Bilingualism's Brain Benefits

This is from an article a few years back (June 2004), however, it will have some connection to an upcoming podcast discussion. In studies conducted in Canada, India and China (Hong Kong), psychologists determined that individuals who spoke two languages with equal proficiency and used both equally did better than monolingual volunteers on tests that measured how quickly they could perform while distracted. Basically, the study revealed that bilingual speakers are better able to deal with distractions than those who speak only a single language, and that may help offset age-related declines in mental performance, researchers say. It was determined that the the bilingual advantage was greater for older participants. Also, bilingualism appears to offset age-related cognitive losses in certain mental processes.

You can read more here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39338-2004Jun13.html

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