Learning another language may be one of the best ways to keep your brain healthy

Research suggests that bilingualism can offer cognitive benefits.

The short version

• Learning another language is a highly complex mental activity .
• It requires people to remember words, distinguish unfamiliar sounds, recognize patterns, work out grammatical rules, and retrieve the right expression at the right moment.
• All of this happens while listening, interpreting, and preparing a response.

What happened

Could all this mental activity also help keep an aging brain healthier ? Concerns about memory and dementia can send aging adults looking for ways to exercise their brain and maintain cognitive function, whether it is solving crossword puzzles or playing a musical instrument.

Why it matters

Language learning might not seem like the same kind of brain exercise, but it is a complex activity that engages several mental processes at once.

Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.