I speak Spanish and a little English.

我會說西班牙語和少量英語。

I speak two and I'm learning another one with Duolingo.

我會說兩種語言，現在正在用 Duolingo 學習另一種語言。

Je parle bien français, russe et tchèque.

我精通法語、俄語和查德語。

And if you are one of those people, you are doing your brain some good.

如果你也是這樣的人，那你的大腦就會受益匪淺。

In fact, a new Concordia study suggests bilingualism could delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease by up to five years.

事實上，康考迪亞大學的一項新研究表明，雙語可以將阿爾茨海默病的發病時間延遲長達五年。

This is an MRI image of a brain.

這是大腦的核磁共振成像。

The lead author of the study led us into the university's Cognition, Aging and Psychophysiology lab.

這項研究的主要作者帶領我們走進了大學的認知、衰老和心理生理學實驗室。

Why were you interested in looking at bilingualism or multilingualism and what it does to the brain?

您為什麼對研究雙語或多語及其對大腦的影響感興趣？

Currently, at this time, there is no effective pharmaceutical treatment or cure that is approved in Canada for Alzheimer's disease.

目前，加拿大尚未準許針對阿爾茨海默病的有效藥物治療或治癒方法。

A lot of the focus in the research community has been on prevention.

研究界的很多焦點都集中在預防方面。

The researchers compared different groups of monolingual and bilingual older adults focusing on the size of one brain structure.

研究人員比較了不同群體的單語和雙語老年人，重點關注一種大腦結構的大小。

The hippocampus there, which is a brain region that is most typically affected in Alzheimer's disease and is critical for learning and memory abilities.

那裡的海馬體是阿爾茨海默氏症患者最常受影響的腦區，對學習和記憶能力至關重要。

The groups range from varying cognitive abilities from normal to at risk to having Alzheimer's.

這些群體的認知能力各不相同，有的正常，有的可能患有老年痴呆症。

What did your study find?

您的研究發現了什麼？

When we compared the size of the hippocampus across bilinguals who were cognitively healthy, those at greater risk, as well as those who had Alzheimer's disease, the size of the hippocampus seemed to be the same across all those groups.

當我們比較認知能力健康的雙語者、風險較大的雙語者以及阿爾茨海默氏症患者的海馬體大小時，所有這些群體的海馬體大小似乎都是一樣的。

Whereas in the monolinguals, we saw a decrease in size from the healthy older adults to those at greater risk and then to those with Alzheimer's disease.

而在單語患者中，我們發現從健康的老年人到高危人群，再到阿爾茨海默氏症患者，患者的體型都在縮小。

So what this suggested to us was that being bilingual, speaking more than one language may actually lead to greater, what we call greater brain maintenance.

是以，這給我們的啟示是，精通雙語，會說一種以上的語言，實際上可能會帶來更大的，我們稱之為更大的大腦維護。

How?

怎麼做？

When you know or are able to speak more than one language, the idea is that those two or more languages are sort of always competing in your brain.

當你懂得或能夠說一種以上的語言時，你的大腦中就會出現這兩種或更多語言的競爭。

And so when we are speaking, having a conversation and listening, the brain is actually actively having to manage those two languages and exert this extra language control.

是以，當我們說話、交談和聆聽時，大腦實際上在積極地管理這兩種語言，並施加額外的語言控制。

So it's like you're working out your brain.

這就像是在鍛鍊你的大腦。

Sort of.

算是吧。

I guess you could think of it that way.

我想你可以這麼想。

I think it's good to keep your brain, you know, keep those neurological pathways expanding.

我認為，讓你的大腦，你知道的，保持這些神經通路的擴展是件好事。

My parents still live in the UK and they also learn French for when they come over and visit the grandkids.

我的父母仍然住在英國，他們也學習法語，以便來英國看望孫輩。

They're 75 and 80 and I think it keeps them pretty fit too.

他們分別是 75 歲和 80 歲，我想這也能讓他們保持健康。

But what about other activities meant to be good for the mind?

那麼，其他有益身心的活動呢？

How do they compare to knowing many languages at different levels of proficiency?

它們與掌握不同水準的多種語言相比如何？

Larger scale studies are needed, but…

需要進行更大規模的研究，但...

What we know from our study right now is that if we were to hold all these other factors constant across bilinguals and monolinguals, being bilingual still seems to matter and have an effect on the brain.

我們目前的研究表明，如果在雙語者和單語者之間保持所有其他因素不變，雙語似乎仍然重要，並對大腦產生影響。

I do a little bit every day and it's sinking in.

我每天都會做一點，現在已經慢慢習慣了。

The Concordia researchers are digging deeper into their findings, but if you want to protect your brain as you age, if you know more than one language, chances are you are one step ahead.

康考迪亞大學的研究人員正在深入研究他們的發現，但如果您想在年老時保護自己的大腦，如果您會一種以上的語言，您就有可能領先一步。