Language learning makes the brain grow

According to a new study in Sweden, learning a language may make your brain grow.

The study compared students at the Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy with students from Umea University who were not studying languages. Both groups had MRI scans of their brains both before and after a three-month period of study. The scans showed that the Interpreter Academy students brains had grown in specific areas.

The parts that developed in size were the hippocampus, a deep-lying brain structure that is involved in learning new material and spatial navigation, and three areas in the cerebral cortex.

“We were surprised that different parts of the brain developed to different degrees depending on how well the students performed and how much effort they had had to put in to keep up with the course,” says Johan Mårtensson, a researcher in psychology at Lund University, Sweden. (Source: Science Daily)

Inspired to help your brain grow? Try German classes in Miami or Philadelphia.