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Scientists have found that babies can become fluent in foreign languages at an extremely fast rate; one that begins to slow down by their first birthday. What is it about the make-up of their brains as newborns that gives them this ability?
Scientists have found that babies can become fluent in foreign languages at an extremely fast rate; one that begins to slow down by their first birthday. What is it about the make-up of their brains as newborns that gives them this ability? Could adults train their brains to be more like the brains of babies? Patricia Kuhl dedicates her life to these questions. She’s the co-director at the Institute of Learning and Brain Sciences and a professor of speech and hearing sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. She joins us to discuss her findings on babies’ brains.