Multilingualism Might Not Aid Brain Aging, Researcher Argues

WEDNESDAY, March 11, 2026 (HealthDay News) — A researcher is disputing a recent high-profile study claiming that people who live in multilingual countries show healthier brain aging.

The study, published in Nature Aging last year, found that knowing more than one language reduced odds of brain aging by 54%.

But University of Houston psychology professor Arturo Hernandez argues that study was flawed and that a nation’s wealth – not its multilingualism – probably boosts brain health.

The countries with highest multilingualism in Europe also happen to be the wealthiest, with the best health care and the longest life expectancies, said Hernandez, who is director of the Laboratory for the Neural Bases of Bilingualism.

When those differences are accounted for, the apparent language effect largely disappears, Hernandez argues in the May 2026 issue of the journal Brain and Language.

“We took a closer look and argued that the study’s conclusions go further than the data can support,” Hernandez said in a news release.

In the original study, researchers examined records in 27 European countries and concluded that multilingualism protects the brain against accelerated aging, while having only one language increases risk of brain aging.

But countries with high multilingualism have some of the world’s highest life expectancies, such as 82.5 years for Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

On the other hand, countries with low multilingualism like Bulgaria (75.8 years) and Romania (76.3 years) lag six or seven years behind in life expectancy.

“A six-year gap in life expectancy is unlikely to be explained by language,” Hernandez said. “World-class health care, superior early-childhood nutrition, higher occupational safety and lower chronic stress offer a more parsimonious account — the same structural forces that produce longevity in general.”

Hernandez pointed to Japan as another example. A country that’s largely monolingual, it boasts a life expectancy of 84.5 years.

“Low inequality, a healthy diet and a robust universal health care system account for that advantage far better than language ever could,” he said.

"Learning a language is a beautiful, culturally enriching endeavor. It connects us to others and expands our world. But we must be careful not to overpromise it as a clinical intervention for aging,” Hernandez said. "As scientists, we do a disservice to the public when we promote individual behavioral hacks as substitutes for structural resources."

More information

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SOURCE: University of Houston, news release, March 9, 2026