ArticleBrain structure & function2022
The effects of bilingualism on hippocampal volume in ageing bilinguals.
Article in Brain structure & function, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Contribution of Life-Course Socioeconomic Position to Later-Life Brain Volumes in US Hispanic/Latino Adults.Neurology · 2026Article
- Rethinking language, cognition and assessment in psychosis: How bilingualism challenges psychiatry and how natural language processing can help.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Subcortical correlates of developmental language disorder: more than the neostriatum.Brain communications · 2026Article
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- Neuroanatomy, episodic memory and inhibitory control of persian-kurdish simultaneous bilinguals.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Bilingualism and Aging: Implications for (Delaying) Neurocognitive Decline.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2022Review
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- The Nuance of Bilingualism as a Reserve Contributor: Conveying Research to the Broader Neuroscience Community.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Bilingual neurocognitive resiliency, vulnerability, and Alzheimer's disease biomarker correlates in Latino older adults enrolled in the Health and Aging Brain Study - Health Disparities (HABS-HD).Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands)Article
- Impact of an 18-month non-native language intervention on episodic memory and the underlying neural mechanisms in cognitively unimpaired older adults.Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands)Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Long-term management of more than one language has been argued to contribute to changes in brain and cognition. This has been particularly well documented in older age, where bilingualism has been linked to protective effects against neurocognitive decline. Since memory difficulties are key aspects of this decline, herein we examine potential effects of bilingualism on the hippocampus, a brain structure related to memory that is particularly vulnerable to cognitive ageing. Hippocampal volume has been shown to increase as a result of second language learning and use in younger adults. However, it is unknown if this is maintained throughout the lifespan. We examine hippocampal volume and episodic memory performance in a participant sample consisting of healthy older individuals with a wide range of experiences in exposure and using a second language. Results reveal greater hippocampal volume calibrated to degree of quantified dual language use. Our results mirror those of immersive active bilingualism in younger populations, suggesting that long-term active bilingualism leads to neuroprotective effects in the hippocampus. We discuss this in the context of literature proposing bilingualism-induced brain reserve in the older age.
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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.