Learn a foreign language"! UCSF scientists have developed a non-invasing "earbud" that boosts hearing and hearing capacity by 13% at a time.

Guide: The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has developed a simple earbud-like device that can significantly improve the wearer's ability to hear and hear new languages.
, especially Mandarin, is quite challenging for native English speakers.
because Chinese of our words are broad and profound, not only the existence of different words, different meanings, but also standard with "tone", such as: furnace Lulu Road.
, of course, it is difficult for adults to start learning any new language now.
but there's still a way.
recently, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) developed a simple earbud-like device that unknowingly stimulates key nerves leading to the brain and significantly improves the wearer's ability to hear and hear new languages.
the study was published recently in the Nature sub-journal npjScienceofLearning.
in animal models, stimulating the mesothcoming nerve has been shown to make sensory perception systems in adult animals more malleable.
In the new study, researchers significantly improved the ability of native English speakers to distinguish Mandarin tones by using precise time-matching, non-invasive stimulation of the lost nerve, the longest of the 12 cranial nerves that connect the brain to the rest of the body.
image source: npjScienceofLearning In addition, stimulating the ecstic nerve allowed subjects to learn Mandarin tones twice as fast.
photo source: Leonard Lab This small device was developed by Matthew Leonard, an assistant professor at the UCSF Department of Neurosurgery and the Weill Institute of Neuroscience.
study is the first to confirm that external neural stimuli can enhance complex cognitive abilities in healthy people, such as learning a language, the team said.
researchers used a noninvasive technique called menstrual ecstraptic nerve stimulation (tVNS), in which a small stimulator is placed in the outer ear that uses invisible electrical impulses to stimulate the vicinity of the mesotherathor nerve to activate it.
Photo Source: In LeonardLab's study, the team recruited 36 native English-speaking adults and trained them to recognize four tones of Mandarin's natural voice, then used a set of tasks developed by the Sound Brain Laboratory to study the neurobiological processes of language learning.
who wore non-perceptive tVNS devices paired with two Mandarin tones, which are usually easier for native English speakers, received a rapid increase in learning to distinguish between these tones.
at the end of the training, the subjects improved by an average of 13 percent in tone resolution compared to the control group who wore tVNS but were not stimulated by nerves, and reached the optimal level twice as fast as the control group.
Professor Bharath Chandrasekaran, co-author of the study and head of the Sound Brain Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh, said: "The general view is that it is difficult for people to master the pronunciation patterns of new languages as adults, but our study has historically shown that not everyone does.
study, we found that tVNS was better at reducing individual differences than other interventions.
"Leonard adds: "This approach may balance the natural differences in language learning abilities between individuals.
Often, people lose confidence because of the difficulty of learning a language, but if a person can get a 13 to 15 percent improvement after their first study, they may be more willing to continue learning.
now, researchers are testing whether training with tVNS for longer periods of time affects how subjects learn to distinguish between two tones that are more difficult for native English speakers.
in the current study, the subjects did not see a significant improvement in this area.
has been used to treat epilepsy for decades.
until recent years, researchers have found benefits for the treatment of a wide range of diseases, from depression to inflammatory diseases, although the exact mechanism of these benefits remains unclear.
of these findings were made using invasive stimuli, including implanting pulse generators in the chest.
, the use of simple, non-invasive ecstic nerve stimulation to significantly improve learning ability can help lead to more cost-effective and safer clinical and commercial applications.
researchers speculate that tVNS improves learning by temporarily increasing attention to auditory stimuli by broadly enhancing neurotransmitter signals in the brain region.
researchers say more research is needed to test the mechanism.
Chandrasekaran said:
We have proven the powerful learning effect in a completely non-invasive and safe way, which has the potential to extend the technology to a wider range of consumer and medical applications, such as post-stroke rehabilitation.
our next step is to figure out the underlying neural mechanisms and establish ideal stimulation parameters to maximize brain plasticity.
we see tVNS as a powerful tool for promoting post-brain recovery.
" study was funded by the Neuroplasticity Program of the U.S. Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency.
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