As we discuss in Chapter 7, areas of the left part of the brain, such as Broca's area are very much responsible for our ability to speak, and Wernick's area, involved in our ability to comprehend speech. Turns out our speaking areas aren't as "plastic" as our comprehension areas when it comes to learning a new language. In new research using fMRI experiments, researches investigate this phenomenon. Here's the lay article: and here is the research from the Journal of Neuroscience: .