A new study carried out by the Center for Cognitive Aging and Cognitive Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh (UK) has found that bilingualism has a very positive effect on cognition towards maturity: it slows down the cognitive decline of aging .
For the study, the researchers analyzed data from the 1936 Lothian Birth Cohort study, comprised of 835 native English speakers who had been born and lived in Scotland . In the aforementioned study, the participants took an intelligence test in 1947 at the age of 11 and took the same test again when they were around 70 years old, between 2008 and 2010.
The results revealed that participants who spoke two or more languages had significantly better cognitive abilities compared to what would be expected, with the most salient effects being on general intelligence and reading. These conclusions were identical for both those who learned a second language before the age of 18 and those who did so afterwards.
The conclusions of the study, which have been published in the Annals of Neurology , therefore state that “these results are of great practical importance. Millions of people around the world learn a second language later in life. Our study shows that bilingualism, even when acquired in adulthood, can benefit the brain during aging, ”says study author Thomas Bak.
