Why being bilingual is good for your brain | BBC Ideas

Being bilingual was once considered a disadvantage, especially for children. However, it is now known that learning new languages is beneficial and exercises the mind like going to the gym.

Being bilingual activates all languages in the brain simultaneously, leading to mental exercise and improved concentration, problem solving, memory, and creativity. This discovery was made by Ellen Bialystok's team in 2007.

The study suggests that bilingual people develop dementia four to four-and-a-half years later than monolingual individuals, confirming the concept of cognitive reserve. Cognitive reserve is a protective mechanism against thinking ability losses due to aging and disease. Language learning, especially bilingualism, has a significant positive effect on cognitive reserve by delaying dementia onset and aiding recovery after stroke.

Learning a new language as a child involves building new neural networks, while learning later in life requires modifying existing networks and making more connections.

Bilingualism and Brain Connectivity A 2023 study at Great Ormond Street revealed that early bilingual children, exposed to Greek and English from birth, showed the strongest brain network connectivity during rest. This suggests that learning a language early enhances brain connectivity even when doing nothing. Bilingualism also leads to the ability to see different perspectives and emotional differences between languages.

Benefits of Being Bilingual Learning new languages has numerous benefits for individuals and societies, including opening doors to cultural experiences, life opportunities, and diverse ways of seeing the world.