Speaking Four Languages Linked to a Brain That Looks 13 Years Younger
A brain-imaging study presented at the FENS Forum 2026 found that people who spoke four languages had brains that looked about thirteen years younger than monolingual brains of the same age. Two languages showed a six-year difference, three languages seven years.
Researchers led by Dr. Lucia Amoruso at the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language in Spain built an AI-based brain-aging clock from magnetoencephalography scans of 728 people, then applied it to a second group of 144 multilingual speakers. Speaking two languages was linked to a six-year younger brain age, three languages to seven years, and four languages to roughly thirteen years, with earlier acquisition and higher fluency strengthening the effect. Presented at the FENS Forum 2026. The same team now plans to study whether the pattern also appears in people with Alzheimer's disease.