As part of NSU’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences will host a discussion about differences in the brain between people who are bilingual and monolingual.
In this talk, Mercedes Fernandez, Ph.D., associate professor at the college, will explore ongoing research on the brain’s electrical activity as it relates to complex attention in bilingual and monolingual speakers. Can speaking more than one language stave off the decline in cognitive functions associated with aging, and does it enable speakers to perform better at complex attention tasks?
“Did You Know That the Bilingual Brain Has Greater Potentials? Differences between Bilinguals and Monolinguals”
Wednesday, Oct. 8
Noon–1:00 p.m.
Parker Building | Room 254
Fernandez, who specializes in neuropsychology, has conducted research on how speaking a second language enhances the complex attention abilities thought to be handled by the brain’s frontal lobe, which is associated with short-term memory, attention, and higher mental functions. This is significant because the frontal lobe is the last area to fully develop in the human brain and the first to decline with age.
The talk is open to the NSU students, faculty, staff, and members of the community interested in bilingualism, biology, psychology, neuropsychology, Spanish language and culture, foreign language learning, and second language acquisition. The event is free, and light refreshments will be served.
For more information, contact Yvette Fuentes, Ph.D., associate professor, at (954) 262-7681, or Joanne Pol, Ph.D., assistant professor, at (954) 262-8146.