Speaking an extra language or two is more than just a cool party trick. It turns out that multilingualism may have a protective effect against dementia, according to data from a recent study out of The University of Waterloo in Canada. It was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease in September 2019.
This effort looked at data from 325 Roman Catholic nuns who were members of the School Sisters of Notre Dame order in the U.S. The study found that 31 percent of nuns who spoke only one language developed dementia, compared with only 6 percent of nuns who spoke four or more languages (proficiently, but not necessarily on a daily basis). This lends further credence to the belief that extra brain use can somehow ward off dementia.
Read more about it here.
