2026-03-09 ヒューストン大学
Not so fast: A University of Houston professor of psychology is disputing a high-profile study claiming that people who live in multilingual countries show healthier brain aging. Photo courtesy GettyImages
＜関連情報＞
- https://www.uh.edu/news-events/stories/2026/march/03092026-hernandez-multilingualism-brain-health.php
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0093934X26000301
多言語主義と高齢化：国レベルのパターンは個人レベルの因果関係の主張を裏付けない可能性がある Multilingualism and aging: Country-level patterns may not support individual-level causal claims
Arturo E. Hernandez, My V.H. Nguyen, Ferenc Bunta
Brain and Language Available online: 21 February 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2026.105735
Highlights
- Country-level multilingualism may not support individual-level causal claims about healthy aging.
- Life expectancy differences across Europe likely explain observed aging patterns better than language use.
- Biobehavioral age gaps embed socioeconomic factors that confound multilingualism effects.
- Multilingualism in Europe reflects participation in mobile, high-resource networks.
- Findings warrant cautious interpretation and reframing of public health implications.
Abstract
A recent study reports that people living in European countries with high multilingualism show healthier brain aging than those who live in more monolingual environments. We argue that the study design conflates living in countries where multilingualism is relatively more common with participating in transnational professional networks. The six-year life expectancy gap between high- and low-multilingualism countries provides an alternative explanation regarding observed differences in cognitive aging better than language experience itself. The findings describe interesting geographic patterns but may not support claims that multilingualism causes healthier aging.
