Saturday, March 31, 2012

Want to keep dementia at bay? Learn a second language...

Ex-pats in Norway who are putting off language lessons have just been handed another reason to dive in and learn Norwegian - speaking a second language keeps dementia symptoms at bay, scientists say.

New research by scientists in North America shows that years of speaking two or more languages can have a physical effect on the brain, as years of stashing extra vocabulary increases memory.

As the brain ages, the capacity developed to think in another language means it can call on its increased memory-bank to stem the onset of mentally degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

While it may seem daunting, learning Norwegian could hold back dementia symptoms for three to four years in an average case, American and Canadian scientists said in the March edition of the “Trends in Cognitive Sciences” journal. Full story...

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