The language you choose matters less than simply choosing it and sticking to it, so don’t be afraid to try anything from French to Fulani! Let’s explore the benefits of learning a language late in life, from staving off dementia to improving memory and neuroplasticity.
The Benefits of Multilingualism
Languages are diverse, and many people choose to learn more than one for either personal reasons or something more practical, such as living in a community that uses multiple languages each day. Despite this, it is generally believed that around 40% of the world’s population speaks only one language, and within the United States, the vast majority (about 80%) are monolingual, speaking only English. Compare this to the population of Europe, of whom about two-thirds speak more than one language.
Why does it matter? Scientists continue to study the effects of language learning on the brain, and research is revealing that for those who learn a new language after retirement or regularly use two or more languages, the benefits are impressive.
Delayed Onset of Cognitive Decline
One of the most notable scientific discoveries regarding bilingualism in retirement comes from an increasing number of studies indicating that learning a new language may stave off cognitive decline, such as dementia. While it does not completely halt the development of such conditions, research suggests that studying and utilizing more than one language can slow the onset of dementia symptoms by around four or five years for many people.
Increased Executive Control and Neuroplasticity
Executive control describes the brain’s ability to seamlessly switch its attention between concepts or objects, make plans, and organize ideas. Managed primarily by the prefrontal cortex, this effort contributes to consistent mental stimulation and the ability to make rational, regulated decisions, which, in itself, requires processing that is inhibitive of cognitive decline. Studies show that when a person learns a new language, they train their executive control centers, which improves their performance over time.
Development of White Matter
The brain’s white matter is responsible for quickly transmitting signals between neurons, allowing communication across the brain and into the spinal cord. While the main function of white matter is to handle learning, memory, problem-solving, and similar tasks, the myelinated nerve fibers that make up this tissue also correlate to stroke, dementia, and other diseases when damaged.
Learning a second language helps to preserve this white matter, especially during retirement, as white matter content begins to decrease rapidly starting at around age 60. Slowing this process by continually stimulating the axons in the brain’s white matter can delay such degradation and keep a person’s cognitive function and memory sharp.
Community
One of the most overlooked advantages of language-learning in retirement has little to do with how the language itself interfaces with the brain. Instead, those who speak multiple languages in their later years are more likely to develop a diverse community of friends and acquaintances, remaining social during a time when as many as 25% of adults meet the criteria for complete social isolation. Because remaining socially connected is itself associated with the delayed onset of dementia (often by around five years), learning a second (or third!) language is doubly protective.
Why a Second Language?
For all the research that has been done on language studies in older adults, why the focus on language specifically? As it turns out, few hobbies stimulate the brain in the same way linguistic endeavors do.
Cognitive Inhibition
One of the most impactful elements of language learning that makes it so potent is a phenomenon called cognitive inhibition. In other words, when a person speaks any language that they are not natively fluent in, they must inhibit their innate tendency to choose words from their primary, preferred language. The extra mental effort expended to translate the native thoughts of the brain into the secondary language and move the preferred words out of working memory is a type of continual, long-term brain stimulation that is difficult to achieve in other ways.
Consistency
Another reason multilingualism benefits the brain in retirement and beyond is that it offers consistent mental exposure that requires no tools or supportive elements, making it accessible at any time. A person may play a musical instrument, but their mental stimulation ends when they stop playing. However, someone who knows multiple languages may see a dog and trigger the brain to think both “dog” and “犬” at the same time. This phenomenon occurs constantly throughout each day as people simply look at objects or consider ideas. These multiple factors that allow the brain to continually shift between language inhibition and expression serve as a “workout” for the brain over time.
