PaddyJoe
19-02-2011, 01:36 AM
At this stage of my life de brain is more or less mush in spite of having 'done' Irish, French and Spanish to various levels. This looks like an optimistic prognosis however:)
BEING ABLE to speak two languages can delay the onset of dementia in older people. The changes in the brain seen in bilingual subjects also makes them better multitaskers, more able to switch easily from one mental task to another, research has shown.
Details were presented yesterday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual meeting, taking place in Washington. It formed part of an intriguing session entitled: “Does speaking two languages improve your brain?”
The conclusive answer seems to be yes, given the results of a study by Prof Ellen Bialystok of York University in Toronto. She and colleagues are studying a group of 450 Alzheimer’s patients, half of whom are monolingual and half bilingual. As subjects were brought onto the study they were assessed by age, cognitive level at the time of Alzheimer’s diagnosis and other aspects. Their rate of decline was assessed over time.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0219/1224290288433.html
BEING ABLE to speak two languages can delay the onset of dementia in older people. The changes in the brain seen in bilingual subjects also makes them better multitaskers, more able to switch easily from one mental task to another, research has shown.
Details were presented yesterday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual meeting, taking place in Washington. It formed part of an intriguing session entitled: “Does speaking two languages improve your brain?”
The conclusive answer seems to be yes, given the results of a study by Prof Ellen Bialystok of York University in Toronto. She and colleagues are studying a group of 450 Alzheimer’s patients, half of whom are monolingual and half bilingual. As subjects were brought onto the study they were assessed by age, cognitive level at the time of Alzheimer’s diagnosis and other aspects. Their rate of decline was assessed over time.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0219/1224290288433.html