How Learning a Language Changes Your Brain and Delays Dementia

How many times did your parents or teachers tell you to learn languages while you were young, because it would be harder later? That common belief discourages many adults from learning new languages, which is a real shame, because it is simply wrong.

The familiar lines about the benefits of learning a language, how languages open doors to new cultures and to other people's minds, are true. But did you know that learning a foreign language can also improve your mental and even physical health?

Many studies show that learning English exercises the brain at any age. Practising structures and new words helps protect you against dementia. In this article you'll find out how learning a language affects your brain, and at the end, how I can help.

Dementia isn't your problem?

If dementia seems so far away that it doesn't concern you, think again. It can start developing quite early, and one of its causes is routine and a lack of intellectual challenge. Meanwhile, as you learn a language, you've probably noticed some skills growing:

• •more confidence in starting conversations,
• •sharper cognitive skills and faster learning of new things,
• •more discipline and perseverance,
• •better concentration and focus.

As you learn English, you become a more attentive listener who communicates clearly and thinks creatively. A big advantage of speaking several languages is a broader, more global view of the world. And what if I told you that learning a language gives you much more than the ability to communicate? It can have a positive effect on the health of your brain.

Learning languages slows brain ageing

Learning is to your brain what the gym is to your muscles. Every time you learn something new, you strengthen your brain. Just as exercise strengthens muscles and tissues, training particular areas of the brain makes them stronger and improves how they communicate with the rest of it.

That's not all. A well-trained brain ages more slowly. Knowing at least one foreign language may protect against the cognitive decline we naturally experience with age. That's why language teaching specialists started creating opportunities for older people to learn. If learning a language actively engages exactly the parts of the brain at risk of premature ageing, why not try to slow the process down?

Worth learning at any age

Changes in the brain caused by language learning led researchers at Penn State University in the USA to look further. They found that learning a language not only changes the structure of the brain but also makes it more efficient. In other words, learning to communicate in another language makes you smarter, and best of all, these changes can happen at any age.

The researchers observed the brain activity of native English speakers learning Mandarin. Only half of the participants attended language classes. Everyone had two fMRI scans, one before the experiment and one six weeks later, to see what had changed.

Results that surprised everyone

What the researchers found was remarkable. In the group that took Mandarin lessons, they saw several structural and functional changes in the brain. Above all, their brain networks became better integrated, which means these people became able to learn faster and more efficiently. Another surprise: in those who did best in the Mandarin classes, the changes were more advanced than in those who struggled.

This suggests that people with a positive attitude to learning a language naturally go looking for other new things to learn and new challenges to take on. The strength and direction of the connections between brain areas that become active during learning reflect how connected and efficient the brain is. The stronger those connections, the faster and more efficiently the brain works.

Nobody expected learning to bring such benefits

During their work, the Penn State researchers discovered something hard to believe. Learning a language increased the density of the brain tissue responsible for forming memories, emotions, vision and hearing. In other words, the skills you need to understand a language and communicate in it actually develop in the brain.

It turns out that the brain is more plastic than we used to think. Most interesting of all, these positive effects can be seen in children and teenagers as well as in older adults. That's very good news, and it should encourage older people to learn languages too.

Learning languages changes the structure of the brain

MRI scans can show how the brain works while we learn and which parts are active. This can help solve old puzzles, such as why native speakers of some languages find certain sounds in other languages so hard to pronounce.

You already know the obvious benefits of learning a language for work and travel. But did you know it also brings remarkable cognitive benefits?

Your memory grows as you learn

Nicki Baird of the Languages Centre of Excellence at CAE in Melbourne says that learning a foreign language doesn't only help you polish existing language skills and gain new ones. It can also help you cope better in other situations. When you learn languages:

• •You boost your brain power: learning a language teaches your brain to handle new, more complex tasks and absorb new patterns.
• •You improve your memory: learning a new language is like a gym workout for your brain.
• •You may delay dementia: a number of studies on dementia have shown that bilingual and multilingual people developed it later than people who speak only one language.

Learning languages protects against Alzheimer's and delays dementia

Every few months, headlines announce a sensational new drug for dementia, an increasingly common health problem. Soon it turns out the announcement was premature, research continues, and the drug is still some way off. Meanwhile the problem grows: in Poland, an average of 400,000 people develop dementia every year. Does that mean there's nothing you can do to keep your mind sharp into old age? Of course not.

Given the modest progress in drug treatment, researchers have turned to the factors that can speed up or delay dementia. Lifestyle changes, including physical activity, can delay its onset.

Dementia sounds distant to people in the prime of life, because it's a brain disease associated with old age. It has many causes, the most common being Alzheimer's disease. Age does raise the risk: the older you are, the more likely you are to develop it. Fortunately, you're here, and learning English is part of your daily life. That puts you in a particularly well-protected group, because learning a language helps protect against dementia.

Learning English is your superpower

Dr Thomas Bak, a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh's School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, carried out a fascinating study confirming that learning languages helps prevent dementia. He became interested after noticing in India that dementia developed later in people who knew two languages, so he set out to study how language learning affects the brain.

“ Bilingualism might have a stronger effect on dementia than any currently available drugs. “

Thomas Bak, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh

It's never too late

In his best-known study, Bak looked at 853 people first tested as 11-year-olds in 1947 and then tested again in 2008 and 2010. The results clearly showed that those who had become bilingual over the years performed better than expected. What's more, learning a new language as an adult still brought results.

So if you've ever wondered whether it's too late for you, start learning English, or any language you've always wanted to speak, today. The conclusion is simple: we should never say "I'm too old" about learning a language. It's never too late to develop your cognitive abilities.

What did the participants gain? Bak found that young adults fluent in two languages did better on attention tests and concentrated better than those who spoke only one. It made no difference whether they had learned the second language as children or as teenagers.

Are flashcards better for you than times tables?

Swedish researchers wanted to see the benefits of language learning in the brain. They studied two groups: one learned languages, the other studied non-language subjects intensively. MRI scans showed that the brains of the language learners grew, while the brains of the other group stayed the same. The growth was mainly in the hippocampus, which plays a key role in memory, and in areas of the cerebral cortex linked to language skills.

As Johan Mårtensson, a psychology researcher at Lund University in Sweden, put it, there is much to suggest that learning languages is a good way to keep the brain in shape (as reported by Medical News Today). It has been estimated that speaking a second or third language delays the onset of Alzheimer's and dementia by as much as four years.

Being bilingual is constant exercise for the brain

Bilingualism is more than speaking two languages fluently. Is there a scientific reason? Bilingual people have to switch between two languages, which is like managing two separate ways of thinking. That skill leads to better management of other tasks and of conflicts. Bilingual adults concentrate better and ignore outside distractions more effectively than people who speak only their first language.

The language centres in the brain are very flexible, so learning a second language can develop new areas of the mind and strengthen the brain's natural ability to focus. A brain that learns a foreign language makes use of many possibilities and learns to process information more effectively.

Want to live better for longer? Learn English!

Finding ways to keep the mind clear at any age is a matter of honour for neuroscientists. For now, it's hard to dispute that a trained, learning mind has the best chance of staying sharp regardless of age, and learning a language is one of the best exercises for it.

So if a better job, a promotion, easy travel and meeting people around the world aren't reasons enough to learn a language, add the chance to enjoy life well into old age. Learning languages slows down brain ageing, so make use of this unconventional supplement.

If you'd like your learning to bring positive changes to your life and health as well as better English, get in touch. I'll design lessons around your goal, so you master English effectively and are ready for other challenges too.

Bibliography

• •Bencie Woll FBA, Cognitive Benefits of Language Learning: Broadening our perspectives. Final Report to the British Academy, February 2019. University College London.
• •Bak, T. H., Nissan, J. J., Allerhand, M., Deary, I. J., Does Bilingualism Influence Cognitive Aging? Annals of Neurology, June 2014, 75(6), 959-963.
• •Alladi, S., Bak, T. H., Duggirala, V., Surampudi, B., Shailaja, M., Shukla, A. K., Chaudhuri, J. D., Kaul, S. (2013). Bilingualism delays age at onset of dementia, independent of education and immigration status. Neurology 81(22), 1938-1944.
• •Alladi, S., Bak, T. H., et al. Bilingualism delays the onset of behavioral but not aphasic forms of frontotemporal dementia. Neuropsychologia, May 2017, 99, 207-212. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.03.021.