Study Finds 2-Language Brains Share Grammar Signals Across Tongues
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 15
Study Finds 2-Language Brains Share Grammar Signals Across Tongues
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 15
Summary
A JNeurosci study published Monday found bilingual people show strikingly similar brain activity when applying grammar rules in their first and second languages.
The overlap appeared in tasks such as deciding whether a word should be singular or plural, challenging long-held theories that different languages rely on separate neural patterns.
Esti Blanco-Elorrieta of New York University said the result suggests two languages are more integrated in the brain than expected and offers one of the first fine-grained views of that sharing.
The finding adds to broader bilingualism research that has moved away from treating a second language as a disruption and has linked bilingual brains to structural differences and stronger memory and concentration performance.