It is a well-known fact: with age, learning a new language or learning to play a musical instrument becomes more difficult. And there are quite objective reasons for this. But, looks like, scientists have found a method, how to deal with this problem.
Jay Blandon of Memphis Research Hospital openedIn experiments in mice, the level of a chemical called adenosine in the thalamus increases with age. And the thalamus is the part of the brain that is involved in processing information from the senses. It is adenosine that activates a pathway that weakens the learning process in the auditory cortex, so when older mice are played two sounds that are similar in tone, they cannot distinguish between them.
Scientists are now trying to use genetic techniques or drugs to lower adenosine to give mice sharper hearing.
To demonstrate the improvement, the researchers played a sound in the background for a long time. And then, in addition, they lost another one, which was slightly different in tone. The new sound surprised the mice, which proved they could hear it and distinguish it from background noise.
When scientists blocked the effects of adenosine, the number of neurons responding to sound increased dramatically in the auditory cortex – a process called neuroplasticity.
If neuroplasticity and tone differentiation are improved in older adults, they will be able to more easily learn to play musical instruments and learn new languages. “Learning a second language later in life can be difficult because you can’t hear the difference in phonemes,” says Blandon. A new method of inhibiting the production of adenosine can help in this case.
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