BRAIN TRAINING
The common New Year’s resolution that could protect against dementia
Plus, seven other ways to lower your risk of getting Alzheimer's
FROM working out more to learning a new skill, January is the time for New Year's resolutions.
You might have already fallen to the wayside with some of your goals, but sticking to one may improve your odds against dementia, scientists say.
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If you've made a resolution to learn a new language in 2025, keep reading.
Scientists say that speaking more than one language could help your brain stay resilient against damage caused by Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia.
Bilingualism - speaking two languages - could help delay the onset of Alzheimer's by up to five years compared to people who only speak one language, researchers from Concordia University suggest.
Mental stimulation - such speaking more than one language - along with a healthy diet, regular exercise, good sleep and good eye and ear health are believed to help protect the brain from deteriorating.
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In a study published in the journal , researchers used scans to examine brain resilience in regions of the brain linked to language and ageing.
They found that people who only speak one language had a smaller hippocampus - a part of the brain involved in learning and memory.
This reduction was not seen in those who speak two or more languages.
PhD candidate Kristina Coulter - who co-wrote the study with Prof Natalie Phillips - said: “There was greater brain matter in the hippocampus, which is the main region in the brain for learning and memory and is highly affected by Alzheimer’s."
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Researchers compared brain scans of adults who had and had not been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, as well as mild cognitive impairment - a condition whereby someone experiences more memory or thinking difficulties than others of their age.
There were no change in hippocampal volume in bilinguals, whatever the stage of their Alzheimer’s.
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“This suggests that there may be some form of brain maintenance related to bilingualism," Ms Coulter said.
'Brain maintenance' refers to the continued ability of the brain to maintain its form and function as it ages.
It makes up one part of brain resilience:
- Brain maintenance: The continued ability to maintain its form and function as it ages.
- Brain reserve: The size and structure of the brain.
- Cognitive reserve: The way a brain can use alternative pathways to maintain function even when it has been damaged or experienced shrinkage linked to ageing.
Previous research has suggested that brain resilience can provide some protection against dementia.
"Certain lifestyle factors and experiences are thought to contribute to the development of greater resilience," study authors wrote.
"Bilinguals have been reported to show a four to five year delay in Alzheimer's disease symptom onset compared to monolinguals," the study authors added.
The researchers analysed scans from 356 people with Alzheimer’s disease, as well as those from 175 individuals with, or at risk for, various types of dementia.
Study participants also reported their native language and the number of languages they spoke.
Among those who only spoke one langue, 71 per cent reported speaking English.
Bilingual participants mostly spoke English (38 per cent) and French (39 per cent).
Sixty eight per cent of them spoke two languages, 22 per cent knew three languages, and the remaining participants spoke between four and seven languages.
Bilingual individuals did not exhibit signs of cognitive reserve in language-related regions of the brain.
They also did not show cognitive reserve in Alzheimer’s disease-related areas.
But the preserved size of their hippocampus was suggestive of brain resilience.
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Prof Phillips said: “Speaking more than one language is one of several ways to be cognitively and socially engaged, which promotes brain health.
“This research study was unique in that it was able to look at the potential influence of being bilingual on brain structure across the continuum of dementia risk, ranging from individuals who were cognitively normal, to those who are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's, to those who actually have the disease.”
Ways to lower your risk of Alzheimer's
There are things you can do to reduce your own risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer's.
No single behaviour is guaranteed to prevent dementia - but there's lots of evidence to suggest that making tweaks to your lifestyle choices could affect your risk.
Dementia risk is lowest in people who have healthy behaviours in mid-life - from the age of 40 to 65 - according Alzheimer's Society.
Here are a few easy changes you can make:
- Exercise regularly to boost your heart health and circulation and help maintain a healthy weight.
- Drink less alcohol - try to have no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, about one pint of beer or a small glass of wine each day. If you regularly drink much more than this, you are increasing your risk of damage to your brain and other organs, and so increasing your risk of dementia.
- Don't smoke - it does a lot of harm to the circulation of blood around the body, particularly the blood vessels in the brain, as well as the heart and lungs.
- Engaging in social activities to help to build up your brain’s ability to relieve stress and improve your mood - depression and social isolation have both been linked to dementia.
- Manage health conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, which can increase the risk of getting dementia.
- Protect your eyesight and hearing - vision loss increases a person’s risk of developing dementia. The same goes for hearing loss, which can also be an early symptom of dementia.
- Wear a helmet - as traumatic brain injuries can start a process in the brain where the substances that cause Alzheimer’s disease build up around the injured area.
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