Over 60 percent of the world’s population is bilingual, and it’s long been known the capacity to understand two or more languages can help older adults maintain healthy brain function and stave off dementia.. With more than 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s, the ability to speak two or more languages isn’t just a party trick… it can be a lifesaver. A 2013 study published in Neurology determined bilingualism could delay onset of dementia by almost 5 years. The study’s authors discovered the bilingual benefit occurs regardless of education, sex or even literacy.Moreover, because bilingual brains are accustomed to understanding more than one language, they are well equipped to manage degeneration and neuron loss by utilizing alternative ways to function. “After years of daily practice managing interference between two languages, bilinguals become experts at selecting relevant information and ignoring information that can distract from a task,” explains Dr. Ana Inés Ansaldo, a researcher at the Centre de recherche de l’Institut Universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal. “In this case, bilinguals showed higher connectivity between visual processing areas located at the back of the brain,” she writes in summary of her research on the differences in brain function between bilingual and monolingual seniors. “Data indicate[s] that the bilingual brain is more efficient and economical, as it recruits fewer regions and only specialized regions.” Multilingual Multitasking Dr. Ansaldo’s research identified two cognitive benefits associated with bilingualism. While monolingual seniors use diverse brain areas when completing cognitive tasks, bilingual adults save resources through centralized and specialized functional connections. Additionally, when completing cognitive tasks bilingual seniors use less of the brain’s frontal regions, which are more vulnerable to aging. Dr. Ansaldo theorizes these benefits are what allow bilingual seniors to stave off dementia and other signs of cognitive aging. “We...