People who speak multiple languages may be walking around with brains that are years younger than their age suggests—up to 13 years younger, according to new research.
The study’s findings are consistent with a growing body of neuroscience research suggesting that lifelong multilingualism is associated with greater cognitive reserve and may help the brain remain more resilient as we age, Dr. Paul E. Bendheim, a clinical professor of neurology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and chief medical officer of BrainSavers Inc., and not involved in the study, told The Epoch Times. BrainSavers Inc. educates and coaches healthy seniors at risk for Alzheimer’s.
“However, the broader message extends beyond language itself—the brain appears to benefit most from sustained, effortful learning,” he said.
How Learning Languages Shapes the Aging Brain
Those who spoke two languages had brains about six years younger than their actual age. Those who spoke three languages had brains about seven years younger, and participants fluent in four languages had brains approximately 13 years younger, the new study found.
The study was a collaborative effort between teams located at institutions in Spain, Chile, Argentina, and Ireland. It focused on a group of 728 people from the Basque region of Spain who spoke between one and four languages, including Spanish, Basque, French, and English.
Researchers measured brain health by measuring weak magnetic fields produced by active brain cells. An AI model analyzed the data to establish a “brain aging clock” that indicated what brain activity is typical for each age.
“Multilingual experience matters as a gradient: It is not simply about being bilingual or not, but about the depth and duration of language experience,” she said.
Language Learning Particularly Works the Brain
While any challenging cognitive task can stimulate neuroplasticity, language learning recruits multiple systems at once: auditory, semantic, motor, and emotional, forcing “constant switching and inhibition between linguistic codes,” Christopher U. Missling, a neuroscientist and former president and CEO of Anavex, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for neurological diseases, and not involved in the study, told The Epoch Times.
“In short, effortful learning matters, but language learning seems to be a particularly potent form of it because it exercises the brain’s control, memory, and social circuits simultaneously,” Missling said.
Other activities that combine movement, novelty, and social interaction, such as dance, music, exercise, and even meditation, can also support brain health, he noted, and it’s “never too late” to start. “Meditation and mindfulness improve attention networks,” Missling said. “While strength training and cardiovascular activity enhance blood flow and neurogenesis.”
Even late in life, he said, starting new skills such as learning an instrument or practicing a new sport can trigger beneficial synaptic remodeling. “The brain remains plastic throughout adulthood; it’s never too late to start stimulating it with new, challenging experiences,” he said.
Language Learning Important for More Than Brain Health
Looking ahead, Amoruso and her team hope to examine whether similar effects occur in individuals with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, and whether managing closely related languages, which may require more mental control, have an even greater impact.
Christina Dalla, a professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, who was not involved in the research and holds a doctorate in neuropsychopharmacology, commented in the press release that the study adds to the case for supporting language education at every stage of life, even though the findings are preliminary.
“This study suggests that learning a second, third or fourth language could help our brains to stay younger for longer, and the earlier we start, the better,” she said.
Activities that are novel, challenging, and require focused attention over months or years—whether learning a new language, studying music, art, history, or another complex subject—“help build cognitive reserve,” Bendheim said.
“Language learning may be especially powerful because it simultaneously engages memory, attention, executive function, problem-solving, communication, and social interaction, activating multiple interconnected brain networks.”
