Language diversity and cognitive function: Exploring multilingualism across the adult lifespan

Language diversity and cognitive function: Exploring multilingualism across the adult lifespan | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Language diversity and cognitive function: Exploring multilingualism across the adult lifespan Olivia Maurice, Caroline Jones, Celia Harris This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6510180/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 15 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Epidemiological literature suggests that speaking multiple languages can delay onset for neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Cognitive and neuroscientific explanations, however, remain inconclusive. While some studies have found behavioural and neural advantages of being multilingual (compared to monolingual) for working memory, inhibitory control, and attention across the lifespan, others have found no such evidence. An emerging focus on nuanced, dimensional measures of language experience as well as different outcomes depending on stimulus modality (visuospatial versus auditory processing) could potentially resolve these mixed findings. The current study examined correlations between continuously measured language experience and domain-specific cognitive functioning across visuospatial and auditory modalities. Participants ( n = 90) aged 18–83 years completed the Language History Questionnaire v3 (LHQ-3), and visuospatial and auditory tasks indexing working memory, inhibitory control, and attention. Results indicated that language experience was not associated with performance across any cognitive measure for the younger or older adult group, apart from a positive relationship with visuospatial working memory accuracy for older adults. The findings add to the mixed literature and suggest that neuroprotective effects of multilingualism may stem from alternate mechanisms than cognitive reserve or practice effects. Examples of alternative mechanisms include increased resilience to neurodegeneration due to greater cerebrovascular activity and oxygenation in areas responsible for higher order cognition and language. Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Cognitive ageing Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Cognitive neuroscience Biological sciences/Psychology multilingual language experience cognitive ageing memory attention inhibition Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 15 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 25 Jun, 2025 Reviews received at journal 23 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Jun, 2025 Reviews received at journal 30 May, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 09 May, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 May, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 08 May, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 24 Apr, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 23 Apr, 2025 First submitted to journal 23 Apr, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6510180","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":454355866,"identity":"323e59d7-81f5-41ac-ac66-ef3ed045424e","order_by":0,"name":"Olivia Maurice","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABNUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYPACCQYG9gYULggkENDCcwChiBgtIGUJRGrhZ+BO/My7x0KeX/KN4cOfP2zyzfnPGN4uqDjMwM+eY8Dwsw1Di2QD72ZpnmcShjNn5xgb8ySkWe6ckWNsPePMYQbJnjcGjL2YWgwO8G6Q5jkgkWBwO3ebNEPCYQODGzxm0rxthxkMbgBt4cWqZfNvkBb7m2e3//yR8N/A4PwZoJZ/hxnsgVoY/2LVsg1iiwTvNgaehAMGBgdygFoagLZI5BgwY7FFspl3m+WcAxKGM87kf5bmSUsGOiyt2JrnWDqPxJlnBYdlzmGGGHvv5htvDtTJ87cfS/z4w8YO6LDDG2/z1FjL8bcnb3z4pgwzlJkxhTgMgEQzD4h5AFMWK2B/ACTqiFQ8CkbBKBgFIwAAAGSwZ0jlvaaLAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Western Sydney University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Olivia","middleName":"","lastName":"Maurice","suffix":""},{"id":454355867,"identity":"25fca025-5530-44ba-bfd8-cf1729220ef3","order_by":1,"name":"Caroline Jones","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Western Sydney University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Caroline","middleName":"","lastName":"Jones","suffix":""},{"id":454355868,"identity":"2e4ced37-84ac-4ebf-91aa-8b833cc3917f","order_by":2,"name":"Celia Harris","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Western Sydney University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Celia","middleName":"","lastName":"Harris","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-23 07:53:23","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6510180/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6510180/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-32091-x","type":"published","date":"2025-12-15T15:57:09+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":98813844,"identity":"ee25b01f-57d0-4e19-9c0f-ce9bc6d4fee4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-22 16:05:00","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":974242,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Paper2BehaviouralStudy2.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6510180/v1_covered_93244104-5f2d-462c-b2ee-cadb96d358c6.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Language diversity and cognitive function: Exploring multilingualism across the adult lifespan","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"multilingual, language experience, cognitive ageing, memory, attention, inhibition","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6510180/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6510180/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eEpidemiological literature suggests that speaking multiple languages can delay onset for neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s disease. 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