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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody

Published on: September 27, 2024

Structural plasticity in the language system related to increased second language proficiency.

Maria Stein¹, Andrea Federspiel, Thomas Koenig

¹University Hospital of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatric Neurophysiology, Bern, Switzerland.

Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior

|November 26, 2010

Summary

Second language acquisition leads to structural brain changes, specifically in the left inferior frontal gyrus. These brain plasticity changes correlate with the amount of language learned, not absolute proficiency.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Linguistics

Background:

Extensive research exists on functional brain changes during second language learning.
Structural brain plasticity related to bilingualism and language comprehension is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate learning-dependent structural brain changes.
To monitor brain structure modifications over five months of second language acquisition.

Main Methods:

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was employed.
Structural brain changes were monitored in native English speakers learning German.
Participants were scanned at the beginning and end of a five-month study period.

Main Results:

Significant structural changes were observed in the left inferior frontal gyrus.
These grey matter changes correlated with the increase in second language proficiency.
Absolute grey matter density did not correlate with proficiency levels.

Conclusions:

Second language learning induces measurable structural brain plasticity.
The extent of learning, not just proficiency level, is reflected in these brain changes.
The left inferior frontal gyrus is a key area for structural adaptation during language acquisition.