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New research suggests that learning new languages can slow brain aging and prevent cognitive decline. A study spanning 27 European countries and involving over 80,000 individuals showed that multilingualism reduces accelerated biological aging by 50%.
Multilingualism has long been associated with cognitive development and with improvements in memory and concentration. The major drawback of all these studies is the small sample size and unreliable methods for measuring cognitive function, which yield inconclusive results.
“The effects of multilingualism on ageing have always been controversial, but I don’t think there has been a study of this scale before, which seems to demonstrate them quite decisively,” says Christos Pliatsikas, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Reading, UK. According to Susan Teubner-Rhodes, a cognitive psychologist at Auburn University in Alabama, these results will inspire millions to take up a second language.
86,000 people aged 51 to 90 participated in the study. Using computational techniques, scientists linked healthy aging with multilingualism. For the study, participants’ biobehavioral age was determined. Biobehavioral age is the gap between chronological age—the age in terms of years—and the predicted age, which is determined by factors such as socioeconomic status, lifestyle, and physiological state. A high biobehavioral age gap indicates fast—or slow—aging.
The researchers mapped the relation between biobehavioral age and the number of languages one spoke. The results were based on self-reporting rather than a person’s proficiency in a particular language.
People who spoke just one language were at a higher risk of having a high biobehavioral age gap than people who spoke just two languages. Adding one extra language to one’s repertoire can reduce the risk of accelerated aging. Adding two or three languages can provide better results.
The scientists inferred that multilingualism, among other factors, plays a leading role in delaying aging. Demographic factors like immigration and wealth also play a major role in the development of multilingualism. Researchers want to pursue further research and involve even more people from geographically diverse backgrounds.
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