Languages and its role in the brain’s development
Doctors from leading medical institutes have opined that learning different languages is actually helpful for the brain’s cognitive development.
Even health experts have said that if a person knows more than two languages, different parts of the brain gets activated which in return helps in better concentration and development of the brainpower.
Dr Manjrai Tripathi, professor of neurology at AIIMS says, “It is a welcome move by the Central government stressing on the need to have ‘Hindi’ as a national language. This way those who don’t know the language will gradually learn it and learning a different language is really good for the brain’s cognitive development. Many international studies have proved that learning a second language helps in improving the brain’s cognitive functions regardless of when you start.”
“It has been proven that adults proficient in two languages performed better on attention tests and had better concentration than those who spoke only one language, irrespective of whether they had learned that second during infancy, childhood or their teen years,” the doctor added.
“Why don’t political leaders talk and take action in banning social media mobile applications that are really harmful for the children. They should make efforts in strengthening their education system and in introducing more language learning for children which is actually good for their cognitive development,” said Dr Tripathi.
Dr Anshul Rohtagi, a senior neurologist from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, echoed similar views.
Dr Rohtagi recalled one of his patients’ history who suffered a brain stroke and was a trilingual.
“Tarang (name changed) was a South Indian and used to work in a bank in Delhi. When he suffered brain stroke, his speech was badly affected. We gave him a clot-dissolving drug to keep him out of any danger. When his condition improved, he first recalled Tamil language, then Hindi and at last English language. This shows that part of the brain which directly deals with language has been activated .”
When contacted, Dr Pravat Mandal, additional professor at National Brain Research Institute said that it is true that knowing multiple languages helps in the cognitive growth of the brain and studies have shown that those who know more than one language have better brain functionalities.
Studies have also shown that not only did the patients suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, show drastic improvement upon learning a new language , their brain functioning showed better results. In many cases, even the diseases were seen to be deferred.
Studies also suggest that bilingualism improves the brain’s executive function. It helps with ignoring distractions to stay focused, switching attention wilfully from one thing to another and holding information in mind. Learning another language is one of the most effective and practical ways to increase intelligence and in keeping the mind sharp.