by Cathy Manson

Learning a second language can boost[增強(qiáng)] brain power， scientists believe.

US researchers from Northwestern University say bilingualism is a form of brain training—a mental “work out” that fine-tunes[微調(diào)] the mind.

Speaking two languages affects the brain and changes how the nervous system reacts to sound， lab tests revealed.

Experts say the work， put forward for peer-review[同級評估] in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences， provides “biological[生物學(xué)的]”evidence of this.

In an attempt[努力，嘗試] to prove the hypothesis that speaking two languages is good for ones mind， the team monitored how the brains of 48 healthy student volunteers reacted[起反應(yīng)] to different sounds. Twenty-three of these volunteers were bilingual.

The scientists used scalp[頭皮] electrodes to trace[描繪] the pattern of brainwaves under quiet， laboratory conditions， the bilingual students responded[作出反應(yīng)] in a similar way to the English-only-speaking students， who formed the control group.

But the bilingual group was far superior[比……高的] at processing sounds even when there were a lot of people talking in the room. They were better able to tune in to the important information—the speakers voice—and block out other distracting[分散注意力的] noises.

Professor Nina Kraus， who led the research， said， “The bilinguals enhanced[提高] experience with sound results in an auditory system that is highly efficient， flexible and focused in its automatic[自動的] sound processing， especially in challenging or novel[異常的] listening conditions.”

Co-author Viorica Marian said， “People do crossword[縱橫字謎] puzzles and other activities to keep their minds sharp. But the advantages weve discovered in dual [二重的] language speakers come automatically[自動地]， simply from knowing and using two languages.”

Musicians appear to gain a similar benefit when rehearsing[排練]， say the researchers. According to some theories， being bilingual might help ward off dementia[（醫(yī)）癡呆癥].

科學(xué)家們認(rèn)為：學(xué)習(xí)第二語言能夠提高腦力。

來自（美國）西北大學(xué)的美國研究者們表示，通曉兩種語言的能力是一種鍛煉大腦的方式——一種能夠微調(diào)心智的精神“鍛煉”。

試驗(yàn)室測驗(yàn)顯示說兩種語言會影響大腦并改變神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)對聲音的反應(yīng)。

專家表示，此次研究結(jié)果“從生物學(xué)的”角度，為證實(shí)科學(xué)家此前的設(shè)想提供了證據(jù)。結(jié)果在《美國科學(xué)院院報》上發(fā)表，供同行進(jìn)行評估。

為了證明雙語能力有利于個人心智的假設(shè)，小組對48位健康的學(xué)生志愿者進(jìn)行監(jiān)測，檢測他們的大腦對不同聲音的反應(yīng)，其中有23位志愿者是能說兩種語言的。

科學(xué)家們利用頭皮電極來記錄腦電波圖形。在安靜的實(shí)驗(yàn)室環(huán)境下，雙語組的學(xué)生的反應(yīng)與對照組的只能說英語的學(xué)生的反應(yīng)相似。

但是雙語組學(xué)生的聲音處理能力則優(yōu)勝得多，即使是在房間里有很多人談話的情況下。他們能夠更好地收聽到重要的信息——說話者的聲音——并排斥其他干擾的噪音。

主導(dǎo)這次研究的尼娜·克勞斯教授說：“雙語者具有更強(qiáng)的聲音經(jīng)驗(yàn)，導(dǎo)致他們的聽覺系統(tǒng)高效、靈活，并在聲音自動處理上集中力強(qiáng)，特別是在具有挑戰(zhàn)性和不同尋常的收聽環(huán)境下?！?/p>

論文作者之一維奧利卡·瑪麗安說：“有些人通過做縱橫字謎游戲及其他活動來維持大腦的靈敏度。但我們發(fā)現(xiàn)在雙語者身上這種優(yōu)勢是自然形成的，僅僅懂得和使用兩門語言就行了?！?/p>

研究者們說，音樂家們似乎在練習(xí)的時候也能獲得同樣的益處。根據(jù)一些理論，說兩種語言的能力很可能有助于防治癡呆癥。

Quiz小測驗(yàn)

閱讀短文并回答問題。

1. If you are bilingual， how many languages can you speak fluently[流利地]？

2. What two groups of volunteers took part in the experiment？

3. How were the volunteers in the bilingual group better at processing sounds？

4. True， false or not given： Bilingual students are better at solving crossword puzzles.

5. Look at the article. Can you find the expression used when referring to preventing something from happening？