Being bilingual 'boosts brain power'Continue reading the main storyThe US researchers from Northwestern University say bilingualism is a form of brain training - a mental "work out" that fine-tunes the mind.Speaking two languages profoundly affects the brain and changes how the nervous system responds to sound, lab tests revealed.Experts say the work in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides "biological" evidence of this.For the study, the team monitored the brain responses of 48 healthy student volunteers - which included 23 who were bilingual - to different sounds.They used scalp electrodes to trace the pattern of brainwaves.Under quiet, laboratory conditions, both groups - the bilingual and the English-only-speaking students - responded similarly.But against a backdrop of noisy chatter, the bilingual group were far superior at processing sounds.They were better able to tune in to the important information - the speaker's voice - and block out other distracting noises - the background chatter.'Powerful' benefitsAnd these differences were visible in the brain. The bilingualists' brainstem responses were heightened.Prof Nina Kraus, who led the research, said: "The bilingual's enhanced experience with sound results in an auditory system that is highly efficient, flexible and focused in its automatic sound processing, especially in challenging or novel listening conditions."Co-author Viorica Marian said: "People do crossword puzzles and other activities to keep their minds sharp. But the advantages we've discovered in dual language speakers come automatically simply from knowing and using two languages."It seems that the benefits of bilingualism are particularly powerful and broad, and include attention, inhibition and encoding of sound."Musicians appear to gain a similar benefit when rehearsing, say the researchers.Past research has also suggested that being bilingual might help ward off dementia.read more on:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3794479.stm Participe da campanha de nosso grupo de jovens colocando a imagem da Festa de Aparecida 2011 em seu perfil das redes sociais e so voce salvar em seu computador e postar em seu perfil do Orkut, MSN, Facebook, Twitter e etc. A campanha se inicia hoje e vai ate o dia 16 de agosto de 2011. Mostre o seu amor a Maria, mae de Jesus! (Lc 1,48 : "Todas as geracoes me chamarao de bem-aventurada!") Postado por Santuario Nossa Senhora Aparecida - Sao Manuel as 19:58 HOJE DA-SE INICIO A NOVENA EM PREPARACAO A FESTA . TODOS O DIAS COM UM PADRE DIFERENTE E APOS A MISSA TEREMOS QUERMESSE NO SALAO PAROQUIAL,VENHAM PRESTEGIAR De 02 a 10 de junho acontece a novena de pentecostes com missas de segunda a sexta as 19h30 aos sabados as 18h00 e nos domingos as 08h00No dia 11 e 12 festa de pentecostes. Apartir de 06 de agosto inicio da novena as 19h30 II Premio Marketing Best Programa "DIRIJA SUA PROPRIA VIDA SEM MEDO" recebe 2o MARKETING BEST - RESPONSABILIDADE SOCIAL O programa gratuito de ajuda para pessoas que possuem medo de dirigir, criado pelo Diretor Comercial, Fabio Pucci e pelo Coordenador de Projetos Sociais , Silvio Lima, recebeu o "Case de Marketing" do 2o Marketing Best Responsabilidade Social. O Marketing Best Responsabilidade Social foi criado em 2002, pela Editora Referencia em parceria com a Escola