ArticleFrontiers in neuroscience2019
Effects of Second Language Learning on the Plastic Aging Brain: Functional Connectivity, Cognitive Decline, and Reorganization.
Article in Frontiers in neuroscience, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 46 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Neuroplasticity in adult second language learning: a systematic scoping review of structural and functional neuroimaging evidence.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Cognitive Advantage of Bilingualism Over Monolingualism in Older Adults: A Meta-Analysis.Current Alzheimer research · 2022Pooled it
- Does Second Language Learning Promote Neuroplasticity in Aging? A Systematic Review of Cognitive and Neuroimaging Studies.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- Current Research on the Impact of Foreign Language Learning Among Healthy Seniors on Their Cognitive Functions From a Positive Psychology Perspective-A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Pooled it
- Effects of Meditation Training and Non-Native Language Training on Cognition in Older Adults: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- Cognitive and Neural Preservation in Older Language Learners: The CNPOLL Framework.Journal of psycholinguistic research · 2026Review
- Foreign Language Learning in Older Adults Modifies Resting-State Functional Connectivity Between the Subcortical Structures and the Cortex.Aging medicine (Milton (N.S.W)) · 2026Article
- The influence of foreign language and a word-color unitization strategy on the age-related associative deficit.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Baseline cognitive status and adherence are associated with cognitive change following language learning in older adults: an exploratory study.Frontiers in aging · 2026Article
- The role of bilingualism on functional decline and neurodegeneration in distinct ADRD clinical syndromes.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- Later life learning: what is it, and who is it for? A systematic scoping review of the "learning and health in later life" literature.The Gerontologist · 2025Article
- Strengthening the Aging Brain: Functional Connectivity Changes After a Language-Based Cognitive Program.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Brain-Inspired Multisensory Learning: A Systematic Review of Neuroplasticity and Cognitive Outcomes in Adult Multicultural and Second Language Acquisition.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Learning a Foreign Language in Older Adults Shapes the Functional Connectivity of Distinct Cerebellar Sub-Regions With Cortical Areas Rich in CBBrain and behavior · 2025Article
- Neural adaptations in short-term learning of sign language revealed by fMRI and DTI.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Brain structure correlates of foreign language learning experiences.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Article
- Resting State Network Connectivity Patterns in Early Aging: Late Middle-age Adults Contrasted with Young Adults.Experimental neurobiology · 2024Article
- Disparate trajectories of cognitive aging among American Indian and Alaskan Native people with and without HIV.Neuropsychology · 2024Article
- The Influence of Separate and Combined Exercise and Foreign Language Acquisition on Learning and Cognition.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Learning a new language requires the use of extensive neural networks and can represent a powerful tool to reorganize brain neuroplasticity. In this study, we analyze how a 4 months long second language learning program (16, 2 h sessions) can lead to functional changes in the brain of healthy elderly individuals. A large number of studies point out a decline of brain-skills with age; here it is analyzed how cognition together with functional brain organization can be improved later in life. Twenty-six older adults (59-79 years old) were enrolled in the present study. A complete neuropsychological examination was administered before and after the intervention to measure global cognition levels, short- and long-term memory, attention, language access and executive functions. At the end of the program, in the intervention group, the results showed a significant improvement in global cognition together with an increased functional connectivity in the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), right superior frontal gyrus (rSFG) and left superior parietal lobule (lSPL). These findings can be added to the current neurobiological breakthroughs of reshaping brain networks with a short language learning practice in healthy elderly subjects. Therefore, learning a foreign-language may represent a potentially helpful cognitive intervention for promoting healthy aging.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.