Impact of Learning a Second Language and Music on Brain Function
Research Overview
Canadian researchers have explored the effects of learning a second language and playing a musical instrument on brain function. Previous studies indicated that musicians and bilingual individuals tend to have enhanced working memory, particularly when recalling lists or phone numbers.
Study Methodology
To delve deeper into this phenomenon, a team conducted functional brain imaging scans on 41 young adults aged 19 to 35. The goal was to observe brain activation in various regions during spatial and non-spatial memory tasks.
Key Findings
The results, published in the *Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences*, revealed that bilingual participants, especially those who also played a musical instrument, demonstrated superior abilities in locating and identifying sounds. This dual experience appeared to influence the neural networks utilized during working memory tasks.
Neural Activation Insights
Bilingual individuals exhibited increased activation in brain areas linked to speech comprehension. Furthermore, both musicians and bilingual participants required fewer neural resources to accomplish the tasks compared to their monolingual counterparts. In contrast, monolingual individuals who did not play an instrument were slower and less accurate, relying more heavily on the prefrontal lobe to complete tasks.
Conclusions and Future Research
Although the participant pool was relatively small, the findings suggest that learning a second language or a musical instrument may positively influence brain function. Further research is needed to determine if these changes could provide protection against cognitive decline in later life.
Reference
Alain, C., Khatamian, Y., He, Y., Lee, Y., Moreno, S., Leung, A. W., & Bialystok, E. (2018). Different neural activities support auditory working memory in musicians and bilinguals. *Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences*. doi: 10.1111/nyas.13717
Written by Debra A. Kellen, PhD.