Our brain can predict...

The brain learns a new language by predictions just as a scientist tests a scientific theory…

A team of Neuroscientists from the University of Sussex found that when we learn the names of unfamiliar objects, brain regions involved in learning actively predict the objects names just as scientists would test a scientific theory.

The team found that the hippocampus plays a key role learning the names of objects via a “propose-but-verify” strategy. Using this strategy, learners actively predict which of the words they hear correspond to each of the objects they see.

The MRI scans revealed that the hippocampus was central to this propose-but-verify mechanism. Specifically, it helped adults remember the word object correspondences over time.

The findings shed light on how the brain supports language acquisition and they will have implications for both language education and our understanding of what is happening in languages disorders.

Children, for example, have a remarkable ability to learn new languages and it is hotly debated whether they use a propose-but-verify strategy during early language development. The experiment shows that the hippocampus can support propose-but-verify learning in adults and that this learning mechanism is favoured over other strategies.

Children are able to learn new languages effortlessly, but it is still unclear if they learn words in the same way as adults.

To be continued…

Thanks to Anna Ford – University of Sussex