Bizarre news, learn other language and increase brain power. A team of researchers from the US suggests that learning a second language can help increase a person’s mental ability.

The US researchers from Northwestern University said, “Bilingualism is a form of brain training - a mental work out that fine-tunes the mind”.

Experimental analysis of a study conducted by the researchers suggest that due to speaking two languages, a significant effect is produced in the brain, due to which, change is administered in the way nervous system responds to sound.

A total of 48 healthy student volunteers were selected for the study, out of which, 23 were bilingual that is were able to speak two languages. The brains of both the groups were scanned to observe the patterns of the nerves using scalp electrodes.

It was discovered that under quiet condition, both the groups showed similar patterns, but when noisy, it was observed that bilingual group was able to process the sounds much faster than the other group, which spoke only English.

Prof Nina Kraus, who led the research, said, “Bilingual group were better able to tune in to the important information - the speaker's voice - and block out other distracting noises - the background chatter”.