Learn another language to keep the brain young

Want to keep your brain young?  Start learning a different language.

Your brain can look six years younger in scans if you speak two languages, and it’s another year younger if you speak three languages.  Polylinguals who speak four or more languages have brains that look 13 years younger.

Learning another language is one way to keep nerve cells active; they can weaken with age—especially if they’re not tasked with something new—and this inactivity can result in memory loss and weakening cognitive skills.

Researchers from the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language in Spain analysed the brains of 728 people living in the Basque where it’s typical to speak up to four languages.  Their brains were scanned with ECG machines and were compared to 144 people from another region where multiple language speaking was not so common.

Learning a second or third language is a great way to stimulate brain cells, but other factors are just as important, the researchers say.  A healthy diet, social connections and exercise also play their part in helping stay young cognitively.

But learning a new language isn’t a bad place to start. Comprenez-vous?

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