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While many people can easily pick up a new language, it does not come naturally to others. But it seems that your genes could be to blame for the struggle to grasp a second language.
A new study has shown that the ability to learn a second language may be predicted by a combination of genetic and brain factors. The research from the University of Washington looked at the final grades that college students received in a second-language class. Their findings suggested that results could be predicted by a combination of genetic and brain factors.
Dr. Ping Mamiya, who led the study, said: ‘We are interested in understanding why individuals learn differently, including those who perform well and those who perform poorly.’
Genetic variations of the COMT gene, and a measure of the strength of the brain’s communications network together accounted for 46% of the reason for why some students performed better than others in the language class.
Read full, original post: Is your German far from ‘gut’? Blame your DNA: Language gene accounts for nearly 50% of success in learning a foreign tongue
