The experience of learning and using a second language (L2) has been shown to affect the grey matter (GM) structure of the brain. Importantly, GM density in several cortical and subcortical areas has been shown to be related to performance in L2 tasks. Here, we show that bilingualism can lead to increased GM volume in the cerebellum, a structure that has been related to the processing of grammatical rules. Additionally, the cerebellar GM volume of highly proficient L2 speakers is correlated to their performance in a task tapping on grammatical processing in an L2, demonstrating the importance of the cerebellum for the establishment and use of grammatical rules in an L2.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12311-013-0515-6 | DOI Listing |
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Article Synopsis
- * The study analyzed EEG data from participants learning an artificial language, comparing those who slept for 8 hours to those who stayed awake, finding sleep improved understanding of sequence-based word order rules.
- * Results indicated that sleep enhanced memory consolidation and retrieval related to language, showing a link between brain activity during sleep and wakefulness through specific neural oscillations.
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