Scientists observed that actively speaking multiple languages creates neurological benefits protecting us from cognitive impairments that are typically associated with getting older.

Image Credit: file404 via Shutterstock / Edited by Universal-Sci

A language is usually seen as something that allows us to connect with one another, but a language is also a tool we employ to express our thoughts, identities, knowledge, as well as the way we see and understand the world around us. Mastering more than one language can enrich our lives and provides an entrance to different cultures.

Now, a team of scientists determined that actively speaking multiple languages (bilingualism) has one additional benefit, namely that it enhances our so-called cognitive reserve, delaying the emergence of symptoms affiliated with dementia and cognitive decline in general. The research is published in the science journal Neuropsychologia.

Marco Calabria, the lead author of the study, stated in a press release regarding the new findings that the pervasiveness of dementia in countries where more than one language is spoken is 50% lower than in areas where the population uses a single language to communicate.

Calabria and his team were looking to identify the mechanism through which bilingualism adds to cognitive reserve in cases of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease and whether there were variations in terms of the advantages gained from various degrees of bilingualism, and not merely between monolingual and bilingual people.

The study focused on residents of the city of Barcelona, where the use of Catalan and Spanish is highly variable, with some predominantly Catalan-speaking neighborhoods among predominantly Spanish neighborhoods. The research team wanted to take advantage of this variability, and instead of comparing monolingual and bilingual people, they looked at whether people living in Barcelona - where everyone is more or less bilingual - had neuroprotective benefits sourced from the daily use of two languages.

Barcelona isn’t the only multi-language region in the world. Think, for example, of Quebec, Canada, where the English and French language co-exist. Image Credit: Derek Robbins via Shutterstock / HDR tune by Universal-Sci

A group of 266 individuals was selected to partake in the study, 68 of which had Alzheimer's disease, 135 were mildly cognitive impaired, and 63 had no cognitive problems. A questionnaire was used to determine how skilled each individual was in Spanish as well as Catalan. The scientists then correlated this degree with the age of neurological diagnosis and the onset of symptoms.

To better understand the origin of cognitive advantages, the team asked participants to complete a variety of cognitive-based assignments, concentrating primarily on the executive control system. Altogether, the test subjects completed five tasks in two different sessions, among which examinations of cognitive control and memory tests.

The scientists discovered that test subjects with a high capacity for bilingualism seemed better protected against cognitive decline. They developed the typical symptoms associated with mild cognitive impairment at a later point in life.

Calabria reckons that in circumstances of neurodegenerative diseases, the brain's executive control system might counter symptoms. ‘So, when something is not functioning well due to the disease, thanks to the fact that it is bilingual, the brain has efficient alternative systems for resolving the problem.’. It appears that switching between languages more frequently increases the neuroprotective advantage.

All things considered, it could definitely be worth trying to master two languages and regularly switching from one to the other as it provides a lifelong training of the brain.

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