Bilingualism May Shield Against Aging Brain Problems

 Darn, late life bilingualism doesn't seem to help. My attempts to learn German in grade school, high school and community ed were all failures. Now I'm working on Spanish just for traveling.

Bilingualism May Shield Against Aging Brain Problems

Summary: Bilingualism may serve as a powerful tool against age-related cognitive decline, particularly in social cognition areas such as the theory of mind. A new study demonstrates that early bilingualism leads to beneficial structural changes in the brain, including increased gray matter volume and cortical thickness, which contribute to a stronger cognitive reserve.

This cognitive reserve is crucial for maintaining social cognitive abilities into older age, highlighting bilingualism’s potential to enhance mental flexibility and attention control. The findings suggest that the earlier a second language is learned, the better the protection against the cognitive impairments associated with aging.

Key Facts:

1. Early Bilingualism Boosts Brain Structure: Learning a second language early in life is linked to increased gray matter volume and greater cortical thickness, fostering a robust cognitive reserve.
2. Protection Against Age-Related Decline: This cognitive reserve helps maintain social cognition skills, such as understanding others’ mental states, despite aging.
3. Lifelong Benefits: The study emphasizes the importance of bilingualism for healthier aging, encouraging early language learning to preserve cognitive function and social cognition in later life.

Source: Singapore University of Technology and Design

As a person ages, changes occur in both the body and the brain. Certain areas of the brain shrink and communication between neurons becomes less effective.

“Such structural and functional changes result in an age-related decline in cognitive function, affecting language, processing speed, memory, and planning abilities,” said Yow Wei Quin, Professor at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).

There is evidence that learning and using a second language results in structural and functional changes in the bilingual brain. Credit: Neuroscience News

Cognitive reserve, the brain’s ability to adapt and compensate for decline or damage, allows an individual to use alternative pathways and brain regions to perform tasks. Naturally related to cognitive reserve is its neural basis, the brain reserve, which is defined by desirable neuroanatomical properties such as larger brain size and more neuronal synapses.

“These reserves highlight the brain’s flexibility and resilience. An individual with greater reserves is likely to maintain good cognitive function in aging,” Prof Yow added.

Among the multiple lifestyle factors that contribute to cognitive reserve is bilingualism. The ability of bilinguals to constantly navigate between languages and communicate with people of different backgrounds could enhance their ability to interpret social cues.

Moreover, knowing multiple languages is associated with stronger mental flexibility, attention control, and working memory—skills important for social cognition and theory of mind, which is the ability to understand other people’s behaviour by attributing mental states like beliefs and emotions to them.

Previous studies on children and young adults have shown that bilingual language experience has a positive impact on theory of mind skills, but would this social cognitive enhancement persist in later life?

This is the question that Prof Yow and her research fellow Dr Li Xiaoqian set to answer. In their paper ‘Brain grey matter morphometry relates to onset age of bilingualism and theory of mind in young and older adults’, the SUTD team and collaborators from National University of Singapore (NUS) showed that early bilingualism may protect theory of mind abilities against normal age-related declines.

There is evidence that learning and using a second language results in structural and functional changes in the bilingual brain. The research team hypothesised that acquiring a second language early may influence brain function and also create more efficient structural properties in the brain, which will provide reserves that fight against age-related social cognition decline.

What kind of changes in the brain would early bilingualism create that allows it to preserve social cognition, specifically theory of mind? Some researchers suggest that the association between bilingualism and social cognition manifests in brain areas involved in mental state inferences, while others suggest areas involved in language or cognitive control processes.

In this paper, Prof Yow and the team found that early bilingualism and better social cognitive performance in both young and old adults were associated with higher gray matter volume, greater cortical thickness, and larger surface area in the above-mentioned brain regions.

Her study suggests that the earlier a second language is learned, the more desirable structural changes occur in the brain and the more cognitive reserve is established to protect social cognitive processes against age-related decline.

These social cognitive abilities, particularly theory of mind, are crucial for understanding the thoughts and emotions of others. The current work provided new evidence of bilingualism having benefits beyond language skills and executive function. It supported the idea that bilingualism preserves social cognition in later life, fends off age-related decline, and contributes to healthier ageing.

Co-first author of the paper, Dr Li Xiaoqian from SUTD added: “Our findings highlight the potential social-cognitive benefits associated with acquiring a second language early in life.”

This could encourage parents and educators in supporting early bilingual education and lifelong bilingualism. While age-related neurocognitive decline is natural and often manageable, delaying the process is important to enable individuals to live independently longer.

Bilingualism can enrich and preserve social cognitive function, allowing a person to partake in activities they enjoy, maintain relationships, and perhaps even lessen the need for care in later life.

This study is part of a bigger project on the age-related psychological and neurological changes in social cognition. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data of individuals completing social-cognitive tasks was also collected alongside this study.

Going forward, the research team plans to use the behavioural and neuroimaging data that they have gathered to further investigate the effect of bilingualism on social cognitive functioning.

About this language and neuroscience research news

Author: Melissa Koh
Source: Singapore University of Technology and Design
Contact: Melissa Koh – Singapore University of Technology and Design
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

 

Bilingual skills enhance stroke recovery, study finds

 So this is probably your best stroke recovery process, so better start that second language now.

Bilingual skills enhance stroke recovery, study finds

Stroke patients are more likely to regain their cognitive functions if they speak more than one language, new research has found.

A study of 600 stroke victims found 40.5% who were multilingual had normal mental functions afterwards, compared to 19.6% who only speak one language.

The Edinburgh University study took into account smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and age.

It worked with the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences in India.

Cognitive impairment

The study was conducted in Hyderabad because its multi-cultural nature means many languages are commonly spoken.

The study, published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke, found "results support the notion of a protective role of bilingualism in the development of post-stroke cognitive impairment".

It is the first time a study has been done looking at the relationship between the number of languages spoken and a patient's cognitive outcome after stroke.

The paper said: "The percentage of patients with intact cognitive functions post-stroke was more than twice as high in bilinguals than in monolinguals.

"In contrast, patients with cognitive impairment were more common in monolinguals."

Researchers believe the study, which was funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research, suggests the mental challenge of speaking multiple languages can boost cognitive reserve - an improved ability of the brain to cope with damaging influences such as stroke or dementia.

Co-author Thomas Bak, of the University of Edinburgh's school of philosophy, psychology and language sciences, said: "Bilingualism makes people switch from one language to another, so while they inhibit one language, they have to activate another to communicate.

"This switching offers practically constant brain training which may be a factor in helping stroke patients recover."

 

 

6 Potential Brain Benefits Of Bilingual Education

They missed this benefit;

Stroke Rounds: Bilingual Brains Sustain Less Stroke Damage

 

6 Potential Brain Benefits Of Bilingual Education

Stroke Rounds: Bilingual Brains Sustain Less Stroke Damage

Once again we are not attacking the real problems in stroke. This is all because we have NO FUCKING STRATEGY. So does my knowledge of multiple programming languages have the same effect? Do some research that solves problems not tell us possible ways to maybe prevent stroke. Lazy assholes. I'm not sorry for my strong language, it comes from seeing incompetency at every level in stroke for decades.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/Strokes/54812?xid=nl_mpt_cardiodaily_2015-11-20&eun=gd3r
Speaking more than one language might protect against cognitive injury related to stroke, according to findings from an Indian registry study.
Compared to patients who spoke only one language, bilingual stroke patients were more than twice as likely to have normal cognition following their stroke and they also performed better on tests measuring post-stroke attention and function.

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But the two groups had similar frequencies of aphasia, at 11.8% among monolinguals and 10.5% among bilinguals (P=0.354), which might be explained by a higher level of cognitive control in patients speaking two or more languages, Suvarna Alladi, DM, of Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad, India, and colleagues wrote online in Stroke.
"The only outcome not influenced by bilingualism was the frequency of aphasia," the researchers wrote. "Although this might look surprising at first sight, this finding is in-line with current research, suggesting that the mechanism underlying the protective effect of bilingualism is not because of better linguistic but executive functions acquired through a lifelong practice of language switching."
'Intriguing, But Not Conclusive'
Jose Biller, MD, chair of the Loyola University department of neurology, which lists him as trilingual, told MedPage Today that another recently published, small (n=174 patient) study from the U.K. showed bilingual stroke patients to have poorer post-stroke language skills. Biller, who is also a spokesman for the American Stroke Association, was not involved with either study.
"There is a great deal of interest in the impact of bilingualism on cognitive aging and now stroke outcomes," he said. "But it is important to be cautious in interpreting findings. These are small studies, and while the findings are intriguing, they are far from conclusive."

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Several previous studies have suggested that bilingualism might protect against Alzheimer's disease and general age-related cognitive decline, but little is known about the impact of bilingualism, if any, on cognitive outcomes in stroke, the researchers wrote.
The study included ischemic stroke patients enrolled in a stroke registry in Hyderabad, India, who were evaluated 3 to 24 months after their strokes during the study period from 2006 to 2013. The evaluations included a detailed history and clinical assessment conducted by behavioral neurologists, stroke specialists, and trained psychologists using a structured diagnostic protocol adapted from the Cambridge Memory Clinic Model.
Of the 608 patients included in the study, 189 (31.1%) had vascular dementia and 159 (26.2%) had mild cognitive impairment. Sixty-seven (11%) had aphasia and 193 (31.7%) were determined to have normal cognitive function.
Twice as many bilinguals had normal cognition compared to patients who spoke only one language (40.5% versus 19.6%, P<0.0001), and monolinguals were more likely to have vascular dementia and mild cognitive impairment (77.7% versus 49.0%, P<0.0009).
Other Dementia Risk Factors

Older age, lower educational and occupational status, monolingualism, and vascular risk factors were all found to be significant risk factors for post-stroke cognitive impairment (P<0.003).
In an attempt to assess whether bilingualism was independently associated with post-stroke cognitive impairment, the researchers performed a series of logistic regression analyses.
"These regression models demonstrated variance of 31%, 24% and 28%, respectively," the researchers wrote. "Significant variables from the analyses were entered into a final logistic regression analysis. Following a Bonferroni correction, bilingualism and age were found to be significant independent predictors."
The study participants came from Hyderabad, India, where several languages are routinely spoken, including Hindi, English, Telugu, and Urdu. Because of this, the researchers noted that the findings may not be applicable to bilingual people who live in areas like the U.S., where it is common to speak only one language.
"Bilingualism is the norm in many parts of the world," Biller said. "We know from previous research that bilingualism induces certain plastic changes in the brain. However, the functional significance of these changes remains the subject of debate."
The research was funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Bilingualism delays age at onset of dementia, independent of education and immigration status

So is your therapy protocol going to include language training to offset your  33% chance of developing Dementia/Alzheimers after a stroke.?  

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24198291

Alladi S, Bak TH, Duggirala V, Surampudi B, Shailaja M, Shukla AK, Chaudhuri JR, Kaul S.

Source

From the Department of Neurology (S.A., M.S., A.K.S., S.K.), Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, India; Department of Psychology (T.H.B.), Centre for Cognitive Aging and Cognitive Epidemiology and Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK; Department of Linguistics (V.D.), Osmania University, Hyderabad; Centre for Neural and Cognitive Sciences (B.S.), University of Hyderabad; and Department of Neurology (J.R.C.), Yashoda Hospitals, Hyderabad, India.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

The purpose of the study was to determine the association between bilingualism and age at onset of dementia and its subtypes, taking into account potential confounding factors.

METHODS:

Case records of 648 patients with dementia (391 of them bilingual) diagnosed in a specialist clinic were reviewed. The age at onset of first symptoms was compared between monolingual and bilingual groups. The influence of number of languages spoken, education, occupation, and other potentially interacting variables was examined.

RESULTS:

Overall, bilingual patients developed dementia 4.5 years later than the monolingual ones. A significant difference in age at onset was found across Alzheimer disease dementia as well as frontotemporal dementia and vascular dementia, and was also observed in illiterate patients. There was no additional benefit to speaking more than 2 languages. The bilingual effect on age at dementia onset was shown independently of other potential confounding factors such as education, sex, occupation, and urban vs rural dwelling of subjects.

CONCLUSIONS:

This is the largest study so far documenting a delayed onset of dementia in bilingual patients and the first one to show it separately in different dementia subtypes. It is the first study reporting a bilingual advantage in those who are illiterate, suggesting that education is not a sufficient explanation for the observed difference. The findings are interpreted in the context of the bilingual advantages in attention and executive functions.

Why I survived my stroke

This is all speculation on my part. Your doctor should know a hell of a lot more than I do.
My brain reserve was built up.
by
1. bilingualism
2. new musical instruments,
piano, My daughter taught me 3 years prior but I never got beyond one-handed playing
saxophone, 3 years prior I started this but never got good enough to remember the finger positions after stroke. Its one of my goals now.
3. sudoku, I would do this every night before going to bed, worked my way up to doing the hardest ones in each book.  Immediately post-stroke I tried this and couldn't juggle that many numbers in my mind, even the easy ones were off limits.
4. new outdoor activity, 10 years of whitewater canoeing. Providing both a cognitive challenge and exercise created neurogenesis.

My physical condition was great. Three years after the event during a physical my resting heart rate was 54 at age 53. The doctor asked what cardio exercises I was doing. 'None for the last three years'.

I received tPA within 90 minutes of onset of the stroke.
I wrote about this earlier here but this is a little more fleshed out.  Video of Denison Falls there.
http://oc1dean.blogspot.com/2010/09/3-reasons-i-survived.html

I have to build up my reserve again to prepare for dementia or Alzheimers.

Bilingualism - neuroprotection and cognitive ability

Some consider learning programming languages in the same category. In my career I have learned Assembler, Cobol, Java, C, Smalltalk, DB2, MQSeries.  I can probably add this to my reasons for surviving my stroke. I may have to learn another language to prevent possible dementia.
The blogger discussing it here:
http://brainblogger.com/2013/03/29/bilingualism-may-be-neuroprotective/
The original articles here:
Lifelong bilingualism maintains neural efficiency for cognitive control in aging.
Lifelong bilingualism maintains white matter integrity in older adults.