Why is learning a new language beneficial for the brain, and how does it help prevent diseases like dementia?
In: Biology
It probably doesn’t or the evidence is pretty weak and the effect fairly small, especially compared to other ways of using your brain.
I think it’s about creating new pathways in the brain. Stretching it if you like. You can also do it with learning a new musical instrument, or doing puzzles but once you are good at the puzzles then it doesn’t work any longer cos it isn’t really learning it is repetition. I guess with languages there is always more to learn.
Learning is your brain’s form of exercise, so any learning at all will help “strengthen” it. Languages are often touted as something good to learn because there’s a low barrier to entry, and have a decent curve of difficulty. Unlike many other things you can learn, languages are also one of the easiest things to practice and keep current. If you’re learning a language, chances are you either know someone who speaks it, there’s a community near you who speaks it or you plan to/regularly visit a country that speaks it. You could get the same benefits from learning to code, or learning advanced physics etc – but they’re harder to use in real life unless you build your life around them and if you’re not using them, your brain will eventually undo those pathways
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