Learning second language 'slows brain ageing'-gctid115773

[Ajamu]

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-27634990



Learning second language 'slows brain ageing'

                                                       
Learning a second language could improve reading and intelligence skills  
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Learning a second  language can have a positive effect on the brain, even if it is taken up  in adulthood, a University of Edinburgh study suggests.

         Researchers found that reading, verbal fluency and  intelligence were improved in a study of 262 people tested either aged  11 or in their seventies.

         A previous study suggested that being bilingual could delay the onset of dementia by several years.

         The study is published in Annals of Neurology.

         The big question in this study was whether learning a new  language improved cognitive functions or whether individuals with better  cognitive abilities were more likely to become bilingual.

         Dr Thomas Bak, from the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and  Cognitive Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, said he believed  he had found the answer.
     
      Using data from intelligence  tests on 262 Edinburgh-born individuals at the age of 11, the study  looked at how their cognitive abilities had changed when they were  tested again in their seventies.

         The research was conducted between 2008 and 2010.

         All participants said they were able to communicate in at least one language other than English.

         Of that group, 195 learned the second language before the age of 18, and 65 learned it after that time.

   Strong effects          

The findings indicate that those who spoke two or more  languages had significantly better cognitive abilities compared to what  would have been expected from their baseline test.

         The strongest effects were seen in general intelligence and reading.

         The effects were present in those who learned their second language early, as well as later in life.

         Dr Bak said the pattern they found was "meaningful" and the  improvements in attention, focus and fluency could not be explained by  original intelligence.

         "These findings are of considerable practical relevance.  Millions of people around the world acquire their second language later  in life. Our study shows that bilingualism, even when acquired in  adulthood, may benefit the aging brain."

         But he admitted that the study also raised many questions,  such as whether learning more than one language could also have the same  positive effect on cognitive ageing and whether actively speaking a  second language is better than just knowing how to speak it.

         Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone, professor of medicine at Harvard  Medical School in Boston, US, said: "The epidemiological study provides  an important first step in understanding the impact of learning a second  language and the ageing brain.

         "This research paves the way for future caunited snakesl studies of bilingualism and cognitive decline prevention."

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

Meda ase! Great info! :hello::soldierg: