A neurologist commented on research about how bilingualism affects age-related brain changes. I'm curious whether there's actual scientific evidence behind this or if it's just another myth about the benefits of learning languages?
the question is phrased a bit too strongly - it's neither a myth nor a cure-all at the same time, but rather a real effect, though fairly modest. learning a language definitely keeps your brain sharp, exercises your memory and attention, and that does slow down some age-related processes - but that's true for any mental activity: crosswords, chess, learning new things produce similar results. it won't be a miracle cure for aging, more like one helpful habit among others.
I tried getting serious about English a couple of years ago - not tourist-level stuff, but actually reading and watching without subtitles. I really did notice that my head works differently after studying: like a warmup for the brain, yeah. But that's more like a boost for a day or two, not some kind of long-term protection against dementia.
As for the science: yeah, research does show a connection between multilingualism and certain cognitive advantages, especially in the areas of attention management and task-switching. But you have to distinguish between the short-term effect of mental strain (any mental activity gives you that - chess, math, even crosswords) and protection from aging in the sense of dementia. The latter is a much more complicated story, where language is just one of many factors, and the effect is way more modest than what people usually say in popular articles.
The key word here is context. If someone's learning a language, they're also socializing (talking with native speakers), exercising their logic, improving blood flow to the brain through the physical activity of getting to classes. All these factors together might have an effect, but singling out language as a miracle cure for aging - that's overstating it. It's more just a good way to keep your brain busy along with everything else.
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