Language? Give me two!
Knowledge of a second language will protect against early dementia, scientists have found
Senile dementia (dementia) in people who speak two languages occurs four and a half years later than in those who speak only their native language, scientists from India have found, whose work is published in the journal Neurology (Bilingualism delays age at onset of dementia, independent of education and immigration status; press-the release of Speaking a Second Language May Delay Different Dementias is published on the website of the American Academy of Neurology – VM).
"Using more than one language leads to better development of those areas of the brain that are associated with executive functions and attention, which can help protect against the development of dementia," says the author, Dr. Suvarna Alladi from the Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad (Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad).
Scientists studied the stories of 648 residents of India diagnosed with dementia, whose average age is 66 years. Out of the total number of participants, 391 people spoke two or more languages. Alzheimer's disease was detected in 240 cases, 189 people had dementia as a result of impaired functioning of the cerebral vessels, 116 had frontotemporal dementia caused by deterioration of activity in the frontal lobe of the brain. The rest had a mixed type of dementia or dementia caused by Levi's corpuscles, accompanied by vivid visual hallucinations.
Scientists have found that the first three diseases appeared later in the lives of those people who spoke two languages. At the same time, it did not matter whether a person could read in two languages, what level of education he had, gender, type of activity, whether he lived in a city or in a village. Knowledge of more than two languages had no additional positive effects in terms of delayed development of dementia, the authors note.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru08.11.2013