Large European analysis: Researchers used the SHARE dataset (86,000+ participants, ages 51–90) to calculate a "biobehavioral age gap" comparing predicted versus chronological age. Main result: Self-reported multilingualism was associated with smaller age gaps, and the benefit increased with each extra language. Limitations: The study is correlational, uses self-reported language counts, and is limited to Europe, so causation is not established.
Speaking Multiple Languages Linked to Slower Brain Aging, Large European Study Finds
Large European analysis: Researchers used the SHARE dataset (86,000+ participants, ages 51–90) to calculate a "biobehavioral age gap" comparing predicted versus chronological age. Main result: Self-reported multilingualism was associated with smaller age gaps, and the benefit increased with each extra language. Limitations: The study is correlational, uses self-reported language counts, and is limited to Europe, so causation is not established.
01:52 AM, 11/15/2025Health
Speaking multiple languages linked to slower brain aging, large European study finds
A new, large-scale analysis of older adults across Europe reports an association between multilingualism and healthier brain-aging trajectories. The international team, publishing in Nature Aging, examined self-reported language experience alongside a computed "biobehavioral age gap" in more than 86,000 participants aged 51–90 from 27 countries using the SHARE dataset.
What the researchers measured
For each participant the authors calculated a "biobehavioral age gap" — the difference between chronological age and an age predicted from a combination of positive and adverse factors. Positive contributors included education and functional ability; adverse contributors included cardiometabolic conditions, sensory impairments and other health risks. The model also accounted for known sex differences in neurodegenerative risk.
Key finding
People who reported speaking more than one language tended to have smaller biobehavioral age gaps than monolingual peers, indicating comparatively healthier brain-aging profiles. The association strengthened with each additional language reported: "Just one additional language reduces the risk of accelerated aging. But when you speak two or three this effect was larger," co-author Agustín Ibañez told Nature.
What this does and doesn't show
These results add weight to earlier, smaller studies suggesting bilingualism or multilingualism may protect against age-related cognitive decline and conditions such as dementia. However, the study is correlational: it cannot prove that learning languages directly slows biological aging. Confounding factors (for example, social engagement, lifelong learning habits, or socioeconomic differences) may contribute to both language learning and healthier aging.
Limitations
Important limitations include reliance on self-reported language counts (not standardized proficiency measures), geographic restriction to Europe, and potential unmeasured confounders. The biobehavioral age-gap is a composite predictive metric rather than a direct biomarker of brain tissue changes.
Implications
Despite limits, the large sample size and consistent pattern with additional languages make the association noteworthy. The authors suggest multilingualism could be a scalable, modifiable factor to include in public-health and education strategies aimed at supporting cognitive health across the lifespan. The study also arrives as university language enrollments have fallen in places like the U.S. and as AI-driven translation tools prompt debate about the future value of language learning.
"Embedding multilingualism into public-health and educational frameworks holds promise for improving healthy aging on a global scale," the authors write, while urging further research to test causal pathways.
Bottom line
Learning and using additional languages is associated with a measurable advantage in a composite measure of aging in this large European sample. While not definitive proof of causation, the study strengthens the case for language learning as a potentially beneficial, accessible tool for lifelong cognitive engagement.