Bilinguals Have Faster, More Adaptive Brains When They Get Older

"Speaking two languages can actually help offset some effects of aging on the brain, a new study has found.

Researchers tested how long it took participants to switch from one cognitive task to another, something that’s known to take longer for older adults, said lead researcher, Brian Gold, a neuroscientist at the University of Kentucky. As he spoke to ABCNews.com from his cell phone, he said he was also in a grocery store choosing between gala and granny smith apples — a perfect example of switching between cognitive tasks in everyday life.

“It has big implications these days because our population is aging more and more,” Gold said. “Seniors are living longer, and that’s a good thing, but it’s only a good thing to the extent that their brains are healthy.”........

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/01/09/bilinguals-have-faster-more-adaptive-brains-when-they-get-older-study-finds/

Which explains why so many brains here are atrophied!

¿What about trilinguals?
gm

Reminds me of a joke in Mexico:

What is a person called who speaks 2 languages? Answer: Bilingual
How about a person who speaks 3 tongues? Answer: trilingual.
And a person who speaks only one language? One wants to answer " monolingual". but the teller says " NO, Gringo"

gm
It sounds better in Spanish and alludes to out ethnocentrism which is maybe why we resist learning languages.

Hey do English speaking Canadians learn French? I know many French speaking Canadians from Quebec who never would learn English.

A small dissent to the extrapolation.......
I tend to go with the easiest way to talk or write with my family, which for the most part are bilingual.
That's because I'm old and lazy.......and possibly atrophied.
Sometimes forget how to say something in one language or the other. Depends on which language transmission gear the brain is in...it's like trying to walk and chew gum at the same time.

One time, while driving, my wife was "giving directions" in Spanish, and the daughter was doing the same in English, this in heavy "Mexican" traffic, talk about shifting gears, I went from 1st to 5th, almost to reverse, which my brain went into!
gm

It was stated on a study made in GB by the BBC that those who spoke at least 2 languages experienced the onset of dementia/Alzheimer's on the average of five years later than the typical gringo who only spoke one language.

It was then asked if there was any evidence suggesting if there was any evidence that persons who spoke three or four languages like we did in NL would have even more protection before dementia set in.

Sadly the information gathered suggested that whether you spoke two or four languages, your dementia was only delayed by about 5 years more than of the typical gringo who only speaks one language

gringomojado wrote:One time, while driving, my wife was "giving directions" in Spanish, and the daughter was doing the same in English, this in heavy "Mexican" traffic, talk about shifting gears, I went from 1st to 5th, almost to reverse, which my brain went into!
gm

LOL...I can sure appreciate THAT...A car full of people shouting directions, orders, tengo hambe, tengo sed, pi pi mami, in Spanish, English, Swahili(not really).
Been there, done that. Ay yai yai

slainte39 wrote:
Sometimes forget how to say something in one language or the other.

Sometimes I forget how to say something in both languages.

viajero wrote:

slainte39 wrote:
Sometimes forget how to say something in one language or the other.

Sometimes I forget how to say something in both languages.

I know what you mean...like the only gear is "neutral".

Entre mas espanol aprendo, mas ingles pierdo.

Out with the old, in with the new, I guess.