Summary: A large-scale study of more than 86,000 Europeans found that speaking multiple languages can help slow biological and cognitive aging. Using artificial intelligence to assess “biobehavioral age gaps,” researchers found that multilingual people were more than twice as likely to show signs of healthy aging compared to monolinguals.
The benefits were cumulative: the more languages a person spoke, the stronger the protection against deterioration. These findings suggest that language learning is not only culturally enriching but also a powerful, low-cost tool to promote brain health and resilience throughout life.
Key facts
Massive data set: The study analyzed 86,149 participants in 27 European countries. Protective effect: Multilinguals were 2.17 times less likely to show accelerated aging. Cumulative benefit: Each additional language provided greater protection against age-related decline.
Source: TCD
Can learning another language help you stay young longer?
Far beyond its cultural and social value, speaking multiple languages can protect the health of both the brain and the body, slowing the biological processes of aging and strengthening resilience throughout life.
An international study led by Dr Agustín Ibáñez, Trinity College Dublin and his co-authors Lucia Amoruso, BrainLat and Hernán Hernández, BrainLat, reveals that speaking multiple languages can slow the biological processes of aging and protect against age-related decline.
Published in Nature Aging, the paper titled “Multilingualism protects against accelerated aging in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyzes of 27 European countries” analyzed data from 86,149 participants across Europe, showing that multilingual people experience slower biobehavioral aging compared to monolinguals.
Using the innovative biobehavioral aging clock framework, researchers quantified biobehavioral age gaps (BBAGs), which were estimated using artificial intelligence models trained on thousands of health and behavioral profiles.
These models predict a person’s biological age from characteristics such as physical conditions (hypertension, diabetes, sleep problems, sensory loss) and protective factors (education, cognition, functional capacity, physical activity).
The BBAG, the difference between predicted and actual age, indicates whether someone shows younger, healthier aging (negative values) or accelerated aging (positive values).
The study found that people from countries where people commonly speak at least one additional language were 2.17 times less likely to experience accelerated aging, while monolinguals were more than twice as likely to show premature aging patterns. These effects remained significant even after adjusting for linguistic, social, physical, and sociopolitical factors.
The protective impact of multilingualism was consistent in both cross-sectional analyses, which reflect current differences in aging, and longitudinal analyses, which show that multilingualism predicts a lower risk of accelerated aging over time.
Dr. Agustín Ibáñez, lead author, Scientific Director of the Latin American Institute of Brain Health (BrainLat) and Professor of Global Brain Health at Trinity College Dublin. “Our results provide strong evidence that multilingualism functions as a protective factor for healthy aging.
“Language learning and use involve central brain networks related to attention, memory and executive control, as well as social interaction, mechanisms that can reinforce resilience across the lifespan.”
Lead author Dr Lucia Amoruso, from the Basque Center for Cognition, Brain and Language and BrainLat, added: “The protective effect was cumulative: the more languages people spoke, the greater their protection against age-related decline.”
Co-lead author Dr. Hernán Hernández of BrainLat highlighted the social implications: “Our findings show that multilingualism is an accessible and low-cost tool to promote healthy aging in all populations, complementing other modifiable factors such as creativity and education.”
This large-scale epidemiological research marks an important step toward global brain health strategies that integrate cognitive, social and cultural factors. The authors advocate incorporating language learning into educational and public health policies to improve cognitive resilience and reduce the social burden of aging.
Key questions answered:
A: People who speak more than one language show slower biological and behavioral aging compared to monolinguals.
A: Using AI-based biobehavioral aging clocks that estimate biological age from health and lifestyle data in 27 European countries.
A: Multilingualism engages brain regions linked to memory, attention and social interaction, which helps build lifelong resilience and protects against age-related decline.
About this news about language and aging research
Author: Ciara O’Shea
Source: TCD
Contact: Ciara O’Shea – TCD
Image: Image is credited to Neuroscience News.
Original Research: Closed access.
“Multilingualism protects against accelerated aging in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyzes of 27 European countries” by Agustín Ibáñez et al. Nature aging
Abstract
Multilingualism protects against accelerated aging in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyzes of 27 European countries
Aging trajectories are influenced by modifiable risk factors, and previous evidence has hinted that multilingualism may have protective potential.
However, reliance on suboptimal health markers, small samples, inadequate control for confounders, and a focus on clinical cohorts led to mixed findings and limited applicability to healthy populations.
Here, we developed biobehavioral age gaps, quantifying delayed or accelerated aging in 86,149 participants in 27 European countries.
National surveys provided individual-level positive (functional ability, education, cognition) and adverse (cardiometabolic conditions, female sex, sensory impairments) factors, while national-level multilingualism served as aggregate exposure.
Biobehavioral factors predicted age (R2 = 0.24, r = 0.49, root mean square error = 8.61), with positive factors related to delayed aging and adverse factors related to accelerated aging.
Multilingualism emerged as a protective factor in cross-sectional (odds ratio = 0.46) and longitudinal (relative risk = 0.70) analyses, while monolingualism increased the risk of accelerated aging (odds ratio = 2.11; relative risk = 1.43). The effects persisted after adjusting for linguistic, physical, social, and sociopolitical exposomes.
These results underscore the protective role of multilingualism and its broad applicability for global health initiatives.
