If you’ve always wished you could natter away in another language, then now may be time to finally sign up for lessons or download a handy app on your phone…
Because new research by Concordia University in Canada has just supported the theory that being able to speak two languages is good for your brain health.
While previous studies have focused on the brains of healthy adults, the team decided to examine the effects of bilingualism on participants with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which often leads to dementia.
And, using MRI scans, the team found that being bilingual may help offset some of the brain changes seen in Alzheimer’s.
Those participants who spoke more than one language had thicker brain tissue in the areas of the brain that are affected by the disease, including those responsible for memory.
‘Our new study contributes to the hypothesis that having two languages exercises specific brain regions and can increase cortical thickness and grey matter density,’ said study leader Dr Natalie Phillips in a release.
‘And it extends these findings by demonstrating that these structural differences can be seen in the brains of multilingual AD and MCI patients.’
She continued: ‘Our results contribute to research that indicates that speaking more than one language is one of a number of lifestyle factors that contributes to cognitive reserve.
‘They support the notion that multilingualism and its associated cognitive and sociocultural benefits are associated with brain plasticity.’
The team, whose work will soon be published in the journal Neuropsychologia, now believe that multilingual people’s brains can ‘compensate’ for the tissue loss caused by Alzheimer’s, and plan to test this theory further.
Dr Phillips concluded: ‘Our study seems to suggest that multilingual people are able to compensate for AD-related tissue loss by accessing alternative networks or other brain regions for memory processing. We’re actively investigating that hypothesis now.’
