People who speak more than one language are better equipped to delay the progression of Alzheimer's disease, suggests a new Italian study. Researchers at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan came to this conclusion after studying CT scans from 85 seniors with the disease, 40 of whom spoke only German or Italian and 45 who spoke both languages. They published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last month. The study found that bilingual people performed better on memory tests than their solo-language peers, even when their brains were "less efficient at converting glucose into energy"바카라 게임 웹사이트�a hallmark of the disease, according to Alzheimer's 온라인 바카라 게임 Today. On average, those who spoke more than one language scored three to eight times higher on short- and long-term memory tasks. The process of switching between two languages appears to give the brain a workout that makes it stronger against the effects of aging. Going from one language to another, especially over the course of a lifetime, creates alternate pathways in the brain that help preserve cognitive skills even after the onset of Alzheimer's. After looking at the brain scans, lead study author and psychology professor Daniela Perani determined that multilingual speakers had better "functional connectivity in frontal brain regions" which kept their memory in tact. The findings suggest that when bilingual Alzheimer's patients begin to lose neurons, their brains compensate by increasing connections in the frontal brain, creating a "neural reserve." This lets bilingual patients "maintain high neuropsychological performance and cognitive functioning longer than monolingual ," said Perani. While recent research indicates that cognitive activities like having a complex job and continuing education account for the vary degrees of damage in dementia patients, scientists were unsure of the underlying causes until now. "It's that idea of cognitive engagement바카라 게임 웹사이트�continuing to use it or you lose it," said Heather Snyder, senior director of medical and scientific operations for the Alzheimer's Association. "People who are bilingual and are going back and forth with two different languages throughout their day are activating a specific way of thinking that's making those brain connections." "It's a small study, so you can't draw too many conclusions from it, but it is the kind of research we do want to see more of," Snyder added. (h/t Alzheimer's 온라인 바카라 게임 Today)