Scientists have revealed the benefits of bilingualism for the brain

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Scientists from the Jülich Research Center, Germany, spoke about the benefits of bilingualism. An article of the corresponding content was published in a thematic foreign source.

There is a lot of evidence that bilingualism allows people to remain mentally healthy for longer. Modern research supports this assumption. Scientists have concluded that at a young age, bilingualism significantly improves brain function, which persists into old age.

The study involved 224 people who speak only one language and 175 volunteers who are fluent in two. Using MRI, experts determined the volume of gray matter in the posterior lower part of the left frontal lobe and in the lower left parietal lobe. The brain regions are responsible for understanding language and its production. Some fragments of these areas work together, so they are functionally and anatomically closely connected to each other.

“Over time, the stronger the new language “takes hold,” the excess gray matter turns into a tighter connection of the regions and much more pronounced lines of communication in the white matter. Thus, the exchange of information between brain regions is simplified. This may explain why such people remain mentally healthy in old age,” the scientists note.

Another question that the scientists intend to address concerns how learning a third language is related to mental performance in old age. For many people, this would be a viable and simple way to create additional cognitive reserve, the experts added.