Multilingual people may have brains up to 13 years youngerPeople who speak more than one language may have brains that appear younger than expected for their age, according to research presented at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Forum 2026. The brain depends on billions of nerve cells constantly communicating with one another. As people get older, those connections can weaken, contributing to slower thinking and declines in memory.
The new findings suggest that multilingual experience may help offset some of those age-related changes. To measure brain aging, the researchers first studied 728 people and created a 'brain aging clock'. They used magnetoencephalography, a method that detects the faint magnetic fields produced when brain cells are active.
People who spoke two languages had brains that appeared about six years younger than those of people who spoke only one language. Those who spoke three languages had brains that appeared about seven years younger. Among people who spoke four languages, the difference grew to roughly 13 years.
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