Prometheus 6

As I said in response to LaShawn's February Challenge:

Your mother’s diet has as much to do with the final state of your adult brain as your genetics. Not to mention yours. And the richness of the environment in which it developed. And the amount of stress hormones washing over the neurons.

Fast language learners boast more white matter
00:01 07 April 2006
NewScientist.com news service
Roxanne Khamsi

The sound processing centre in the left hemisphere (L) of the fast learners’ brains is larger than that in the right hemisphere (R), and also larger than that in the left hemisphere of the slow learners’ brains (Image: Narly Golestani)Fast language learners have more white matter and less symmetrical brains, a new scanning study has revealed.

The results among the first to link brain differences to language learning aptitude in healthy people, says Narly Golestani at University College London, UK. “The bigger picture is that we’re starting to understand that brain shape and structure can be informative about people’s abilities,” she says.

Those in the study who were quickest to hear subtle differences in sounds from a foreign language were found to have the greatest amount of white, fatty tissue in a brain region responsible for sound processing.

“It could be that this translates into greater efficiency in the brain,” comments Adam Brickman, who researches brain structure the Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

Scientists’ understanding of white matter has improved recently, he says, thanks to better brain scanning technology. The fatty tissue provides insulation and enables signals to travel faster through nerve fibres. In contrast, the grey matter of the brain contains neurons without this protective layer.