Overview
- People who spoke more than one language were on average about half as likely to show accelerated ageing, while monolinguals were about twice as likely.
- The association strengthened with each additional language, with the largest effect observed among those who speak three or more languages.
- Researchers compared chronological age with a composite biological age derived from cognitive, functional, lifestyle and health measures.
- The study was observational and cross-sectional and it did not measure language fluency or usage intensity, limiting inferences about mechanisms or cause and effect.
- Independent analysts supported the core finding and suggested that promoting language learning and sustaining multilingual use could aid healthy-ageing efforts.