Brief Communications
Nature 431, 757 (14 October 2004) | doi:10.1038/431757a; Published online 13 October 2004
Neurolinguistics: Structural plasticity in the bilingual brain
Andrea Mechelli1, Jenny T. Crinion1, Uta Noppeney1, John O'Doherty1, John Ashburner1, Richard S. Frackowiak1,2 & Cathy J. Price1
Humans have a unique ability to learn more than one language — a skill that is thought to be mediated by functional (rather than structural) plastic changes in the brain1. Here we show that learning a second language increases the density of grey matter in the left inferior parietal cortex and that the degree of structural reorganization in this region is modulated by the proficiency attained and the age at acquisition. This relation between grey-matter density and performance may represent a general principle of brain organization.
- Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma 00179, Italy
Correspondence to: Andrea Mechelli1 Email: a.mechelli@fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk
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