The Cognitive and Brain Fitness Benefits of Being Bilingual

The Cog­ni­tive Ben­e­fits of Being Bilin­gual (Cere­brum):

“Today, more of the world’s pop­u­la­tion is bilin­gual or mul­ti­lin­gual than mono­lin­gual. In addi­tion to facil­i­tat­ing cross-cul­tur­al com­mu­ni­ca­tion, this trend also pos­i­tive­ly affects cog­ni­tive abil­i­ties. Researchers have shown that the bilin­gual brain can have bet­ter atten­tion and task-switch­ing capac­i­ties than the mono­lin­gual brain, thanks to its devel­oped abil­i­ty to inhib­it one lan­guage while using anoth­er. In addi­tion, bilin­gual­ism has pos­i­tive effects at both ends of the age spec­trum: Bilin­gual chil­dren as young as sev­en months can bet­ter adjust to envi­ron­men­tal changes, while bilin­gual seniors can expe­ri­ence less cog­ni­tive decline…Even in the Unit­ed States, which is wide­ly con­sid­ered to be mono­lin­gual, one-fifth of those over the age of five report­ed speak­ing a lan­guage oth­er than Eng­lish at home in 2007, an increase of 140 per­cent since 1980…To main­tain the rel­a­tive bal­ance between two lan­guages, the bilin­gual brain relies on exec­u­tive func­tions, a reg­u­la­to­ry sys­tem of gen­er­al cog­ni­tive abil­i­ties that includes process­es such as atten­tion and inhi­bi­tion. Because both of a bilin­gual person’s lan­guage sys­tems are always active and com­pet­ing, that per­son uses these con­trol mech­a­nisms every time she or he speaks or lis­tens. This con­stant prac­tice strength­ens the con­trol mech­a­nisms and changes the asso­ci­at­ed brain regions.”

To Learn More:

• The Cog­ni­tive Ben­e­fits of Being Bilingual
• Mas­ter a new lan­guage and grow hip­pocam­pus and cere­bral cortex
• Brain Devel­op­ment Through Bilin­gual Edu­ca­tion and Activ­i­ties Requir­ing Self-Control