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Review
. 2022 Feb 2:16:819105.
doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.819105. eCollection 2022.

Bilingualism and Aging: Implications for (Delaying) Neurocognitive Decline

Federico Gallo  1   2 , Vincent DeLuca  3 , Yanina Prystauka  3 , Toms Voits  3 , Jason Rothman  3   4 , Jubin Abutalebi  2   3
Affiliations
Review

Bilingualism and Aging: Implications for (Delaying) Neurocognitive Decline

Federico Gallo et al. Front Hum Neurosci. .

Abstract

As a result of advances in healthcare, the worldwide average life expectancy is steadily increasing. However, this positive trend has societal and individual costs, not least because greater life expectancy is linked to higher incidence of age-related diseases, such as dementia. Over the past few decades, research has isolated various protective "healthy lifestyle" factors argued to contribute positively to cognitive aging, e.g., healthy diet, physical exercise and occupational attainment. The present article critically reviews neuroscientific evidence for another such factor, i.e., speaking multiple languages. Moreover, with multiple societal stakeholders in mind, we contextualize and stress the importance of the research program that seeks to uncover and understand potential connections between bilingual language experience and cognitive aging trajectories, inclusive of the socio-economic impact it can have. If on the right track, this is an important line of research because bilingualism has the potential to cross-over socio-economic divides to a degree other healthy lifestyle factors currently do not and likely cannot.

Keywords: bilingualism; cognitive aging; cognitive reserve; executive functions; neurodegenarative diseases.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Overview of selected models of bilingualism and neural adaptations based on various aspects of bilingual experience (Green and Abutalebi, 2013; Stocco et al., 2014; Grundy et al., 2017; Pliatsikas, 2020). Overlap in key brain areas/structures implicated in bilingualism depicted in the summary panel on the right.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Selected subcortical gray matter structures shown to be sensitive to bilingual experience.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Selected white matter tracts shown to be sensitive to bilingual experience.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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