According to findings from a study presented at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies conference in Barcelona, people who speak more than one language seem to have younger brains, and the more languages you speak and the earlier you speak them, the better.
While previous research had observed that people from European countries with greater language proficiency tended to age more slowly, this study measured the impact of speaking languages on individual brains. Scientists in Spain, Chile, Argentina, and Dublin compared people living in the Basque region, characterized by high levels of multilingualism, who spoke Spanish, Basque, French and/or English.
Lucia Amoruso, from the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language in San Sebastián, said: “In simple terms, people who spoke more languages tended to have brains that looked younger than expected for their chronological age. The effect was not only related to the number of languages spoken. Higher language proficiency and earlier acquisition of a second language were also associated with more delayed brain aging. This suggests that multilingual experience matters as a gradient: it’s not simply about being bilingual or not, but about the depth and duration of language experience.”
Researchers considered factors such as people’s age, gender, and education, but cautioned that they could not rule out the potential influence of other factors that may have an impact on the brain, such as lifestyle and social engagement.
Responding to the findings, Christina Dalla, a neuroscientist from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, said: “This study suggests that learning a second, third, or fourth language could help our brains to stay younger for longer, and the earlier we start, the better. There are many good reasons for learning another language at any age—social, cultural, and for the health of your brain—so we should support language-learning at school and throughout life, even if it’s hard.”
But Eef Hogervorst, a professor of biological psychology at Loughborough University, urged caution. While the evidence did suggest being multilingual was associated with better brain resilience, she said, “it may be the case that people who speak multiple languages also engage in healthier lifestyles and/or have better access to other protective environments and activities, such as reading, lifelong learning, and playing musical instruments.”
BBC (7/6/26) By Anna Bawden