Defy Age Naturally

New Canadian research found that knowing two languages or more is an effective brain fitness program, and can postpone the onset of dementia in old age by more than four years.

The researchers examined the participants for knowledge of languages and the age at which signs of dementia began to appear.

Men who spoke only one language were found to develop dementia at an average age of 70.8, while men who spoke at least two languages were more likely to develop dementia at 76.1 Uni-lingual women developed the disorder at 71.9 on average, while multi-lingual women developed dementia at an average of 75.1 years old.

Speaking more than one language delays the onset of dementia by 4.1 years.

The benefits of knowing multiple languages seem to not be influenced by level of education, occupation, cultural upbringing or immigration history, since the study revealed that participants with the highest education tended to speak only one language.

I wish that I spoke another language fluently. While I have dabbled in speaking Thai, Spanish and American sign language, I have never fully mastered any of them.

Maybe the fact that I am an American who lives in England can count as my second language. While they are both English, there are actually loads of differences. Now that I have been home for a few weeks, the American is really coming out in me. Just last night I was saying cookie sheet instead of baking tray, and pants instead of trousers.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, March 9th, 2008 at 5:51 pm and is filed under Brain/Mind Fitness, science of aging.

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