Neuroscientists have reported a link between language proficiency and brain longevity

Knowledge of several languages can slow down brain aging and prevent cognitive decline, the researchers concluded after analyzing data from more than 80,000 people from 27 European countries. This was reported on November 10 by Nature.

An international group of scientists has found that bilinguals are two times less likely to experience signs of accelerated biological aging than those who speak only one language. The study included 86,000 participants aged 51 to 90 years.

"We wanted to understand whether knowing multiple languages can actually slow down the aging process, which is one of the most controversial issues in neuroscience," explained co—author Agusin Ibanez, a neuroscientist at the University of Adolfo Ibanez in Santiago, Chile.

Previously, scientists assumed that speaking several languages improves memory and attention, but most studies had limited samples and did not allow generalizations. The new work is the largest in this field and, according to the researchers, for the first time demonstrated a stable link between knowledge of multiple languages and slowing cognitive aging.

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Christos Pliatsikas, a cognitive neuroscientist from the University of Reading (UK), called the results "a breakthrough in understanding the mechanisms of brain aging." He noted that the sample size allowed the authors to take into account the influence of socio-economic and biological factors.

The scientists used computational methods to determine the so—called biobehavioral age gap - the difference between a person's actual age and their "predicted" age, calculated based on physiological and behavioral indicators. It turned out that those who spoke only one language were twice as likely to show signs of accelerated brain aging.

"Even one additional language reduces the risk of accelerated aging, and with two or three languages, the effect becomes noticeably stronger," Ibanez emphasized.

Susan Tubner-Rhodes, a psychologist at Auburn University, added that such data "should inspire people to learn new languages or use those they already know more actively." In her opinion, this is "an affordable way to maintain brain health in adulthood."

Earlier, on November 6, Medical Xpress pointed out the association of latent heart damage with the risk of dementia. The head of the study, Professor Eric Brunner, noted that prevention should be done in advance. According to him, controlling blood pressure, cholesterol levels and weight can slow down or prevent the development of cardiovascular diseases and dementia.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.