Speaking more than one language in real life facilitates cross-cultural communication, and it also strengthens cognitive functions that have naturally weakened over the past few years. This is confirmed by a study published this month in Aging natureWhich indicates that multilingualism protects the brain from accelerated aging, both at the cognitive and functional levels. In the investigation conducted by an international team of experts, data of 86,149 people from 27 European countries was analyzed, and it was found that there is a relationship between speaking several languages and biological age. y Younger.
Scientists say what they call the age gap BioconductorIt differentiates between a person’s chronological age and the age that really depends on their health, function, education, and other risk or protective factors. Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence-based model that seeks to estimate a person’s age based on their health, cognitive abilities, and environment. The model takes into account risk factors (such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or hearing problems) and protective factors (such as education, cognition, and functional ability).
From this information, the algorithm calculated the expected biological age. The researchers then compared this value with chronological age: if the difference is negative, it means that the person has slowed down his aging, being younger than his years. If the difference is positive, I would say that it ages faster than expected.
Chilean neuroscientist Hernán Hernández, co-author of the study, comments that the investigation arose from previous work that analyzed various risk factors, such as pollution levels and the degree of democracy in a country. So, “we found that in countries with lower democratic quality, there was a greater relationship with aging, just as in countries with weaker economies,” he explains. In this analysis, those from Africa appeared first, followed by those from Latin America, Asia, and Europe. “We knew that language was also linked to aging, and we decided to combine the two studies,” he says.
The results were convincing and were based on a dose-dependent relationship: the more languages dealt with, the greater the protective effect. Moreover, people who speak one language are more susceptible to accelerated aging than those who speak more than one language. “On the ground, gains are being made, although monolingualism appears to be a risk factor,” concludes Hernandez.
Her colleague, neuroscientist at the Vasco de Cognición, Cerebro and Linguistics Centre, Lucia Amoruso, highlights the scale of the work: “Now there is evidence about the benefits of bilingualism from small studies, which is difficult to replicate. Here we are working with data from more than 86,000 people in 27 countries in Europe.” “We saw a unique opportunity to work with a huge amount of data, which allowed us to test this hypothesis in a more robust way,” the study co-author said.
In the analysis, they controlled for factors considered in the previous investigation, such as socioeconomic context, years of education and migrant sponsors. “If you don’t control for these factors, you can’t really isolate the effect you want to observe,” Amoruso says. “I think in this study we were able to do that: show the effect in a robust way, while also controlling everything at our fingertips and working with large populations.”
American linguist and neuroscientist Jason Rothman, who was not involved in the study, creates a simple analogy to understand how our brain acquires this protective ability: “Managing more than one language has a cognitive cost. The brain must keep several systems active at the same time and choose which one to use in each context.” Every time a bilingual speaker chooses a word, he deletes another word, and every time he changes language, he resets the brain networks that control attention and memory, functions that decline with age.
“Multilingualism is a mental gym,” says Rothman, director of the Brain Experiments and Bilingualism Laboratory at Lancaster University (UK). The brain prioritizes language activation and focuses its attention and resources on that language. “It turns out that bilinguals have been around all this time. Without that, they suppress, and focus their attention on certain languages. This is difficult from a cognitive point of view,” adds this researcher, who is also a scientist at the Center for Cognition Research at the University of Nebraska.
“To manage more than one language in a sophisticated way, we use a system called language control,” explains Rothman. This control is not only mental, it also has a physical basis. He adds: “There is a brain network involved in language control, and this network overlaps to a large extent with our executive function system.” It regulates general perception, memory, attention, and the ability to innovate. That is, the same processes that are constantly activated when we speak or change languages.
Other healthy habits also strengthen these brain networks, such as physical exercise, good nutrition, or mentally demanding work. However, unlike language, it is not practiced continuously. “You don’t run a marathon every day or every other day,” Rothman compares. “In the C language.” According to this expert, the balance between languages and the frequency of their use determines the degree of brain training. “The more the language control network is exercised, the stronger it becomes, just like a muscle,” he explains. “You may have lost strength over the years, but if you train for a long time, you grow up with a stronger base.”
Amoruso agrees: “When you speak multiple languages, they are all active at the same time. To use one language you have to inhibit the others. This process keeps the executive and attentional control networks active, specifically those that decline with age. This is the central hypothesis.”
Languages as health policy
For the authors of this paper, promoting multilingualism should not only be considered a cultural issue, but also an investment in public health. The study proposes an initiative aimed at encouraging healthy aging, promoting learning, and using multiple languages as a strategy that is no less important than physical activity or good nutrition. “The study points in this direction: in the impact that Halazgo can have on public education and health policies,” comments Amoruso. “Education is one of the factors that greatly influences how a person ages, and there is a very direct relationship between the two,” he highlights.
Rothman shares the opinion and adds that on the basis that the teaching of other languages must be implemented in schools, it is also necessary to provide real opportunities for use to people. Furthermore, please note that this reinforcement should not be limited to childhood, but rather the motivation should continue throughout life. “Learning languages is a revolution in cognitive health and the way we age,” he says.
About The Author
