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Abstract #3365

Morphological Changes in Brain During New Language Acquisition: A VBM Study

Shilpi Modi1, Manisha Bhattacharya1, Pawan Kumar1, Subash Khushu1

1NMR Research Centre, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, Delhi, India



Voxel Based Morphometric (VBM) studies have given evidence to neuroplasticity, with training and acquisition of new skills. In order to find the changes in brain morphometry on learning a fourth language (Japanese), VBM study was carried out on trilingual Indian students who were learning Japanese for the last 2 years. Significant increase in gray and white matter volume was obtained in language learning and processing centres of the brain suggesting use-dependent structural reorganization of the brain on acquisition of new skills.