Medicine Multilingualism can delay cognitive ageing
People who speak more languages age more slowly on average. This is shown by a study that analyzed data from over 86,000 adults from 27 European countries, including data from around 2,600 Swiss people.
10.11.2025, 17:00
SDA
In the study, multilingualism was also associated with delayed ageing when the research team took into account other protective factors such as education, physical activity and social influences.
In the study published in the journal "Nature Aging", the international team led by Agustin Ibañez from Trinity College Dublin compared the age of the participants with biological data and behavioral characteristics - such as health, fitness, lifestyle and social activity. They calculated whether someone was biologically younger or older than their chronological age. The participants were between 50 and 90 years old.
Multilinguals had a noticeably lower probability of accelerated ageing than people who only spoke one language. Each additional language increased the protective effect. The researchers speak of a dose-dependent effect.
A buffer in the brain
The researchers attribute the effect to the so-called cognitive reserve. The idea is that people who speak several languages have more memory to fall back on in old age.
"The effect is clearly proven - the challenge now is to understand its mechanisms and translate them into strategies for healthy ageing," write brain researchers Jason Rothman and Federico Gallo from Lancaster University in the UK in a commentary on the study. Multilingualism is a cost-effective lever for public health that could be as important as programs to promote exercise or smoking cessation.
The researchers now want to investigate whether learning new languages in old age has the same protective effect as lifelong multilingualism.
According to the study, around eight percent of respondents from Switzerland stated that they only spoke one language. Around 20 percent speak two languages, and just over a third speak three or four languages.
