Study Shows Learning a Second Language Strengthens Neural Connections

A study conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences reveals that adult learners of a second language experience dynamic changes in brain connectivity, particularly in the strengthening of white matter connections within the language network and the involvement of additional regions in the right hemisphere. The research, which involved intensive German learning for native Arabic speakers, suggests that the brain adapts to new cognitive demands by modulating the structural connectome within and across hemispheres, shedding light on how first and second languages are learned and processed.