![]() One common misconception about the bilingual brain is the idea that children will become confused by the process of learning and speaking more than one language. And “white matter” is what allows different parts of the brain to communicate, suggesting more efficient brain communication in bilinguals and multilinguals.Īs a result of retaining more gray and white matter, bilinguals are likely to be more intelligent, have better memory, and age better than monolinguals, along with many more benefits! Who doesn’t want that?!įor a little more information on gray matter in bilinguals, check out this study done by the Georgetown University Medical Center! While we all have gray matter, as we develop from childhood, we lose gray matter, causing us to “slow down” mentally and physically. When we say “gray matter”, we’re referring to the parts of the brain that help one process and communicate information. “In previous studies, we've already seen that bilingualism has a positive effect on gray and white matter in adult brains, but this is the first time we've seen strong evidence for these effects in children and adolescents as well…here we see the effect of bilingualism on the brain as we develop" said study author Dr. ![]() In September of 2020, researchers from the University of Reading and Georgetown University observed detailed scans of bilingual and monolingual children and found evidence of more gray matter in bilingual children and adolescents than monolinguals of the same age. Recent studies have found that as a child’s brain develops, bilinguals are able to retain more gray and white matter than monolingual children.
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