Being bilingual can help keep your brain in good condition

A silohuette of a side profile of a womans head inside her head space is a ocean sunset

Learning and understanding a new language is one of the most challenging things that your brain can do. But as well as the advantage of acquiring another language, it appears that the effort of giving your brain a good workout today by being bilingual could keep it in better condition in later life.

Research led by Dr. Daniela Perani, a professor of psychology at in Milan, found that people who speak two or more languages seem to weather the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease better compared to people who have only mastered one language. Alzheimer’s is a progressive mental deterioration that can begin in middle or old age due to generalized brain degeneration.

The study involved 85 people with Alzheimer’s – half of whom spoke both German and Italian and half who spoke only one language. The researchers found that bilingual patients had greater connectivity in key brain areas. This was especially in the part of the brain that governs “executive control” – a set of necessary behavioral cognitive processes that include problem-solving, working memory, reasoning and attentional control. The study also noted that the bilingual Alzheimer’s patients showed less severe symptoms of the disease.

The study concluded: “Our findings suggest that the effects of speaking two languages are more powerful than both age and education in providing a protection against cognitive decline.”

Bilingualism and the brain

Although Alzheimer’s disease is currently incurable, the study supports a popular theory that people who have higher levels of education function longer with little manifestation of the illness. Part of the reason why bilingual brains may be better at resisting Alzheimer’s could be due to a lifetime of switching between languages daily.

Learning and speaking more than one language changes how the brain carries out tasks that require focus and concentration on a certain piece of information without being distracted. It can also increase the density of white matter (connections) in the brain, meaning that there are more connections between brain parts, thus making this part of the brain more resistant to degeneration.

This is supported by a study conducted by a team led by Professor Ana Inés Ansaldo at the , which suggests that bilingual people have more robust and more efficient brains compared to those who only speak one language. This is one of the reasons why a bilingual brain can be a buffer against aging and dementia.

They recruited elderly people, half of whom spoke only one language and the other half who had learned a second language between the ages of 11 and 18. All performed equally well on a task that involved focusing on an object's color while ignoring its position, but brain scans revealed a big difference in how they processed the task.

“While bilinguals were recruiting very specific brain areas and a small number of areas to perform the task, monolinguals were recruiting a much larger number of areas that were consuming much more resources. And the networks they were using were very, very complex,” says Professor Ansaldo. “That led us to think that the bilingual brain was more efficient in terms of the amount of resources that bilingual people require to do complex tasks as opposed to the monolingual brain.”

The study concludes that bilingualism shapes the brain in a different way or how people approach complex tasks. It could be because bilinguals must inhibit the language they are not using to focus on the one that they are using.

Read our other blog post on about how language learning can help your mental health and wellbeing.

Learn more from our other blog posts

More blogs from app

  • A woman standing at a whiteboard in a office with two others sat down.

    How to bring soft skills into the business English classroom

    By Richard Cleeve

    Anyone who’s ever taught a business English class knows that their students are busy people. Sometimes they get sidetracked by their other tasks - even during class. This means we have to make the most of the time we have with our learners and focus on what they really need.

    How you do this depends on the sector your students work in (or plan to work in), their previous experiences studying English and their own strengths and weaknesses.

    Teachers often focus on teaching hard skills, such as writing reports or running meetings. We do this because it can be challenging for many business students to do these things in English and also because hard skills have an immediate and positive impact on their workdays.

    But, if there’s one thing that all business people can benefit from, it’s soft skills.

    Soft skills are interpersonal or people skills. They include things like active listening, teamwork, decision-making and influencing skills. Mastering these skills will help students progress more rapidly and become more independent learners. However, isolating the specific vocabulary or grammar structures that these skills use is complex and they often get overlooked in language learning classes as a result.

  • University graduates in robes taking a group photo

    How an education degree can help you work anywhere in the world

    By app Languages

    Are you thinking about embarking on a career in education? If so, you’ll be opening the door to an entire world of possibilities. An education degree can help you to work anywhere in the world, making it one of the most rewarding career paths you can choose. In this blog, we’ll delve deeper into just how this field of study can broaden your horizons more than you ever thought possible.

    Why choose an education degree?

    Without teachers, there are a lot of valuable life lessons that we just wouldn’t learn. Of course, learning isn’t just limited to the classroom, but educated teachers seem to consistently have the most impact on young people all over the world. This potential to change young lives is what makes studying for a teaching career desirable for many.

    Studying education will also enable you to work from anywhere that you like, as teaching jobs are widely available across the world. The opportunity to teach English to second-language learners in particular can be found in even the most remote locations. Teaching abroad frequently comes with perks, too, , and the chance to meet people from all walks of life.

    Where can I work with an education degree?

    In short: almost anywhere. Some of the most popular places people immigrate to with an education degree include Australia, New Zealand, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. The latter is particularly attractive, as international school teachers are paid well here, and frequently awarded free accommodation and travel.

    Saudi Arabia is also known for its vast riches, which they invest in building beautiful, gated communities for their expats. These often include air-conditioned housing and community pools. If you choose to relocate here, you’ll usually find yourself teaching a mixture of fellow expats and locals – most people find the exposure to such vastly different cultures particularly exciting.

    Teaching schemes and programs are available to people with relevant education degrees and overseas teaching roles are always in demand, so it's not uncommon to see new programs pop up over time. Make sure to check out relevant embassy and government websites for up-to-date news on schemes that are running.

    If you find a program that interests you, make sure to do your research and find out from others who've participated to ensure its the right program for you. One person's experience teaching can be a lot different from someone else's. The kind of wage, accommodation and benefits can differ greatly depending on the scheme and where you work so its a good idea to research that, comparing it to the area's cost of living.

    What should I study alongside my education degree?

    If you’re choosing to study education you’re already on the right path to an enriching international career – however, you may wish to study other subjects alongside this to make sure that your future job applications stand out.

    An English degree complements education studies nicely. The English language teaching market created approximately , and this number continues to grow. Alternatively, subjects such as maths and computer science continue to be popular choices for hiring companies abroad.

    Education is generally seen as the precursor to a PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education), which enables you to work abroad. In the UK alone as of 2023, so when it comes to getting started on your academic journey, the options are endless.

    Education: the key to the world

    Studying education at degree level will give you the key to the wider world, and is the first step towards a rewarding international career. If you choose to go down this route academically, you’ll have the opportunity to submerge yourself in vibrant global cultures. So, choosing to study for an education degree is sure to be the start of an exciting journey.

  • Two young girls sat at a school desk reading a book

    8 first lesson problems and solutions for young learner classes

    By Joanna Wiseman

    The first class with a new group of young learners can be a nerve-wracking experience for teachers, old and new. Many of us spend the night before thinking about how to make a positive start to the year, with a mixture of nerves, excitement, and a desire to get started. However, sometimes things don’t always go as expected, and it is important to set a few ground rules in those early lessons to ensure a positive classroom experience for all throughout the academic year.

    Let’s look at a few common problems that can come up and how best to deal with them at the start of the school year.