Ellen Bialystok, a cognitive neuroscientist and research professor of psychology, has made the study of bilingualism her life’s work. After nearly 40 years of research, she has discovered that regularly speaking two languages offers a number of benefits, including a delay in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Bialystok found that there’s a significant difference between monolinguals and bilinguals in terms of how they process language. Bilingualism sharpens the mind’s ability to maintain multiple pieces of information in play and switch between them, effectively improving one’s multitasking skills.
A study published by Dr. Bialystok in 2004 showed that normally aging monolingual individuals experience a more pronounced loss of cognitive functioning than their normally aging bilingual counterparts. In later studies, the records of 400 Alzheimer’s patients were examined. The findings revealed that while bilingualism didn’t prevent Alzheimer’s disease, those who spoke two languages manifested symptoms five to six years later than the monolinguals.
For more information, read “The Bilingual Advantage” on NYTimes.com.
