Recent research has revealed that learning another language may well help you live longer!
Recent research, including a study co-authored by a cognitive neuroscientist from the University of Reading, suggests that speaking more than one language may help to slow down brain ageing and reduce the risk of accelerated biological ageing, which is linked to age-related diseases. The research does not directly state that it makes you “live longer” in terms of overall lifespan but rather promotes a healthier brain and potentially delays the onset of age-related cognitive decline and diseases like dementia.
What are the facts?
Multilingualism is associated with delayed ageing and a lower risk of accelerated ageing. Credit: Nature Ageing (2025). Peter Berlit, secretary general of the German Society for Neurology and not involved in the study, said the research also points to protection against dementia.
Speaking more than one language can slow down the brain’s ageing and lower risks linked to accelerated ageing.
In a new study, researchers analysed the Biobehavioural Age Gap (BAG) – a person’s biological age using health and lifestyle data, then compared it to their actual age – of over 80,000 participants aged 51–90 across 27 European countries. They found that people who speak only one language are twice as likely to experience accelerated ageing compared to multilingual individuals.
Many specialists worldwide are in agreement
This is not just a study by the University of Reading. According to Scientific American, a very credible organisation, speaking multiple languages could slow down brain ageing and help to prevent cognitive decline; a study of more than 80,000 people has found. The work, published in Nature Ageing on 10 November, suggests that people who are multilingual are half as likely to show signs of accelerated biological ageing as are those who speak just one language.
“The effects of multilingualism on ageing have always been controversial, but I don’t think there has been a study of this scale before, which seems to demonstrate them quite decisively,” says Christos Pliatsikas, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Reading, UK. The paper’s results could “bring a step change to the field”, he adds.
Credits: Unsplash; Author: mauricio-santos;
What are the effects?
Protective Effect: Individuals who speak multiple languages are approximately half as likely to show signs of accelerated biological ageing. Monolingualism, conversely, was identified as a potential risk factor for accelerated cognitive ageing.
Cumulative Benefit: The protective effect is cumulative; the more languages a person speaks, the greater their protection against age-related cognitive decline.
Cognitive Reserve: Language learning and use engage core brain networks related to attention, memory, and executive control, building what researchers call “cognitive reserve” (the brain’s resilience against ageing and disease). This mental exercise helps the brain cope better with damage over time.
Delayed Onset of Dementia: Previous research, reinforced by this large-scale study, has shown that bilingualism can delay the onset of dementia symptoms by several years compared to monolingual adults.
Brain Maintenance: Neuroimaging studies suggest that bilingual individuals may have greater grey matter volume in certain brain regions and maintain brain structure and function more effectively as they age, even in the presence of Alzheimers-related changes
Did you need a better excuse to learnt to speak Portuguese?
The problem in Portugal, especially in the Algarve, is that nearly everyone speaks English. The natural courtesy of the Portuguese people means they want to help. This means, of course, that you really don’t need to learn the language. But you are missing out on so much if you don’t at least learn some of the basics.
Better still, you might just live longer, and if that’s not a good enough reason, I don’t know what is.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed on this page are those of the author and not of The Portugal News.
