Dr. Noa Bergman explains what causes Alzheimer's, is there a way to prevent the disease, and how to treat someone who has already become ill (Walla system!)
From improving social life to opening up more job opportunities, speaking two or more languages has always had advantages.
Now new research has found that speaking two languages every day from a young age may protect against developing dementia later in life.
Researchers in Germany determined that bilingual people scored better on tests of learning, memory, language and self-control than patients who only spoke one language.
Researchers have previously found a link between bilingualism and dementia.
The new study, published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, evaluated how being bilingual at different stages of life affects cognition and brain structure in adulthood.
the protective factor of the disease
"Bilingualism may serve as a protective factor against cognitive decline and dementia. In particular, we have seen that speaking 2 languages daily, especially in the early and middle stages of life, may have a long-term effect on cognition and its neural correlates," the researchers.
I have written.
They looked at 746 people aged 59 to 76 - 40% of whom had no memory problems, while the rest were patients in memory clinics or people with complaints of confusion or memory loss.
The participants were evaluated based on a variety of vocabulary, memory, attention and calculation tests.
The tasks included recalling previously read objects, spelling words backwards, and copying designs presented to them.
Participants who reported using a second language daily when they were between the ages of 13 and 30 or between 30 and 65 showed higher scores in language, memory, focus, attention and decision-making abilities than those who were not bilingual.
A female doctor looks at brain scans (Photo: ShutterStock)
Already in 2014, a study was published in the Annals of Neurology magazine tomorrow that examined the relationship between bilingualism and cognitive decline.
The researchers then compared intelligence tests administered to 853 11-year-old children in 1947 in Ireland, and tests passed by the same subjects from 2008 to 2010 when they were seventy plus years old.
The study showed that bilinguals did significantly better in tests at an older age, especially in components of general intelligence and reading skill.
The findings demonstrated the protection of bilingualism on preservation against cognitive decline that is characteristic of older age.
Knowing three languages had a better effect than two.
The researchers also found that this effect does not depend on gender, socioeconomic status or immigration.
Among subjects who had a higher IQ in childhood, learning an additional language until the age of 18 had a more significant protective effect compared to those with lower intelligence who acquired an additional language at a later age, but in both groups there was an advantage for bilinguals, even if they did not use the additional language actively active.
It is not the vocabulary that counts
Scientists believe that bilinguals' ability to switch between two languages is the key factor that makes them better at cognitive skills such as multitasking, managing emotions and self-control, which ultimately protects them from dementia.
"The advantages of being bilingual do not derive from the mere knowledge of the vocabulary, but from an appropriate and frequent transition between languages, which requires high cognitive control to inhibit potential interference between languages," the researchers added.
The study only assessed the aspect of using two languages daily for long periods.
The researchers emphasize that the positive effect on cognitive abilities may also be due to other factors, such as the age at which the languages were memorized, or demographic experiences or the lives of people who happen to be bilingual.
health
news
Tags
dementia
Alzheimer's
Languages
brain