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Abstract Details

Bilingualism Associated With Delay in Dementia Onset and Loss of the Second Language
Aging, Dementia, and Behavioral Neurology
P16 - Poster Session 16 (5:30 PM-6:30 PM)
10-004
1.) To study the relationship between speaking more than one language
and the age of onset of the clinical symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, and 2.) to
evaluate whether there is asymmetrical language impairment with reversion to
L1(dominant language) once there is clinical dementia.
Some but not all studies have proposed protective effects of
bilingualism against development of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The
mechanism of this “bilingual advantage” might be due to increased cognitive and neural reserve from management and control of two languages.
We retrospectively evaluated all patients with a clinical diagnosis of AD
in our referral program over a 15 year period. We identified 74 bilingual and 179
monolingual patients. Dependent variables were age of onset and presentation,
Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), digit span (forward and backward), F
word fluency and category fluency. Covariates included education(years).
Independent sample t test was used to compare bilingual and mono-lingual
individuals.
Bilingualism was associated with statistically significant delay in ages of
onset and presentation of clinical dementia(p=0.003). MMSE score was lower in
monolingual compared to bilingual patients(p=0.004). We did not find significant difference in digit span (forward and backward), F word fluency and category fluency.
however, there was a trend suggesting somewhat better scores in F word fluency,
category fluency, and delayed verbal recall among bilingual compared to
monolingual patients. Among the bilingual AD patients, 66 of the the 74 were
reported as regressing to predominant or exclusive use of their dominant native
language.
In line with previously published reports worldwide, we found that
bilingualism may have some protective effects against early development of
dementia. We also found that language use often reverts to the first learned
language as the dementia advances. More research is needed on the relationship
between speaking more than one language and later cognitive decline.
Authors/Disclosures
Golnoush Akhlaghipour, MD
PRESENTER 		Dr. Akhlaghipour has nothing to disclose.
No disclosure on file
Mario F. Mendez, MD, PhD, FAAN (VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System and UCLA) Dr. Mendez has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for Medical 好色先生 Speakers' Bureau. Dr. Mendez has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as an Editor, Associate Editor, or Editorial Advisory Board Member for UpToDate. The institution of Dr. Mendez has received research support from NIH. Dr. Mendez has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care.