from Part V - L3/Ln and Cognition
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 July 2023
Aging is a multidimensional process that introduces biological, social, and cognitive changes. The cognitive changes individuals experience during healthy aging are impacted by one’s lifestyle and patterns of behavior. In this chapter, we explore how multilingual language use uniquely contributes to cognitive aging and may stave off cognitive and neurological declines that commonly occur as we age. To this end, we first examine the range of executive functions that are impacted by multilingualism across the lifespan. Next, we explore the neurological implications of cognitive aging by outlining three neurocognitive mechanisms involved in aging, namely cognitive reserve, maintenance, and compensation. Integrating research from the available literature on healthy and pathological aging, we consider whether multilingualism strengthens and alters the neural bases of cognitive aging. As research on multilingual aging is nascent, our chapter ends with an agenda for future research that considers factors unique to multilingualism.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.