A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences explains why it is so difficult for adults to learn a language while it is a piece of cake for children. The crux of the matter is the plasticity of neurons .
Our brain lives in a state of constant flux. It adjusts repeatedly to improve our mental performance while juggling millions of incoming signals. Scientists claim that this ability to adapt keeps us fit, but it is precisely what makes it so difficult for adults to learn languages.
To understand this, you have to know that the activity of brain cells is divided into two categories: plasticity and stability . The first refers to the brain’s ability to change. That is, as we obtain new information, our brain creates new connections between neurons. Stability would be the opposite, that is, the ability that allows the brain to fix the learned knowledge and maintain these neural connections.
The youngest children have a high neural plasticity and it is that they are immersed in such a learning process that they require the creation of new neural connections . Tons of new information come to them that they have to analyze to discern if it is important and needs to be stored or not. However, as we get older, the brain’s ability to make new connections naturally decreases, and with it neural plasticity. “The brain begins to prioritize stability,” explains Matt Leonard, an associate professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. “We basically want to hold onto the important things that we’ve spent the last decade or more learning.”
For all this, researchers believe that when we learn a new language, human beings depend on plasticity. For this reason, children can learn several languages with little effort, while adults tend to have a lot of difficulties.
The researchers studied the brain activity of 10 English-speaking epileptic patients while learning Mandarin Chinese. Due to their condition, these people already had electrodes in their brains and agreed to extend the data from the devices to the project, offering a unique opportunity for researchers to directly study the human brain while learning. Mandarin was chosen because it differs greatly from English, making it more difficult to learn and requiring the formation of a large number of new neural connections.
What was seen in the study is that during the learning process there are neurons that are activated and others that do not. “There are these different types of groups of neurons, some of which seem to be really willing to change with learning and others that are more resistant,” Leonard said.
Our brains are more prone to picking up familiar sounds, which is why language immersion is more effective than regular classes . It all has to do with training our brains to recognize patterns and engage our neurons.
“The best way to learn a new language, whether you are a child or an adult, is to be immersed in it,” says Leonard, “to be surrounded by native speakers as much as possible .”
He also emphasizes that during any learning process there are ups and downs. In fact, brain activity data from study subjects indicated large variations in learning success. “There may be periods of time when the stability neurons shut down and say, ‘Look, we have to slow down and not change things too much right now,'” Leonard explains. In those cases, the key is not to lose motivation . You can!
