Top News

Learning new language may slow brain ageing: Study
06 Jul 2026

A recent research has revealed that learning a new language could delay brain aging by as much as 13 years.

The research, presented at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies conference in Barcelona, found that multilingual individuals tend to have younger brains.

The more languages one speaks and the earlier they start speaking them, the greater the effect on their brain's age.

Multilingualism slows down brain's aging process
Study findings

The study found that bilinguals had brains that appeared six years younger than monolinguals.

Trilinguals looked seven years younger, while those who spoke four languages looked about 13 years younger.

This is because our brains are made up of billions of nerve cells that communicate with one another, but as we get older, the connectivity in our brains often deteriorates.

Study measured the effect of speaking languages on individual brains
Research methodology

Unlike previous studies that observed slower aging in European countries with high language proficiency, this research measured the effect of speaking languages on individual brains.

Scientists from Spain, Chile, Argentina, and Dublin compared people living in the Basque region, known for its high levels of multilingualism, who spoke Spanish, Basque, French and/or English.

They used magnetoencephalography to measure brain activity in 728 people with different ages and linguistic abilities.

Researchers used AI to process the results
Technological approach

The researchers then used artificial intelligence (AI) to process the results and calculate a normal level of brain connectivity at any given age.

A second unrelated group of 144 people was then scanned and compared, comprising equal numbers of people speaking one, two, three or four languages.

This helped them measure the impact of multilingualism on neurological age more accurately.

People who spoke more languages tended to have younger-looking brains
Research insights

Dr. Lucia Amoruso from the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language in San Sebastian, said that people who spoke more languages tended to have younger-looking brains than expected for their chronological age.

The effect was not just related to the number of languages spoken but also higher language proficiency and earlier acquisition of a second language were associated with more delayed brain aging.