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06/30/2003 Entry: "Mandarin"

New studies show that native speakers of Mandarin use both sides of the brain while listening to Mandarin, while native speakers of English listen with only one hemisphere.

1) What are some possible explanations for this phenomenon?

2) How could the field of medicine benefit from these new findings?

1) Mandarin, unlike English, relies heavily on tonality to specify the meaning of any given syllable. While the left temporal lobe in both languages has the task of syllabic recognition, the right lobe as well is needed in Mandarin to process the melodic information which ultimately defines the meaning of the syllables.

2) These findings could one day help in reteaching stroke victims how to speak.