外媒:會多門外語的又一好處 中風後更易恢復

The benefits of learning another language aren’t limited to just getting by in another tongue. They may also extend to a host of hidden cognitive benefits that could protect your brain in the case of a serious health episode such as a stroke or dementia, according to a new study.
學習其他語種的好處不僅僅侷限於會說幾句外語，其實還可能有一系列認知方面的好處尚不爲人知。一項新的研究稱，如遇中風和癡呆等嚴重的健康威脅，外語學習的認知利益可以保護大腦。

Researchers from the UK and India gathered data from 608 stroke patients in Hyderabad, India, and found that people who speak more than one language have a greater chance to recover from a stroke than monolingual people.
來自英國和印度的研究人員收集了印度海得拉巴608名中風病人的數據，發現比起僅懂一種語言的人，說不止一門語言者患中風後康復的機率更大。

Bilingual people and those who speak more than two languages are said to be twice as likely to have normal cognitive functions after a stroke as monolingual people, even after taking into account other factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and age.
據悉，比起說一門語言的人，說兩門及超過兩門語言者在中風後能恢復正常認知水平的概率是前者的兩倍，即便把抽菸、高血壓、糖尿病和年紀等因素考慮在內亦是如此。

Previous research has also shown that bilingualism can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
之前的研究同樣顯示雙語制可以延緩阿茲罕默症的發生。

According to the researchers, the ongoing mental challenges involved with speaking more than one language may boost a person’s cognitive reserve, leading to an improved ability to cope with damage to the brain stemming from incidents like a stroke.
研究者稱，說多門語言受到持續不斷的腦力挑戰，可以促進人的認知儲備，因而在處理由中風等原因引起的腦損傷時，其能力也更強。

Switching from one language to another offers practically constant brain training which may be a factor in helping stroke patients recover.
語言間的切換事實上不斷訓練大腦，也許就是這個因素幫助中風病人康復。

It’s worth noting that the particularly impressive recovery results shown by patients in the study may be tied at least in part to the lingual characteristics of the area where the research was based. Hyderabad is a multicultural city that plays host to a wide range of different tongues, including Telugu, Urdu, Hindi, and English. As such, the ‘brain training’ people living in Hyderabad are exposed to and the theorised benefits resulting from it may not be replicated in equal measure elsewhere.
值得一提的是，研究中恢復效果好得驚人的病人多多少少和當地的語言特色有關。海得拉巴是個多元文化的城市，有多種語言，包括泰盧固語、烏爾都語、印地語和英語。如此，住在海得拉巴的“大腦訓練”人羣、及其理論上的優勢也許在其它地方無法如法炮製。