Study: Second Language Helps Make Brains Resistant to Dementia

(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) - A new study shows that learning a second language could be good for your brain.

A bilingual person may have extra protection against the onset of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, reported Discover Magazine .

Psychologist and lead researcher Ellen Bialystok and her team analyzed more than 200 Alzheimer's patients who had similar amounts of acumen. Half of them were bilingual; the other half were not.

The study found that those who were bilingual were not diagnosed until four years later than the other half, according to Discover.

"Being bilingual has certain cognitive benefits and boosts the performance of the brain, especially one of the most important areas known as the executive control system," Bialystok told The Guardian .

"We know that this system deteriorates with age but we have found that at every stage of life it functions better in bilinguals. They perform at a higher level. It won't stop them getting Alzheimer's disease, but they can cope with the disease for longer."

The research, which appears in Neurology, was announced this last weekend at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington, D.C.

The study involved taking CT scans of the patients' brains. What really surprised researchers was seeing that the damage Alzheimer's did to the brains of bilinguals was more advanced than participants who spoke only one language.

"Even though the 'machine' is more broken, they can function at the same level as a monolingual with less disease," Bialystok said in National Geographic .