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Benefits Of Being Bilingual Include Brain Boosting Power

If You're Bilingual, Your Brain Is In Better Shape

Can you speak two or more languages? If so, you'll be pleased to know your brain is reaping some serious benefits.

In a recent TED-Ed Original, educator Mia Nacamulli explains that the brain of multilingual individuals not only looks different from those who only communicate in one language, it works differently too.

In 2014, researchers at Northwestern University noted that by deciding when to use which language, multilingual speakers were exercising their brains more than those who only focused on one language.

“Bilinguals are always giving the green light to one language and red to another. When you have to do that all the time, you get really good at inhibiting the words you don’t need,” lead researcher Viorica Marian explained in a press release

And in the same way exercise helps keep your body in fighting shape, multilingualism also helps your brain age at a slower rate. Over the past five years, numerous studies have looked at the connection between bilingualism and Alzheimer's, noting that the former seems to delay the latter by as much as five years.

But the benefits don't just come at an older age — according to Nacamuli, being bilingual also helps with problem solving, multitasking and focus in general. Oh, and if you've ever wondered why children seem to pick up other languages so easily, Nacamulli explains that in the video above too.

Are you multilingual? Let us know which languages you use to communicate in the comments below.

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