Speaking two languages allows you to make friends in unusual places. New research suggests that bilingualism may have other benefits as well.
German researchers who studied hundreds of elderly patients reported using two languages daily from an early age. had high test scores Learning, memory, language, and self-control are better than those who speak only one language.
The findings, published in the April issue of the journal Neurobiology of Aging, add to 20 years of research. Bilingualism suggests prevention of dementia and cognitive decline in the elderly.
Columbia University neuropsychologist Miguel Arce Renteria, who was not involved in the study, said, “They found that early and mid-term bilingualism had beneficial effects on cognitive health later in life. reported that “this would be consistent with the existing literature.”
In recent years, scientists have gained a better understanding of bilingualism and brain aging, but not all findings are in agreement. When a person who is fluent in two languages develops dementia, develop it at a later age than people who speak one language.However, other studies have shown no clear benefit from bilingual.
Neuroscientists believe that bilingual people Switch smoothly between two languagesthey may be able to deploy similar strategies in other skills, such as multitasking, managing emotions, and self-control, which can help delay dementia later on.
The new study surveyed 746 people between the ages of 59 and 76. Approximately 40% of the volunteers had no memory impairment, while the rest were memory clinic patients and experienced confusion and memory loss.
All were tested on a variety of vocabulary, memory, attention and arithmetic tasks. For example, they were asked to recall previously named objects, follow three-part commands, spell words backwards, and copy designs presented to them.
Volunteers who reported using a second language on a daily basis between the ages of 13 and 30 or between the ages of 30 and 65 had better language, memory, Scores for concentration, attention, and decision-making ability were high.
Investigating bilingualism at different life stages is a unique approach, said Boone Read Tee, a neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco. She said the sample size was so large that the authors of the study could probably generate other new results, such as whether the age at which a person learned each language affects subsequent cognition. .
However, she cautioned that the study only focused on one aspect of bilingualism. It is the long-term use of two languages every day. A positive impact on cognition may be caused by another factor, such as the age at which two languages were encoded in memory, or the specific demographic or life experience of people who happen to be bilingual.
Other experts agree that the results might have been different if the researchers asked volunteers if they spoke a second language once a week instead of every day, or less frequently. Did.
“I don’t think there is a definition that everyone agrees on. Being bilingual is a whole spectrum, so I don’t think it ever exists,” says Estie Blanco Elorieta, a linguistics researcher at Harvard University.
Dr. Blanco-Elorrieta, who speaks Basque, English, German and Spanish, says it will also be important for future research to examine the broader benefits of bilingualism.
“The advantage of being bilingual isn’t in the millisecond advantage you get on cognitive tasks,” she said. “I think the importance of being bilingual is being able to communicate in two cultures and her two ways of looking at the world.”
