinction in the brain when presented with English, even though their language ability is not necessarily worse. Research has demonstrated numerous advantages to learning a new language beyond mere communication. People who are bilingual are better able to carry on two tasks at once, switching back and forth between activities more seamlessly and weeding out irrelevant information better. But here's the downside: Languages can actually compete in your mind, and you may start forgetting some vocabulary of the language you use less. And it pays to start early. Research suggests that true native fluency in any language can only be gained in early childhood; some studies found that sensitivity to foreign accent goes down after age 1! It's not impossible to learn a new language late in life, but it does get more difficult: a 40-year-old will have a harder time than a 20-year-old, says Grant Goodall of the University of California, San Diego. Here are some resources for computer-based language learning. Very little is known about picking up a new accent specifically, Li said. We recently wrote about foreign accent syndrome, but it's unclear whether the speech changes in this condition can truly be considered a "foreign accent," Li said. Li speculates that perhaps people who are good at accent imitation – such as Steve Martin in "The Pink Panther" – may have better-developed parts of the brain that handle speech sounds, or that those areas have better connections to other brain regions. "We can make some speculations as to whether people like Steve Martin have better abilities to process sound systems of languages," he said.
Next entry »Diabetes drug Avandia restricted by FDA
« Previous entryWhat are normal symptoms after Transient Global Amnesia?
|
  About this blog
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love.
 |
|
|
|
Some people have a hard time learning a new language; others find it baffling when someone imitates a foreign accent (
http://icons.showingtime.com/rd/RD?c=REALTORCOM&s=FMREALTY&url=www.backbonehunters.com
I love looking through an article that will make men and women think. Also, many thanks for allowing for me to comment!
https://seafood.media/fis/shared/redirect.asp?banner=6158&url=https://backboneleaders.comholostyak-stb-2021
The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesn't fail me just as much as this particular one. After all, Yes, it was my choice to read through, however I actually thought you would probably have something interesting to talk about. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something you can fix if you weren't too busy looking for attention.
http://wad.ojooo.com/cks_preview.php?lang=en&url=https://backboneleaders.com/
https://m.yimiaotui.com/index/index/jump?url=http://backboneleaders.com/
Itís hard to come by educated people in this particular topic, but you sound like you know what youíre talking about! Thanks
http://sherlock.scribblelive.com/r?u=backbonehunters.com
http://old.nepalimmigration.gov.np/site/languages/languageA/3?url=https://backboneleaders.com
When I originally commented I seem to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on each time a comment is added I recieve 4 emails with the same comment. Perhaps there is a way you are able to remove me from that service? Thanks a lot!
http://wartank.ru/?0-1.ILinkListener-showSigninLink&channelId=30152&partnerUrl=https://backboneleaders.com
https://www.nsbe.org/impakredirect.aspx?url=http://backboneleaders.com
This is a topic which is near to my heart... Thank you! Where are your contact details though?
https://ad.atdmt.com/c/img?h=https://backbonehunters.com/
https://www.fahrradreisen-wanderreisen.de/redirect/Index.asp?url=https://ocrv.xyz/
http://www.calculustutoring.biz/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=oc-rv.com
An impressive share! I've just forwarded this onto a co-worker who has been conducting a little research on this. And he actually bought me dinner simply because I discovered it for him... lol. So allow me to reword this.... Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending time to discuss this topic here on your web page.
http://sportsmenka.info/go/?https://commercialrepairshop.com/
http://sololadyboys.com/cgi-bin/at3/out.cgi?id=47&tag=toplist&trade=https://ocrv.me
Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon every day. It will always be interesting to read through content from other writers and practice a little something from their sites.
https://affclkr.com/track/clicks/3171/c627c2b89e0522dbfe9cbd2e8d2b8914736245cb75e9f0ab416db1046005?t=https://www.ocrvcenter.com/
https://peru-retail.com/?adid=111169&url=www.ocrvcenter.com
I enjoy reading through an article that will make men and women think. Also, thank you for allowing for me to comment!
http://babedrop.net/out.php?url=ocrv.mobi/
Very good info. Lucky me I discovered your site by accident (stumbleupon). I've bookmarked it for later!
http://silbermedia.com/blog/?wptouch_switch=mobile&redirect=http://ocrvmotorsports.info
Excellent site you have here.. Itís hard to find good quality writing like yours these days. I truly appreciate people like you! Take care!!
https://www.thaihealth.or.th/in_link.php?link=https://ocrv.org
http://events.owt.com/cgi-bin/clickthru?http://ocrv.rocks/
https://www.nwpro.ru/go?link=https://www.ocrvshop.com
http://felicite.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=www.newrvowners.com/
https://d.hodes.com/r/tp2?e=se&tv=pixel_tracker&aid=homedepot&p=web&se_ca=anonymous&se_ac=click&se_la=ccuid&u=https://www.www.ocrv.biz/
Good post. I absolutely love this site. Keep it up!
https://go.stroeermediabrands.de/go.php?t=https://ocrvmotorsports.us/
http://akvaforum.no/go.cfml?id=1040&uri=https://ocrvcenter.com
http://forums.coade.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=changeprefs&what=style&value=2&curl=https://www.ocrvcenter.biz
Everything is very open with a really clear explanation of the issues. It was definitely informative. Your site is useful. Thanks for sharing!
http://www.webgames.cz/redirect.php?url=http://ocrvcenter.biz/
Having read this I thought it was extremely enlightening. I appreciate you finding the time and energy to put this content together. I once again find myself personally spending a lot of time both reading and posting comments. But so what, it was still worthwhile!
http://www.boleh.click/track/link?to=http://ocrvmotorsports.info/
Hey, thanks for the post.Really thank you! Awesome.
https://www.kitsapdailynews.com/marketplace/best-thc-gummies-top-3-marijuana-edibles-on-the-rise-in-2021/
http://www.wallpaperlink.com/cgi-bin/rank/out.cgi?id=DECOO&url=https://ocrvcenter.biz/
http://www.worldlingo.com/S4698.0/translation?wl_url=https://ocrvcenter.net/
https://queverdeasturias.com/out.html?url=https://ocrv.fun
This is a good tip particularly to those new to the blogosphere. Brief but very precise infoÖ Thank you for sharing this one. A must read article!
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=ocrvshop.com
I love it whenever people come together and share views. Great site, keep it up!
https://d-click.sindilat.com.br/u/6186/643/710/1050_0/4bbcb/?url=https://fleetautorepairshop.com
http://slkjfdf.net/ – Uyujpet Osafaza hkb.vgkj.thechart.blogs.cnn.com.cjg.vr http://slkjfdf.net/
This site really has all the information I needed concerning this subject and didnít know who to ask.
http://disaster-medicine.net/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=ocrv.life
Pretty! This was a really wonderful article. Thank you for providing this information.
http://www.sa-live.com/merror.html?errortype=1&url=https://www.ocrv.info
Excellent post. I'm going through many of these issues as well..
http://rufolder.ru/redirect/?url=http://rankemailads.com
Hello. fantastic job. I did not anticipate this. This is a great story. Thanks!
https://www.electricpercolatorcoffeepot.com/a-battery-operated-coffee-pot-lets-you-savor-coffee-on-the-go/