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Does bilingualism influence cognitive aging?
Author(s) -
Bak Thomas H.,
Nissan Jack J.,
Allerhand Michael M.,
Deary Ian J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.24158
Subject(s) - neuroscience of multilingualism , cognition , psychology , cognitive aging , cognitive psychology , neuroscience
Recent evidence suggests a positive impact of bilingualism on cognition, including later onset of dementia. However, monolinguals and bilinguals might have different baseline cognitive ability. We present the first study examining the effect of bilingualism on later‐life cognition controlling for childhood intelligence. We studied 853 participants, first tested in 1947 (age = 11 years), and retested in 2008–2010. Bilinguals performed significantly better than predicted from their baseline cognitive abilities, with strongest effects on general intelligence and reading. Our results suggest a positive effect of bilingualism on later‐life cognition, including in those who acquired their second language in adulthood. Ann Neurol 2014;75:959–963