Bilinguals solve mental problems faster than ordinary people

Scientists from the University Jaume I of Castellón discovered that people, who from early childhood speak two languages, bilinguals, can significantly faster and more effectively solve mental problems.

The research group, which was led by Professor Cesar Rivera, conducted a set of experiments with two groups of volunteering students. The first group consisted of bilinguals – young people, who learned to use two languages early in their childhood, Catalan and Spanish; the second group consisted of students who know only Spanish. The participants were asked to solve various problems, while their brain activity was monitored with functional magnetic resonance imaging.

The scientists discovered that bilinguals use the left inferior frontal lobe, the Boca’s area, to solve such problems as sorting objects according to shape or color. The other group, monolinguals, on the other hand, uses the right part to solve the same problems.

Scientists from Great Britain, Italy, and Japan have earlier published their findings in PloS One magazine, about the fact that children who talk two languages starting from early age are better oriented in conversations and are better at recognizing rudeness, dishonesty, and excessive information. Moreover, some studies have shown that bilingual children develop much faster, and maintain higher reactions rate even in adulthood.

Source of the image: Photl.