研究表明:我们利用人类大脑的前脑区域学习语言

Study: We Learn Language in Pre-Human Area of Brain

From VOA Learning¹ English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

A new study from brain researchers helps explain how the human brain evolved², or changed over time, to permit people to speak and write. This new research may also help people who are learning a new language.

Michael Ullman is the lead researcher. He is a professor at Georgetown University Medical School in Washington, D.C. He has been studying language learning for more than 20 years.

Ullman says his research shows that the human brain does not have a special area or system for making language. Over time, he says, we have simply reused -- or co-opted -- parts of our brain for language. And those parts, he says, are ancient – older even than humans themselves.

“This study examines the theoretical³ framework⁴ that language is learned⁵, stored and processed in two ancient – so, pre-existing humans – learning and memory systems in the brain. And these have been co-opted -- reused -- for language in humans.”

Non-human animals have these systems, too, adds one of the study’s co-authors. Phillip Hamrick is with Kent State University in Ohio. In a press statement, he explains that rats use the same memory systems to complete some tests.

Ullman, Hamrick and the rest of the team looked at data from 16 other studies on language. They found that people learn language using two memory systems: declarative and procedural⁶. Memorizing vocabulary, for example, is a declarative memory process. But learning grammar is, mostly, a procedural memory process.

Again, here is Prof. Ullman.

“Declarative memory, in humans at least, is what we think of as ‘learning memory.’ Such as, ‘Oh, I remember what you said last night’ or things like that. And procedural motor memory is what we often call ‘motor memory’ such as how you learn to ride a bicycle.”

Or, he adds, how to conjugate⁷ verbs. These procedural memory skills become so deeply learned that we are no longer aware that we are doing them.

However, Ullman explains that the two long-term memory systems can share tasks. And, he adds, the adult brain uses the systems to learn language a bit differently than a child’s brain.

“Adult learners of a second language tend to rely on learning the grammar in declarative memory early on. But eventually, they become just like kids learning the grammar and they depend on procedural memory.”

In other words, adult language learners may use their declarative memory for using grammar patterns. They think about it purposefully. For a child, the grammar may come more naturally. They don’t have to think about the grammar rules before speaking.

In addition to language learners, Ullman’s study could help people who have a brain injury that affects speaking and writing. This knowledge can also help those who have learning disabilities such as dyslexia. People with dyslexia have difficulty identifying words and symbols accurately⁸.

In a statement to the press, Ullman said he hopes the new research "will lead to exciting advances in our understanding of language, and in how both second language learning and language problems can be improved."

And that's the Health & Lifestyle report.

I’m Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

co-opted – v. to use or take control of (something) for your own purposes

theoretical – adj. relating to the general principles or ideas of a subject rather than the practical uses of those ideas

framework – n. a set of ideas or facts that provide support for something

motor – adj. technical : of or relating to the part of the nervous system that controls the movement of muscles

conjugate – v. to list the different forms of a verb that show number, person, tense, etc.

rely – v. to need (someone or something) for support, help, etc. : to depend on (someone or something)

symbol – n. a letter, group of letters, character, or picture that is used instead of a word or group of words

accurately – adv. able to produce results that are correct : not making mistakes

advance – n. progress in the development or improvement of something

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 evolved   

动词evolve的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The idea evolved from a drawing I discovered in the attic. 这种想法是从我在阁楼里发现的一幅画得到启发的。
• Man was evolved from an ancestor that was probably arboreal. 人大概是从住在树上的祖先进化而来的。

3 theoretical   

adj.理论的，假设的；根据理论的

参考例句：

• It's a theoretical matter as well as a practical one.这不仅是个实践问题，也是个理论问题。
• It's only a theoretical possibility.这只是一种假设的可能性。

4 framework   

n.参照标准；准则；观点；框架，结构

参考例句：

• It's a bridge of steel framework.那是座钢铁结构的桥梁。
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework.物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

5 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

6 procedural   

adj.程序的；n.警察疑案作品

参考例句：

• They fleshed out the president's plan with statistics and procedural details.他们用统计数字和程序细节使总统的计划有血有肉。
• The incentive is financial;the requirements are essentially procedural.这一动机是由于财政问题而引起的，这样的要求是基本的程序。

7 conjugate   

vt.使成对，使结合；adj.共轭的，成对的

参考例句：

• A partition that is its own conjugate is ealled self-conjugate.一个分析如与其自身共轭称为自共轭。
• It is important to learn to conjugate irregular verbs.学会不规则动词的变化是相当重要的。

8 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。