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

学习另一种语言可能是保持大脑健康的最佳方式之一

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. Could all this mental activity also help keep an aging brain healthier? Research suggests it can. 学习另一种语言是一项极其复杂的智力活动。它要求人们记忆单词、辨别陌生的声音、识别模式、推导语法规则，并在适当的时候提取正确的表达方式。所有这一切都在倾听、解读和准备回应的过程中同时发生。所有这些智力活动是否有助于保持衰老大脑的健康？研究表明，答案是肯定的。

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. 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. I am a linguist who studies language acquisition, use, and loss. My new book, Beyond Words: How We Learn, Use, and Lose Language, examines language and the mind across people’s lifespans. Research increasingly suggests that language learning and bilingualism can offer cognitive benefits—including for older adults. Learning another language can also create opportunities for communication and social connection. 对记忆力和痴呆症的担忧促使老年人寻找锻炼大脑和维持认知功能的方法，无论是通过填字游戏还是演奏乐器。语言学习看起来可能不像上述那种大脑锻炼，但它是一项同时调用多种心理过程的复杂活动。我是一名研究语言习得、使用和丧失的语言学家。我的新书《超越语言：我们如何学习、使用和丧失语言》（Beyond Words: How We Learn, Use, and Lose Language）探讨了人一生中语言与思维的关系。越来越多的研究表明，语言学习和双语能力可以带来认知益处，包括对老年人而言。学习另一种语言还能创造交流和社交的机会。

A workout for the brain

大脑的锻炼

A person’s brain remains capable of change throughout their life. This ability to adapt in response to experience is known as neuroplasticity. Learning unfamiliar sounds, vocabulary, and grammatical patterns requires the brain to form and strengthen connections. Language learning engages several mental processes at once, requiring people to absorb and retrieve information, notice when something does not work out, and adjust. This sustained mental effort makes language learning a particularly rich form of cognitive exercise. 人的大脑在整个生命周期中都具备改变的能力。这种根据经验进行适应的能力被称为神经可塑性。学习陌生的声音、词汇和语法模式需要大脑形成并加强神经连接。语言学习同时调用多种心理过程，要求人们吸收和提取信息，在发现问题时及时察觉并进行调整。这种持续的脑力劳动使语言学习成为一种极其丰富的认知锻炼方式。

Research on bilingualism has found differences in both the brain’s gray matter, which contains neurons and their connections, and white matter, which consists largely of nerve fibers linking different parts of the brain. Studies have shown greater gray matter density or stronger white matter integrity in bilingual people, compared with people who speak one language. These findings suggest that language experience can be reflected in the brain’s structure, as well as its activity. But brain differences are only part of the picture. 关于双语的研究发现，大脑的灰质（包含神经元及其连接）和白质（主要由连接大脑不同部位的神经纤维组成）都存在差异。研究表明，与只说一种语言的人相比，双语者的灰质密度更高，或白质完整性更强。这些发现表明，语言经验不仅能反映在大脑的活动中，也能反映在大脑的结构中。但大脑的差异只是问题的一部分。

The brain as it ages

衰老的大脑

One reason researchers are interested in language and aging is the idea of cognitive reserve. This term refers to the ability to maintain cognitive function despite age-related changes or damage to the brain. Bilingualism has been proposed as one factor that can help the brain cope with the effects of aging, because managing two languages places ongoing demands on people’s attention and cognitive control—ultimately helping to strengthen cognitive reserve. 研究人员对语言与衰老感兴趣的原因之一是“认知储备”的概念。该术语指的是在面对与年龄相关的变化或大脑损伤时，维持认知功能的能力。双语能力被认为是帮助大脑应对衰老影响的因素之一，因为驾驭两种语言需要人们持续投入注意力和认知控制，从而最终有助于增强认知储备。

Some studies have found that bilingual people who develop dementia show symptoms at a later age than people who speak one language. This suggests that bilingualism may provide some protection against the effects of brain aging, although it does not necessarily prevent dementia or the brain changes associated with it. The potential benefit may therefore be greater resilience in the face of those changes, rather than prevention of the underlying disease. 一些研究发现，患有痴呆症的双语者出现症状的时间比只说一种语言的人要晚。这表明双语能力可能对大脑衰老的影响提供了一定的保护，尽管它并不一定能预防痴呆症或与之相关的大脑病变。因此，其潜在益处可能在于面对这些变化时更强的韧性，而非预防潜在疾病本身。

Learning later in life

晚年学习

This raises another question: If lifelong bilingualism may help protect the brain as we age, can people gain similar benefits by learning a language later in life? Age changes the way languages are learned, but adults remain capable of learning new languages throughout life. Adults and kids bring different strengths to the task. Children tend to have advantages with pronunciation and some aspects of grammar, while adults bring larger vocabularies and better-developed strategies for learning. 这引发了另一个问题：如果终身双语能力有助于在衰老过程中保护大脑，那么人们通过在晚年学习语言能否获得类似的益处？年龄会改变学习语言的方式，但成年人在一生中始终具备学习新语言的能力。成人和儿童在学习任务中各具优势。儿童在发音和某些语法方面往往具有优势，而成年人则拥有更丰富的词汇量和更成熟的学习策略。

Research involving older adults suggests that learning a language can produce cognitive benefits, although the findings are mixed. The potential benefit may come less from achieving fluency than from the process of learning itself. Language learning is a sustained challenge that keeps people learning, practicing, and adapting. 涉及老年人的研究表明，学习语言可以产生认知益处，尽管研究结果不尽相同。其潜在益处可能更多地源于学习过程本身，而非达到流利程度。语言学习是一项持续的挑战，它让人们不断学习、练习和适应。

There are social benefits, too. Learning another language can deepen cultural understanding, improve interpersonal communication and encourage people to empathize with other people’s perspectives and experiences. It can also connect people with others from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, creating opportunities for conversation and friendship. 语言学习还有社交益处。学习另一种语言可以加深文化理解，改善人际沟通，并鼓励人们对他人的观点和经历产生共情。它还能将人们与来自不同语言和文化背景的人联系起来，创造对话和友谊的机会。

There is no established formula for how much language learning is needed to provide these benefits. Studies have used everything from intensive classroom instruction to short daily sessions with language-learning apps, over periods ranging from weeks to months, to see whether language learning can improve cognitive function. Rather than a magic number of hours, what matters may be sustained engagement in a challenging activity like learning a new language. 目前还没有关于需要学习多少语言才能获得这些益处的既定公式。研究采用了从密集的课堂教学到使用语言学习应用程序进行每日短时练习等各种方式，周期从几周到几个月不等，以观察语言学习是否能改善认知功能。重要的或许不是一个神奇的学习时长，而是对学习新语言这类挑战性活动的持续投入。

Building cognitive resilience

建立认知韧性

Learning another language is not a miracle cure for aging, and it cannot guarantee protection against Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. But it is an unusually rich form of mental activity. Perhaps the most useful way to think about language learning is not as a way to keep the brain young, but as a way to support cognitive resilience—the ability to keep learning, adapting and functioning despite the changes that come with age. Aging inevitably changes the brain, but people retain the capacity to learn throughout life. Keeping our brains engaged in demanding new activities may contribute to that resilience. 学习另一种语言并非抗衰老的灵丹妙药，也不能保证预防阿尔茨海默病或其他形式的痴呆症。但它是一种极其丰富的智力活动。或许，看待语言学习最有用的方式不是将其视为保持大脑年轻的手段，而是将其视为支持“认知韧性”的一种方式——即在面对随年龄增长而产生的变化时，依然能够持续学习、适应和发挥功能的能力。衰老不可避免地会改变大脑，但人们在整个生命周期中都保留着学习的能力。让大脑参与高要求的全新活动，或许有助于增强这种韧性。

Karen Stollznow, Senior Research Fellow of Linguistics, University of Colorado Boulder; Griffith University; New England University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Karen Stollznow，科罗拉多大学博尔德分校、格里菲斯大学、新英格兰大学语言学高级研究员。本文根据知识共享许可协议从《对话》（The Conversation）重新发布。