Multilingualism delays onset of dementia by five years

[hab...@anony.net]

All Indian parents should make sure their children are fluent
in their mother tongues as well as English. The best way is to make
the learn the alphabet and watch Bollywood movies

excerpt
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8334819/Speaking-a-second-language-could-delay-dementia-by-five-years.html

By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent, in Washington 7:00AM GMT 19
Feb 2011
2 Comments
Bilingualism exercises the mind and builds up a “reserve” of brain
power which can help it carry on functioning after dementia takes
hold.

While the average monolingual person can suffer the first signs of
memory loss and confusion in their mid-seventies, the symptoms of
Alzheimer’s do not appear for those with a second language until their
early eighties.

The effect is most apparent with people who regularly use their second
language, but researchers believe that just having learnt one will
help.

Even learning another language in middle age helps challenge the brain
and build up reserves against memory loss, the study