Alzheimer’s: in bilinguals, the disease appears later but stronger

Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to “muscle” when stimulated. This bodybuilding improves cognitive reserve and results in our brain’s ability to find new neural connections to be more efficient. Being bilingual and being able to speak several languages ​​is the best activity to stimulate our brain and play on its plasticity to improve its cognitive reserve. Researchers have just discovered that speaking several languages ​​makes it possible, by strengthening our brain, to delay the onset of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s. Their results were published in the journal Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders.

A later diagnosis but a disease that progresses more quickly

The researchers followed 158 people for five years from their first diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment. Every six months, a new diagnosis was made in order to measure the evolution of the disease. The first observation made by the researchers is that bilingual patients received, on average, their first diagnosis of cognitive impairment at 77.8 years compared to 75.5 years for other patients. The second observation made by the researchers was that the disease progresses much faster in bilingual people, in 1.8 years after the initial diagnosis compared to 2.6 years for monolinguals.

To explain this phenomenon and the influence of bilingualism on the brain and neurodegenerative diseases, Ellen Bialystok, lead author of the study, likens it to a dam. “Imagine sandbags holding back the floodgates of a river. At some point, the river will win. Cognitive reserve holds back the flood. At the point they were at when they were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, they already had significant pathology. But it didn’t show because they were still able to function, thanks to cognitive reserve.”

Live better longer

Currently, there is no effective treatment to fight against Alzheimer’s disease. Several resolutions have been put forward to limit the disease, such as aging alongside an optimistic person, practicing physical activity or even injecting lithium. It would seem that being bilingual contributes to delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s and therefore to living longer in good health. “Since there is no effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, the best you can hope for is to keep these people functioning so they can live independently so they don’t lose contact with family and friends. It is enormous”concludes Ellen Bialystok.