Healthy Living
Thinking of learning a new language? C’est bon for your brain!
27 May 2021 - by Lucy Schmidt
If you’ve ever considered learning a new language, now might be the perfect time to start. While many activities face restrictions during the pandemic — from eating in restaurants to attending live theatre and other performances — that’s not the case with picking up a second language. Thanks to virtual lessons and apps, you can discover a new dialect anywhere, any time.
Even if you’re not ready or able to fly to Venice just yet, you can embark on a journey toward speaking like a Venetian que e ora. (That’s Italian for ‘here and now.’)
Besides opening yourself up to completely different cultures and people, bilingualism really can do wonders for your brain.
Brain structure
According to Australian psycholinguist Dr. Mark Antoniou, bilingualism increases the volume and density of grey matter, made up of brain cells and the connecting branches (called dendrites) between them. The closer together your grey matter, the easier it is for messages to travel between your brain cells.
Learning a second language also promotes the health of white matter, a fatty substance that covers the brain’s axons. This white coating also helps speed up the transmission of information across the nerves inside your brain.
Attention! Learning a new language helps you focus
Studies show bilingualism improves executive function, a term that refers to cognitive abilities like paying attention, planning and multitasking. In fact, compared to monolingual speakers, bilingual people score higher on tests at:
Why? Scientists say constantly switching between languages on the fly strengthens these cognitive functions over time.
Alzheimer’s and dementia
Bilingualism has long been shown to boost academic performance and memory skills in children. However, exciting research suggests acquiring a second language could actually slow the effects of aging in the brain.
For example, Antoniou notes bilingual brains are more adept than monolingual ones at compensating for the impacts of aging or deterioration. They do that by using alternative neurological pathways and connections when the original ones get damaged or destroyed.
In a Canadian study released just last year, bilingual senior citizens developed outward symptoms of cognitive impairment more slowly than their monolingual counterparts.
According to lead researcher Dr. Ellen Bialystok of Toronto’s York University, the process of rapidly selecting the correct word in multiple languages increases cognitive reserve. That means the bilingual brain builds up resilience against damage caused by conditions like Alzheimer’s.
While further research is underway globally, the recent Canadian findings give weight to an earlier study out of India. Conducted in 2013, it found that seniors who learned a second language in early childhood developed dementia an average of four years later than those who solely maintained their mother tongue throughout their lives.
It’s never too late to learn a new language
If you’ve always assumed only toddlers and young kids can get a brain boost from learning new languages, think again.
A 2014 Scottish study demonstrated that acquiring a second language well after early childhood still sharpens the brain. In that experiment, young adults who didn’t learn a second language until their teenage years consistently scored higher on attention and concentration tests than their monolingual counterparts.
Heart and mind
According to scholars at the prestigious British Academy of humanities and social sciences, “it has been shown that people who speak other languages often exhibit more empathy and a global mindset.”
Translation? The ability to understand other people (literally, in this case) can open your heart as well as your mind. Now that is one of the greatest benefits of learning a new language.
Join us for virtual language classes and get started on your own journey to deeper understanding and improved cognitive function.
Even if you’re not ready or able to fly to Venice just yet, you can embark on a journey toward speaking like a Venetian que e ora. (That’s Italian for ‘here and now.’)
Besides opening yourself up to completely different cultures and people, bilingualism really can do wonders for your brain.
Brain structure
According to Australian psycholinguist Dr. Mark Antoniou, bilingualism increases the volume and density of grey matter, made up of brain cells and the connecting branches (called dendrites) between them. The closer together your grey matter, the easier it is for messages to travel between your brain cells.
Learning a second language also promotes the health of white matter, a fatty substance that covers the brain’s axons. This white coating also helps speed up the transmission of information across the nerves inside your brain.
Attention! Learning a new language helps you focus
Studies show bilingualism improves executive function, a term that refers to cognitive abilities like paying attention, planning and multitasking. In fact, compared to monolingual speakers, bilingual people score higher on tests at:
- Separating relevant and irrelevant information
- Blocking out distractions to complete tasks
- Shifting focus from one thing to another
Why? Scientists say constantly switching between languages on the fly strengthens these cognitive functions over time.
Alzheimer’s and dementia
Bilingualism has long been shown to boost academic performance and memory skills in children. However, exciting research suggests acquiring a second language could actually slow the effects of aging in the brain.
For example, Antoniou notes bilingual brains are more adept than monolingual ones at compensating for the impacts of aging or deterioration. They do that by using alternative neurological pathways and connections when the original ones get damaged or destroyed.
In a Canadian study released just last year, bilingual senior citizens developed outward symptoms of cognitive impairment more slowly than their monolingual counterparts.
According to lead researcher Dr. Ellen Bialystok of Toronto’s York University, the process of rapidly selecting the correct word in multiple languages increases cognitive reserve. That means the bilingual brain builds up resilience against damage caused by conditions like Alzheimer’s.
While further research is underway globally, the recent Canadian findings give weight to an earlier study out of India. Conducted in 2013, it found that seniors who learned a second language in early childhood developed dementia an average of four years later than those who solely maintained their mother tongue throughout their lives.
It’s never too late to learn a new language
If you’ve always assumed only toddlers and young kids can get a brain boost from learning new languages, think again.
A 2014 Scottish study demonstrated that acquiring a second language well after early childhood still sharpens the brain. In that experiment, young adults who didn’t learn a second language until their teenage years consistently scored higher on attention and concentration tests than their monolingual counterparts.
Heart and mind
According to scholars at the prestigious British Academy of humanities and social sciences, “it has been shown that people who speak other languages often exhibit more empathy and a global mindset.”
Translation? The ability to understand other people (literally, in this case) can open your heart as well as your mind. Now that is one of the greatest benefits of learning a new language.
Join us for virtual language classes and get started on your own journey to deeper understanding and improved cognitive function.
