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Bilingualism delays clinical manifestation of Alzheimer's disease*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 December 2014

EVY WOUMANS ,
PATRICK SANTENS ,
ANNE SIEBEN ,
JAN VERSIJPT ,
MICHAËL STEVENS  and
WOUTER DUYCK
EVY WOUMANS*
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University
PATRICK SANTENS
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University
ANNE SIEBEN
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University
JAN VERSIJPT
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Brussels University Hospital, Vrije UniversiteitBrussel
MICHAËL STEVENS
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University
WOUTER DUYCK
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University
*
Address for correspondence: Evy Woumans Department of Experimental PsychologyGhent University Henri Dunantlaan 2, B9000, Gent, Belgiumevy.woumans@ugent.be
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Abstract

The current study investigated the effects of bilingualism on the clinical manifestation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a European sample of patients. We assessed all incoming AD patients in two university hospitals within a specified timeframe. Sixty-nine monolinguals and 65 bilinguals diagnosed with probable AD were compared for time of clinical AD manifestation and diagnosis. The influence of other potentially interacting variables was also examined. Results indicated a significant delay for bilinguals of 4.6 years in manifestation and 4.8 years in diagnosis. Our study therefore strengthens the claim that bilingualism contributes to cognitive reserve and postpones the symptoms of dementia.

Keywords

Alzheimer’s diseasedementiabilingualismcognitive reservecognitive aging
Type
Research Notes
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , July 2015 , pp. 568 - 574
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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Footnotes

*

The authors gratefully acknowledge support from Ghent University's Special Research Fund (BOF). They also thank Ghent University Hospital and Brussels University Hospital for their cooperation. This study received approval from the Ghent University Hospital Ethics Board in a Certificate of Research Approval dated 1st February 2013. Written informed consent was from all patients and their caregivers.

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