Study: bilingualism linked to younger brain age

A study presented at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies conference in Barcelona found people who speak two languages have brains that appear about six years younger than monolinguals. Researchers from Spain, Chile, Argentina and Dublin measured brain activity in 728 people in the Basque region using magnetoencephalography and used AI to model normal connectivity by age. A separate validation group of 144 people, sampled to include equal numbers speaking one, two, three or four languages, showed brains of trilinguals appeared about seven years younger and those speaking four languages about 13 years younger. Higher language proficiency and earlier acquisition of a second language were also linked to more delayed brain ageing. The team adjusted for age, sex and education but warned they could not rule out other influences such as lifestyle and social engagement. Christina Dalla of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens endorsed promoting language learning for brain health, while Loughborough University’s Eef Hogervorst urged caution about causal claims.