[EDLING:330] Second language -- all in the head?

[Francis M. Hult]

United Press International

Second language -- all in the head?

EVANSTON, Ill., July 30 (UPI) -- U.S. neuroscientists suggest that the 
differences in ability adults display in learning a second language is linked 
to structures in the brain. 

The study, published in Cerebral Cortex, showed how the ability to learn 18 
words of a "pseudo" language could be predicted by the size of the brain's 
Heschl's Gyrus. 

"Our study links brain anatomy to the ability to learn a second language in 
adulthood," lead author neuroscience Patrick Wong, of Northwestern University, 
said in a study. 

Wong and colleagues measured the size of Heschl's Gyrus, a finger-shaped 
structure in both the right and left side of the brain and found the size of 
the left, but not the right Heschl's Gyrus made the difference. 

Full story:
http://www.upi.com/Consumer_Health_Daily/Briefing/2007/07/30/second_language__al
l_in_the_head/9544/