Image Courtesy: Shutterstock

People who speak multiple languages may have brains that appear significantly younger than their actual age, with researchers finding that the difference increased as the number of languages spoken rose. The largest gap was observed among people who spoke four languages, whose brains appeared about 13 years younger than those of their chronological age.

The findings were presented by Dr. Lucia Amoruso of the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language in Spain at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Forum 2026. The research suggests that multilingual experience may help slow some aspects of age-related changes in brain connectivity, although the results do not establish that speaking multiple languages directly causes slower brain aging.

The researchers studied people from Spain’s multilingual Basque region who spoke between one and four languages, including Spanish, Basque, French and English. They first analyzed brain activity from 728 participants using magnetoencephalography, which measures the magnetic fields produced by active brain cells. An artificial intelligence system used these patterns to create a model for estimating brain age.

The researchers then applied this “brain aging clock” to a separate group of 144 people. Participants who spoke two languages had brains estimated to be about six years younger than those of monolingual participants. The difference increased to roughly seven years among people who spoke three languages and reached approximately 13 years among those who spoke four languages.

The effect was not limited to the number of languages. Participants who had learned a second language earlier in life and those with greater proficiency also tended to show signs of more delayed brain aging.

The researchers accounted for factors including age, sex and education, but acknowledged that other influences could affect brain health. Lifestyle, social interaction and other forms of mental activity may also contribute to the differences observed between multilingual and monolingual participants.

The team now plans to investigate whether similar patterns occur in people with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. They also want to examine whether speaking closely related languages could have a stronger effect because switching between similar linguistic systems may require greater cognitive control.

Professor Christina Dalla of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, who was not involved in the study, said the findings add to evidence that lifelong mental activity may influence brain health. She noted that language learning can provide cognitive, social and cultural benefits at any age.

The results do not mean that learning four languages will literally turn back the brain’s biological clock by 13 years. Instead, the study found a difference between chronological age and an AI-based estimate of brain age. Further research will be needed to determine whether multilingualism itself is responsible for the effect and whether it can help protect against cognitive decline.