Forgetting

Neurolinguists explain interference by the specific way human brain works (Zatorre, 1989). Interference theory, which was developed in psychology to explain the phenomenon of forgetting (Loftus, 1980; Underwood, 1957), points out that old information stored in our brain changes under the influence of new information. New linguistic patterns acquired in the process of language learning can force the old ones out of memory (Isurin & Mcdonald, 2001).

Neurophysiological tests have shown that learners use a wide neuronal network when selecting words or switching languages. All languages operate synchronously in the brain which makes the multilingual activate neural structures responsible for inhibition, code-switching, and working memory. The left prefrontal cortex and the supplementary motor cortex were activated in learners’ brains when language interference occurred (Rodriguez-Fornells et al 2005). The left prefrontal cortex is involved in the processing of the word semantics and as part of Broca’s Area, it facilitates speech and helps to retrieve information from memory (Gabrieli et al, 1998).

Psychologists observed that music and language share neural resources for syntactic integration and processing (Patel, 2003, 2013). Musical training is related to the development of working memory (George & Coch, 2011; Suárez et al., 2016; Fennell et al., 2020).

What can you do about it?

How to improve working memory:

How to memorise words:

References for further reading:

  1. Gabrieli, J.D., Poldrack, R.A., Desmond, J.E. (1998). The role of left prefrontal cortex in language and memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 95 (3): 906–913. Bibcode:1998PNAS…95..906G. doi:10.1073/pnas.95.3.906. PMC 33815. PMID 9448258.
  2. Fennell, A., Bugos, J.A., Payne, B.R. et al. (2021). Music is similar to language in terms of working memory interference. Psychological Bulletin Review, 28, 512–525. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-020-01833-5.
  3. George, E. M., Coch, D. (2011). Music training and working memory: An ERP study. Neuropsychologia, 49(5), 1083–1094.
  4. Isurin, L., Mcdonald, J.L. (2001). Retroactive interference from translation equivalents: Implications for first language forgetting. Memory & Cognition, 29, 312–319. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194925.
  5. Loftus, E. F., Loftus, G. R. (1980). On the permanence of stored information in the human brain. American Psychologist, 35(5), 409–420. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.35.5.409.
  6. Patel, A. D. (2003). Language, music, syntax and the brain. Nature Neuroscience, 6, 674-681. 10.1038/nn1082.
  7. Patel, A. D. (2013). Sharing and nonsharing of brain resources for language and music. In M. A. Arbib (Ed.), Language, music, and the brain (Strüngmann Forum Reports), Vol. 10, J. Lupp, Series ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  8. Rodriguez-Fornells, A., Lugt, van der A., Rotte, M., Britti, B., Heinze, H.J., Munte, T.F. (2005). Second language interferes with word production in fluent bilinguals: brain potential and functional imaging evidence. Cognitive Neuroscience, 17, 422-433.
  9. Suárez, L., Elangovan, S., Au, A. (2016). Cross-sectional study on the relationship between music training and working memory in adults. Australian Journal of Psychology, 68(1), 38–46.
  10. Underwood, B. J. (1957). Interference and forgetting. Psychological Review, 64(1), 49–60. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0044616
  11. Zatorre, R. J. (1989). On the representation of multiple languages in the brain: old problems and new directions. Brain and Language, 36, 127-147.