Learning a Foreign Language Can Delay the Onset of Dementia
Dementia, a debilitating form of cognitive impairment, can be preventable. According to Professor Jubin Abutalebi of the University Vita Salute San Raffaele, Italy, and the Arctic University of Tromsoe, Norway, the easiest way to prevent cognitive decline after the age of 60 is to learn and practice foreign languages – the more languages, the better, suggests Professor Abutalebi in his presentation 'Preventing dementia through bilingualism' at the XXIV Yasin (April) International Academic Conference.
According to Abutalebi, the fewer languages a person uses, the more likely they are to develop a neurodegenerative disease. Currently, there are over 1.5 million people with dementia in Russia, and worldwide the number exceeds 44 million. Professor Abutalebi is confident that bilingualism – the ability to communicate effectively in two languages – can significantly delay the onset of dementia.
Jubin Abutalebi
Migration provides an interesting example in this context, as individuals who move to another country must learn the local language while still using their native language, making bilingualism both an opportunity and a necessity.
Several lifestyle factors, such as regular physical exercise and social engagement, have been reported to contribute to cognitive resilience in seniors. However, it is not widely known that speaking more than one language could potentially prevent neurodegenerative diseases. From an economic perspective, this could translate into significant cost savings for public healthcare and individuals in terms of treatment expenses, Abutalebi noted.
He briefly described the structure of the human brain with reference to psychometrics, a scientific discipline that investigates how an individual's behaviour is related to processes in their brain. The human brain consists of three parts: sensory, cortical, and motor. The sensory part of the brain receives information from the external world, the cortical part processes this information, and the motor part generates impulses for action. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which is responsible for cognitive functions such as decision-making, error monitoring, and impulse control plays a key role in psychometrics. In 2011, Abutalebi conducted a neuroimaging study to investigate the correlation between grey matter volume and behavioural reactions and found that individuals proficient in two languages had a larger volume of grey matter and displayed a fractionally faster activation of the cortex compared to monolingual individuals.
Aging is a natural process often leading to cognitive impairment. The human brain is usually well-preserved until the age of 60, but after this age, it begins to experience partial atrophy, Abutalebi explained. According to the cognitive reserve hypothesis, there are factors contributing to cognitive resilience in aging seniors, such as educational attainment, physical exercise, intellectual and social engagement. Abutalebi's study revealed that individuals with a higher cognitive reserve exhibited better brain plasticity, resulting in a later onset but faster progression of the disease. Taking medication at an early stage of dementia can slow down its progression for several months. Abutalebi’s most recent research confirms his hypothesis that bilingualism is a powerful and promising contributor to cognitive resilience and prevention of dementia.
Abutalebi explains that people who speak more than one language and develop dementia tend to do so four to five years later than monolingual individuals. The reason may be that as individuals age, their brain begins to experience a decline in function and compensates by utilising the frontal regions, where there is an increase in white matter density. However, speaking more than one language has been shown to help the brain retain white matter density and even increase grey matter density.
This has been demonstrated in studies conducted in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Toronto. In 2017, a study conducted in Hong Kong focused on the left temporal lobe, which is typically one of the first areas to experience atrophy in individuals who begin forgetting names of people and objects. According to Abutalebi, while the left hemisphere is more active in memory processing for young people, older individuals need to engage the other hemisphere to compensate for memory loss. The study found that the more names of people and objects that people were able to remember in the second language, the less their left hemisphere had changed. However, discontinuing the use of a second language can accelerate the progression of dementia.
Abutalebi expanded his research by including a group of individuals who could communicate using sign language as well as spoken language, and his hypothesis was confirmed once again. Speaking two languages that significantly differ from each other has been shown to preserve grey matter density and to delay the onset of neurodegenerative diseases. However, the results may differ for individuals who speak, e.g., two dialects of Chinese since these languages are similar.
Author: Louisa Amelina, Research Assistant, HSE Laboratory for Economic Journalism
See also:
HSE Researchers Compile Scientific Database for Studying Children’s Eating Habits
The database created at HSE University can serve as a foundation for studying children’s eating habits. This is outlined in the study ‘The Influence of Age, Gender, and Social-Role Factors on Children’s Compliance with Age-Based Nutritional Norms: An Experimental Study Using the Dish-I-Wish Web Application.’ The work has been carried out as part of the HSE Basic Research Programme and was presented at the XXVI April International Academic Conference named after Evgeny Yasin.
China Bets on Expanding Leading Universities, Postgraduate Education, and STEM Fields
At the XXVI April International Academic Conference named after Evgeny Yasin at HSE University, one of the distinguished speakers was Prof. Liguo Li of the School of Education at Tsinghua University. He spoke about changes in the structure of higher education in China in line with national strategic priorities, including a proposed 1.7–2-fold increase in the number of leading research universities.
Scholar Explains How States Can Build Governance in Era of Mega-Shifts
How can states maintain governability and stability in a world where established rules are rapidly losing their force? Prof. Ali Farazmand of Florida Atlantic University answered this question in a presentation delivered at the XXVI April International Academic Conference named after Evgeny Yasin. The scholar proposed examining the transformation of the global order through the lens of two ‘mega-shifts’—from the rise of global corporate capitalism to the emerging multipolarity of today—and demonstrated why this transition between eras requires fundamentally new approaches to governance.
Supercomputers as Superheroes: How High-Performance Computing Is Saving the World
Modern supercomputers can perform more than a trillion calculations per second. This immense capacity enables researchers to address problems that were previously intractable. At the XXVI April International Academic Conference, Ilias Kotsireas, a professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, spoke about the potential of high-performance computing in fields such as weather and climate modelling, astrophysics, and medicine.
A Time for Flexible Solutions: How China Trains In-Demand Specialists
Building an effective workforce training system requires not only appropriate institutions, but also well-developed intermediary organisations capable of translating policy into practice and connecting different groups of stakeholders, said Dr Po Yang, Professor at Peking University. She was an invited speaker at the XXVI April International Academic Conference named after Evgeny Yasin.
XXVI April International Academic Conference Kicks Off at HSE University
The conference programme covers five research topics: economics; human capital and society; instrumental methods and models; foresight research; and international research. Hundreds of scientists from around the world will take part in the conference.
Applications for Participation in XXVI April International Academic Conference Still Open
Applications can be submitted on the conference website until December 16, 2025. The programme has been developed around five research themes: Economics, Human Capital and Society, Instrumental Methods and Models, Foresight Research, and International Research. The heads of these areas have presented, in video format, the priority topics and sections for which they are expecting submissions.
Applications to Participate in April International Academic Conference Now Open
HSE University is now accepting proposals to present academic reports at the XXVI April International Academic Conference named after Evgeny Yasin. Applications can be submitted until December 16, 2025. The conference events will take place mainly on-site in Moscow from April 14 to 17, 2026.
24 Countries Represented at 25th Yasin International Academic Conference Held by HSE University
The Programme Committee of the 25th Yasin (April) International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development has summed up the initial results. In 2025, 1,384 people from 24 countries and 29 Russian regions participated in the conference, with 335 of them delivering presentations.
Stuck in the Net: How Much Time Children Spend Online
On average, a schoolchild spends 48 hours a week on studies—equivalent to a six-day working week for an adult. This was highlighted by experts at the round table ‘Domains of Children’s Well-Being Evaluation for Human Potential and Evidence-Based Social Policy Development,’ held as part of the 25th Yasin (April) International Academic Conference.