The investigators found that the more languages the seniors currently spoke, or had spoken previously, the better protected they were against experiencing memory loss.

Alzheimer and Dementia Prevention: Multilingualism Health Benefits

Most people already know the cultural and economic advantages of learning foreign languages, but now it appears there are also health benefits to being able to speak a foreign language, said lead researcher Magali Perquin, of the Center for Health Studies from the Public Research Center for Health in Luxembourg.

"People who practice different languages might develop particular cognitive processes that may help them to be more resistant to brain aging and cognitive decline when getting old," said Perquin. "It [the health benefit of speaking multiple foreign languages] might even provide additional motivation to learn new languages, which is quite interesting."

Alzheimer and Dementia Prevention: Language Memory Study

The researchers studied hundreds of males and females who were randomly invited to participate in the MemoVie study, a long-term study of mental function in the elderly. The seniors, who were 73 years old on average and had completed about 12 years of formal education, underwent psychological and neurological examinations and were categorized as having normal mental function, impaired mental function or dementia. After excluding seniors with dementia, the researchers looked at the number of languages the seniors spoke currently or at some point in life to determine if any associations existed between multilingualism (speaking multiple foreign languages) and cognitive impairment.

Alzheimer and Dementia Prevention: Language Memory Study Results

All of the adults currently spoke or had spoken anywhere from two to seven languages, but 44 of the 230 study participants (19 percent) had impaired mental function.

Seniors who were fluent in three languages were nearly four times as likely as their bilingual peers to be protected against cognitive impairment, the researchers found. Those who spoke four or more languages were more than five times as likely as bilingual seniors to be protected against memory problems, according to the study authors.

The association remained true even after the researchers took into consideration age and years of education.

Alzheimer and Dementia Prevention: Multilingualism Protects from Cognitive Impairment

"We showed multilingualism protects from cognitive impairment and, because the earliest stage of Alzheimer's disease is the occurrence of cognitive impairment, it's probably not too audacious to think that multilingualism could delay or lower the risk of [Alzheimer's disease] onset," said Perquin.

The researchers were unable to tease out a difference between seniors with current, rather than prior, fluency in multiple languages, and were unable to say exactly why multilingualism is so important in reducing the risk of cognitive impairment.

"We still have so many things to learn about brain capacities," Perquin said.

Alzheimer and Dementia Prevention: Use it or Lose It

One potential explanation is that by using your brain to learn more languages you are "exercising your brain" and actually using more of it.

"There have been many studies indicating that engaging in cognitively stimulating activities, which can include learning new languages, completing cross word puzzles and reading books can protects against cognitive decline including various forms of dementia and Alzheimer's disease," according to health and wellness expert, Jeff Behar of http://www.MyBestHealthPortal.net. Learning and speaking multiple languages is cognitively stimulating, adds Behar.

SOURCES:; Feb. 22, 2011, news release, American Academy of Neurology; April 2011, presentation, American Academy of Neurology annual meeting, Honolulu; Magali Perquin, Ph.D., researcher, Public Research Center for Health (CRP-Sante), Luxembourg