Bengaluru: As Indians,our diversity is our biggest strength and our multiplicity our biggest boon. You don’t agree? Hear this out. A recent study establishes that years of bilingualism can ward off ageing and dementia, and by default we Indians tend to know more than one language, so this is indeed a boon.

The research asserts that if you know two or more languages, you will save more brain power as compared to the others.

“For people who speak many languages, the number of soft circuits in the brain is more and if you keep it stimulated, challenged by learning new things, more languages, the degeneration will be less with age,” explains Dr Pulkit Sharma, Clinical Psychologist, writer and healer, who practises at Imago-Centre for Self. “Years of bilingualism changes the way the brain carries out tasks,” he adds.

Explaining the workings of the brain, Kala Balasubramanian from Inner Dawn says, “Bilinguals select relevant information and ignore the rest.”

Adding another perspective, Dr Geetha Appachu, Psychologist, head of Swapreran, says “Work these days takes us to cities where we are forced to learn more languages. The onset of dementia is earlier than with the previous generation, in our case because we abstain from responsibilities once we retire or when on a break. We don’t want to do household chores like cutting vegetables, taking tuitions, gardening, etc. But, the truth is, the more we exercise our cognitive ability, the better we live (mentally).”