Lifelong Language Skills Help to Maintain Cognitive Acuity

Previous behavioral data have shown that lifelong bilingualism (the ability to speak two languages fluently) can help to preserve youthful cognitive control abilities in aging. Brian T. Gold, from the University of Kentucky (Kentucky, USA), and colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare the brain activity of healthy bilingual seniors (ages 60-68 years) with that of healthy monolingual seniors as they completed a task that tested their cognitive flexibility. The researchers found that both groups performed the task accurately. However, bilingual seniors were faster at completing the task than their monolingual peers despite expending less energy in the frontal cortex — an area known to be involved in task switching. The study authors conclude that: “These results suggest that lifelong bilingualism offsets age-related declines in the neural efficiency for cognitive control processes.”