Speaking More Than One Language Improves Executive Functions and Brain

The research group of Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging has found that bilinguals perform executive functions tasks faster and more efficiently.

The research was conducted by scientists along with voluntary students of two extreme groups. On the one hand, young people who had learned both Catalan and Spanish at an early age and on the other, young Spanish monolinguals.

The findings of the study are ground-breaking in showing an unknown advantage of bilingualism, which stretches beyond linguistic benefits, and they also show bilinguals tend to respond more effectively to certain stimuli,” explains researcher Cesar Avila, who guarantees the research shows that bilingualism both effects the brain at a linguistic level, and emphasizes the importance of introducing languages at an early age for enhancing cognitive skills.

The conclusions of the research indicate that being bilingual provides constant brain exercise to the frontal lobes, the area of the brain right behind the fore¬head that controls attention, helps us ignore distractions, and make decisions.

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