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Bilingualism improved cognition in older adults

Bilingualism had a positive effect on cognition in older adults, according to recent study findings published in Annals of Neurology.

“Our study is the first to examine whether learning a second language impacts cognitive performance later in life while controlling for childhood intelligence,” Thomas H. Bak, MD, of the Centre for Cognitive Aging and Cognitive Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, said in a press release.

Bak and colleagues evaluated 853 adults (mean age, 72.49 years) from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 to determine how bilingualism affects later-life cognition.

An intelligence test was given to participants at age 11 years in 1947, and they were tested again between 2008 and 2010, when they were aged in their early 70s.

Overall, 262 participants reported speaking another language other than English well enough to communicate. Two languages were known by 160 participants; 61 knew three languages; 16 knew four languages; and eight participants knew five languages.

Participants who reported speaking two or more languages had significantly better cognitive abilities compared with predicted results from their baseline. Bilingualism and/or multilingualism had the strongest effects on general intelligence and reading. Positive cognitive effects were seen among participants regardless of when the second language was learned.

“The Lothian Birth Cohort offers a unique opportunity to study the interaction between bilingualism and cognitive aging, taking into account the cognitive abilities predating the acquisition of a second language,” Bak said. “These findings are of considerable practical relevance. Millions of people around the world acquire their second language later in life. Our study shows that bilingualism, even when acquired in adulthood, may benefit the aging brain.”

Disclosure: See the study for a full list of researchers’ financial disclosures.