Speaking two languages ​​may protect you from Alzheimer’s

Mark
Written By Mark

A recent Canadian study revealed that being able to speak two languages ​​may protect you from Alzheimer’s disease.

The study was conducted by researchers from Concordia University in Canada and was published in the journal Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, and was written about by the EurekAlert website.

It was previously known that speaking two languages ​​or bilingualism has many cognitive benefits, especially for the elderly, but this new study revealed that bilingualism helps delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease for a period of up to 5 years compared to adults who speak one language, and therefore learning languages ​​​​is considered… One lifestyle that may increase brain plasticity as we age.

In this study, the researchers compared the brain characteristics of monolingual and bilingual older adults in several groups. One of these groups included participants with normal cognitive functions, while another group included individuals at risk of subjective cognitive decline or mild cognitive impairment. The final group It included individuals who had already been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers supervising this study used neuroimaging to examine brain plasticity in areas associated with language and aging.

The hippocampus is larger

The results of the study showed that the hippocampus of bilingual participants with Alzheimer’s disease was significantly larger compared to monolingual Alzheimer’s patients, within a group of people with Alzheimer’s disease matched on age, education, cognitive function, and memory.

“The amount of brain matter was greater in the hippocampus, which is considered the main region of the brain responsible for learning and memory, in bilingual participants with Alzheimer’s disease,” says the study’s lead author, Christina Coulter.

The study also found that there was atrophy in the size of the hippocampus in individuals at risk of mild cognitive impairment, as well as in Alzheimer’s patients who speak one language, while there was no change in the size of the hippocampus in bilinguals with Alzheimer’s disease across all stages of the disease’s development.

“Brain volume in the region associated with Alzheimer’s disease was equal between healthy older adults, individuals at risk for both conditions, and the Alzheimer’s disease group in the bilingual participants,” Dr. Coulter adds. “This suggests that there may be some type of brain maintenance linked to bilingualism.”

Brain plasticity

The concept of “brain resilience” refers to the brain’s ability to adapt to the changes associated with aging, and consists of 3 basic elements: maintaining brain health, cerebral reserve, and cognitive reserve.

Brain maintenance is the ongoing ability to maintain the shape and function of the brain as one ages. It is believed that mental stimulation, such as practicing two languages, in addition to following a healthy diet, regular exercise, and good sleep, all help protect the brain. Of deterioration.

As for the brain reserve: it refers to the size and structure of the brain. Brains with a larger reserve can maintain their normal functions thanks to their increased size or increased amount of brain matter, even when exposed to damage or atrophy resulting from aging, including disease. Such as Alzheimer’s disease.

While cognitive reserve refers to the brain’s ability to use alternative pathways to maintain its functions, even when exposed to damage or shrinkage associated with aging, and brains that have greater cognitive reserve are able to rely on unusual parts of the brain to perform certain functions, such as Language or memory, thanks to cognitive flexibility that accumulates over the course of life.

However, Dr. Coulter explains that they did not find any brain reserve in the areas of the brain responsible for language, nor did they find any cognitive reserve in the areas associated with Alzheimer’s disease in bilingual people.

Commenting on the importance of this study, Dr. Natalie Phillips – a professor in the Department of Psychology at Concordia University and co-author of the study – says: “Speaking more than one language is one of the many ways that contribute to increasing mental and social activity, which enhances brain health.”

She added, “This study was unique because it was able to study the potential impact of practicing more than one language on the brain structure of many groups, starting with people who have normal mental health, through to those at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, all the way to those who already have Alzheimer’s.”

Subjective cognitive decline

According to the Journal of Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment, Subjective Cognitive Decline is defined as an individual’s feeling of a decline in his or her cognitive abilities – this often appears in poor memory – despite having normal cognition. This decline is increasingly common among the elderly, as studies indicate Its prevalence ranges between 50-60% among them, and subjective cognitive decline is known for its role in predicting the development of neurocognitive disorders later.

Recently, subjective cognitive decline has been suggested as one of the useful indicators in the diagnosis of early neurocognitive disorders, and the 2018 National Institute on Aging and Alzheimer’s Association research criteria adopted this decline as a transitional stage between normal cognition and the onset of neurocognitive disorders.

Mild cognitive impairment

As for Mild Cognitive Impairment, it is a condition in which people suffer from memory or thinking problems more than other people of the same age. However, the symptoms of Mild Cognitive Impairment are not as severe as those associated with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, as people who suffer from Mild cognitive impairment They are often able to take care of themselves and carry out their daily activities normally.

Mild cognitive impairment is an early sign of a disease that may eventually develop into dementia, but it is not dementia itself, and this condition may be caused by other health problems, such as sleep disorders or side effects of certain medications.