Stay young by speaking two languages

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Monday June 14, 08:07 PM

 

Stay young by speaking two languages

http://uk.news./040614/80/evvot.html

 

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

 

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two languages are better than one when it comes to

keeping the brain young, Canadian researchers have reported.

 

 

Older adults who grew up bilingual had quicker minds when tested than people

who spoke only one language, the researchers found. They showed less of the

natural decline associated with aging.

 

 

The tests of people who grew up speaking English and either Tamil or French

suggested that having to juggle two languages keeps the brain elastic and

may help prevent some of the mental slowing caused by age, the researchers

said on Monday.

 

 

Writing in the journal Psychology and Aging, Ellen Bialystok of York

University in Canada and colleagues said they tested 104 monolingual and

bilingual middle-aged adults aged 30 to 59 and 50 older adults aged 60 to

88.

 

 

They used a test called the Simon Task, which measures reaction time for

cognitive tasks, such as recognizing on which part of a computer screen a

colored square appears.

 

 

Both younger and older bilinguals were faster on the test, Bialystok

reported.

 

 

" We compared groups of people who, as far as we could tell, are exactly the

same, " Bialystok said in a telephone interview.

 

 

" They have all had the same amount of education. They all scored exactly the

same on cognitive tests. They all perform the same on memory tests. And they

also score the same on tests in English vocabulary. "

 

 

The difference was that half the people grew up with either French or Tamil

spoken at home and English outside. They all spoke both languages every day

from childhood.

 

 

People who were proficient in a second language acquired in school were not

included in the study to keep the effects clear.

 

 

" It's not a facility. It's not a talent, " Bialystok said. Rather it was a

case of being forced from a young age to function in two languages.

 

 

Bialystok said her earlier study with children suggested these circumstances

force a change in the way the brain processes information.

 

 

" In the monolingual group the differences between the younger adults and the

older adults were in line with (the decline seen) in previous research, "

Bialystok said.

 

 

" In the older bilingual they slowed down significantly less, dramatically

less. "

 

 

Bialystok has not tested people who acquired languages later in life but

believes learning new languages can only be good for the brain.

 

 

" Language is always good -- more language is always better, " she said.