For all the handy reasons for having another language at your disposal, here’s one that will really make you think: A new study shows being bilingual can stave off cognitive decline later in life.
According to his findings published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, Federico Gallo, Junior Research Fellow at the HSE University Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, reveals accessing more than one language helps keep your grey matter young.
Like our skin when we age, brains can get “saggy,” too, due to a lack of stimulation. However, Gallo’s study shows those who keep those neurons firing by thinking and speaking in another language can keep brains supple.
“Unlike other factors that shape cognitive reserve, bilingualism is unique in that it is constantly present in our lives,” Gallo explains. “We can take up and give up physical exercise, go on one diet or another, or change jobs, but language remains with us all the time. We communicate, watch movies, and read books, and the language centers are constantly working in our mind.”
All this activity — even if you’re not fluent in the language — can help keep away so-called “cognitive aging,” which leads to dementia and neurodegenerative diseases as our bodies get older.
Making your noggin switch from one language to another can be a welcome workout, the researchers found.
In fact, Gallo and his team say, using a second language can slow down cognitive decline by as much as five to seven years, compared to those who don’t.