The Association of Multilingualism with Diverse Language Families and Cognition Among Adults with and without Education in India

In this episode, Dr. Scott Sperling and student leader, Grace Goodwin, discuss the article The Association of Multilingualism with Diverse Language Families and Cognition Among Adults with and without Education in India with the senior author, Dr. Miguel Arce Rentería. This study leveraged the rich linguistic diversity across all socioeconomic gradients in India to understand how multilinguilism impacts cognition later in life in individuals with and without formal education. Participants were from The Longitudinal Aging Study in India-Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia which included 4,088 individuals, 54% of whom did not have formal education. Analyses employed education-stratified regression models. Results showed that for individuals with formal education, multilingualism was associated with better cognitive functioning. For individuals without formal education, results differed based on the similarity of languages known by the individual such that those who knew multiple languages that were more similar linguistically (over those who knew multiple dissimilar languages) had better executive functioning than monolinguals. This study adds to our understanding related to the impact of multilingualism (including language similarity) and education on cognition in an aging population.