Following two consecutive studies, Dr. Hanin Karawani Khoury (Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders) and PhD student, Dana Bsharat-Maalouf concluded that bilingual speakers demonstrate more brain plasticity—the ability of the brain to modify its connections or rewire itself—than those who speak only one language. The research is based on studies documenting the differences in perception and physiological reactions in native Arabic speakers who are fluent in Hebrew as a second language and native Hebrew speakers. The first study, marking the first attempt to examine both perceptual and brain activity in bilingual populations was published in PLOS ONE, while the second study exploring speech processing under challenging listening conditions was published in the prestigious scientific journal Cognition.  | READ MORE