There are already many studies that highlight the benefits of speaking two languages, benefits that are not only noticed when one goes on vacation abroad, of course. It has been said that being bilingual throughout life strengthens the brain and can even delay the symptoms of a disease such as Alzheimer’s for several years.
We recently found an article in the journal Behavioral Brain Research (2015), published by Brian Gold, in which the findings about bilingualism and its effects on this dreaded disease are reviewed. According to the author, many of the results found by his research and those of other scientists suggest that being bilingual acts as a neural reserve source capable of protecting the fronto-striatal and frontoparietal networks of the brain.
These networks participate in the processing of what we know as executive control , a mental capacity involved in the acts we carry out intentionally and conscious (non-automatic) processes. For example when we multitask, like deciding what to do for dinner while driving home and remembering whether or not I have the ingredients I need to go to the supermarket. In this line of neural protection, Gold, from the University of Kentucky and his collaborators, published in 2013 an experiment in which they explained how bilingualism seemed to protect people from the deterioration of the cerebral white matter (responsible for transmitting information in the brain) during the aging process.
However, according to the data, it does not seem that bilingualism is so clearly associated with the protection of memory areas (located in the medial temporal lobe), which are closely related to the symptoms present in Alzheimer’s disease.
Speaking two languages is just one way to promote neural reserve. Exercising, reading, eating healthy or going out with friends can be other ways to do it, and of course, you can also consider doing it through fun exercises that stimulate your brain . Whatever your choice, don’t waste a second to get your neurons in shape.
Marisa Fernández, Senior Neuropsychologist, Unobrain
