[Research Press Release] Ageing: Multilingualism may protect against accelerated ageing (Nature Aging)

Multilingualism — the regular use of more than one language — is associated with a reduced risk of accelerated ageing, according to data from more than 86,000 people across 27 European countries published in Nature Aging. The findings suggest that promoting multilingualism could support healthy ageing strategies at a population level.

Ageing is a major global health challenge, linked to cognitive decline and functional impairments. Identifying protective factors is therefore an important priority. Previous research has proposed that multilingualism can help to maintain cognitive function, but evidence has been inconsistent owing to the use of small sample sizes, clinical cohorts and indirect measures of ageing.

Agustin Ibañez and colleagues analysed survey data from 86,149 participants aged 51–90 years across 27 European countries to estimate whether ageing was faster or slower than expected based on health and lifestyle factors. They found that people who use only one language were approximately twice as likely to experience accelerated ageing, whereas multilingual individuals were on average about half as likely to do so. The authors also observed that speaking additional languages promoted delayed ageing over time and found a dose-dependent effect of speaking multiple languages. They note that the protective effect of multilingualism remained significant even when they adjusted for age and linguistic, physical, social and sociopolitical exposures.

These findings could inform educational and public health policies aimed at promoting cognitive resilience and functional ability in ageing populations, the authors suggest.

• Analysis
• Published: 10 November 2025

Amoruso, L., Hernandez, H., Santamaria-Garcia, H. et al. Multilingualism protects against accelerated aging in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of 27 European countries. Nat Aging (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-025-01000-2

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https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-025-01007-9

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