Learning

            When referring to the development of the brain in his "Guitar Zero" book, Gary Marcus states that "the gray matter increase is a diagnostic of learning in general" meaning that there are actual detectable, physical changes that occur in the brain when we learn- for instance- to jump start a car or to parallel park (Marcus 33). This unbelievable concept of gaining brain mass was recently utilized in a study done at Lund University (here is a link to the findings: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/251361.php.)

              The study was set up so that a group of subjects with "a talent for acquiring languages" was immersed in an accelerated learning course where they were learning a particular language "from morning to night, seven days a week" for 13 months! After that period they were able to speak the language fluently! The control group of this study were students of cognitive science and medicine, meaning that they also were a group of "hard-workers" in regards to learning except that their area of study was not that of languages. Both groups obtained MRI scans before and after studying for 3 months and the results were simply inconceivable! The MRI scans of the control group showed no change in the brain structure, whereas "in the language group, certain parts of the brain had grown, including thehippocampus, responsible for learning new information, and three areas in the cerebral cortex." The study also goes on to conclude that there was a difference as to what area of the brain experienced the growth and that was dependent upon an individual and "how simple it was for an individual to learn a language." This means that one participant could have had an increase in brain growth in one area due his ability to easily comprehend the language, while another subject might have had greater difficulty with that which resulted in brain growth in a different area.

                  Gary Marcus also ponders upon the fact that "learning a language early in life clearly beats learning one late in life" (Marcus 92). It is an undisputed, yet a puzzling fact. It is also a frustrating one for those who had to learn a second language as adults or even teens (myself included.) There are numerous studies confirmatory of the fact that kids are better learners of language than adults. One of the recent ones that particularly caught my attention concludes that "when it comes to extracting complex rules from spoken language, a three-month-old outperforms adult learners" (here is a link to the article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/250073.php.) This conclusion was based upon data from EEG that showed that babies could recognize when the syllables that were being played to them were out of place, whereas adults learners had to be "asked to explicitly look for dependencies between the syllables" in order to recognize a rule violation. As already mentioned, this study- among many others- only confirms what has been deemed as obvious- that babies are better language learners than adults. There is therefore a plethora of scientific studies and empirical suppositions that attempt to explain this fact but we still do not seem to have a definitive answer.

                              Regardless of the field of study, "new knowledge can bring a surge of dopamine one might get by ingesting crack cocaine" (Marcus 17). Therefore, even though there is a difference in the ability of children and adults to learn, it feels rewarding to both.

Bibliography:

"Babies' Ability To Detect Complex Rules In Language Outshines That Of Adults." Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 12 Sept. 2012. Web. 11 Oct. 2012.< http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/250073.php>.

Glynn, Sarah. "Learning New Languages Helps The Brain Grow." Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 11 Oct. 2012. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/251361.php>.

Marcus, Gary F. Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning. New York: Penguin, 2012. Print.