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Washington, Dec.18 - Everyday multilingual habits may help preserve memory, attention, and brain flexibility as we age, according to a study published today in Nature Aging.
Speaking several languages ??may delay brain aging, a process characterized by gradual declines in brain processing speed, attention, and other cognitive functions, the research emphasizes.
By analyzing survey data from more than 86,000 healthy individuals aged 51 to 91 from 27 European countries, researchers discovered that people who regularly use more than one language are half as likely to show signs of biological aging as those who speak only one language.
"What we discovered was that living in multilingual societies delays the cognitive and functional decline that typically accompanies aging," highlighted Lucía Amoruso, a psychologist at the Basque Center for Cognition, Brain, and Language and one of the study's authors.
We are all aging, and as we age, we begin to lose our cognitive functions and independence, she warned. Researchers argue that multilingualism can strengthen brain networks by continuously exercising them, an effect that seems to become even more powerful when individuals train these "muscles" by immersing themselves in diverse environments and cultures.
It's about using language in everyday life, she emphasized, highlighting that the effects they found are related to the actual use of languages ??in real-world contexts.
At a population level, speaking another language can slow cognitive decline so much that it could help delay the onset of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's or dementia.
On an individual level, she suggests something simpler: learning, speaking, and interacting in different languages ??could be one of the most accessible tools for healthy aging. (Source: Prensa Latina)
