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Multilingualism across the lifespan and its impact on brain health in the elderly

Multilingualism across the lifespan and its impact on brain health in the elderly AbstractThe highest percentage of population aged 60 or over is currently to be found in Europe. Over the coming decades, Europe is estimated to remain the continent with the oldest people. By 2050, the European population aged 60 or over will exceed 30 %, and those aged 80 or above will be approximately 12 % of the total EU population. Due to this demographic change, the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases associated with ageing is also expected to increase. Ensuring a smoother transition to an older population by preserving the cognitive health of European seniors may therefore be one of the most important challenges of the following decades.This paper critically examines the latest studies investigating the putative role of multilingualism in delaying cognitive decline by contributing to the cognitive health preservation.“Cognitive reserve” AND “multilingualism”, “cognitive reserve” AND “bilingualism”, “cognitive decline” AND “bilingualism” were used as keywords for study retrieval in searching the Web of Science, Pubmed, and PsychInfo databases for English-language research articles.Despite some controversies, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting multilingualism may play a significant role in preserving cognitive health in the elderly by enhancing cognitive reserve. The roles of language proficiency and the age of acquisition, as well as the number of languages spoken, are also considered in maximizing the positive effects in the elderly.The significance of these results, in the European context of population ageing, in bringing together cognitive psychologists, neuroscientists, linguists and educationists in a constructive dialogue, with the aim of promoting lifespan multilingual education with a role in preserving cognitive health in the elderly, are also discussed. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png European Journal of Applied Linguistics de Gruyter

Multilingualism across the lifespan and its impact on brain health in the elderly

Leca, Irina
European Journal of Applied Linguistics , Volume 6 (2): 19 – Sep 3, 2018
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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
ISSN
2192-953X
eISSN
2192-953X
DOI
10.1515/eujal-2017-0015
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

AbstractThe highest percentage of population aged 60 or over is currently to be found in Europe. Over the coming decades, Europe is estimated to remain the continent with the oldest people. By 2050, the European population aged 60 or over will exceed 30 %, and those aged 80 or above will be approximately 12 % of the total EU population. Due to this demographic change, the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases associated with ageing is also expected to increase. Ensuring a smoother transition to an older population by preserving the cognitive health of European seniors may therefore be one of the most important challenges of the following decades.This paper critically examines the latest studies investigating the putative role of multilingualism in delaying cognitive decline by contributing to the cognitive health preservation.“Cognitive reserve” AND “multilingualism”, “cognitive reserve” AND “bilingualism”, “cognitive decline” AND “bilingualism” were used as keywords for study retrieval in searching the Web of Science, Pubmed, and PsychInfo databases for English-language research articles.Despite some controversies, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting multilingualism may play a significant role in preserving cognitive health in the elderly by enhancing cognitive reserve. The roles of language proficiency and the age of acquisition, as well as the number of languages spoken, are also considered in maximizing the positive effects in the elderly.The significance of these results, in the European context of population ageing, in bringing together cognitive psychologists, neuroscientists, linguists and educationists in a constructive dialogue, with the aim of promoting lifespan multilingual education with a role in preserving cognitive health in the elderly, are also discussed.

Journal

European Journal of Applied Linguistics – de Gruyter

Published: Sep 3, 2018

References

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