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Bilingual proficiency and cognitive reserve in Persian–English bilingual older adults

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Abstract

Background and aims

More than genetic and physical influences, different environmental stimuli affect brain reserve, and bilingualism is one example. In this study, effect of bilingual proficiency on older adult’s cognitive reserve was investigated.

Methods

Persian and English versions of the Word Association Test were used among 26 educated older adults with a mean age of 67.52 years who became bilingual in Persian–English early in life. Lexical memory and Bergen dichotic listening tests were performed.

Results

The bilingual proficiency score in all participants was within the range for early bilingualism. The Persian version of Word Association Test content validity index was 98.17 %. The inter-rater reliability for the Persian version of Word Association Test was 0.980, and that for the English version was 0.986. In addition, the intra-rater reliability for the Persian version was 0.857, and that for the English version was 0.954 (p < 0.001). There was significant correlation between the frequency of words expressed in the English Word Association Test and years for which English has been spoken as a second language (p ≤ 0.045). A significant correlation was observed between the bilingual proficiency score and lexical memory score (p < 0.043). Bilingual proficiency score also showed a significant correlation with the dichotic listening scores in all three non-forced, forced-right, and forced-left attention situations (p ≤ 0.045).

Conclusions

These results demonstrated the influence of bilingualism on shaping cognitive reserve in Persian–English bilingual older adults, representing linguistic experience-dependent neuroplasticity.

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Acknowledgments

This paper is a result of a research project that has been approved by Iran University of Medical Sciences, contract number 91-03-32-19154. The cooperation of all participants in this study is greatly appreciated.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Basic Sciences in Rehabilitation, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Nezam Alley, Shahnazari St, Mother Sq, Mirdamad Blvd, PO Box 15875-4391, Tehran, Iran

    Zahra Jafari

  2. Rehabilitation Research Center (RRC), Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran

    Zahra Jafari

  3. Iranian Research Center on Aging, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences (USWR), Tehran, Iran

    Zahra Jafari & Mahdiye Esmaili

  4. Department of Audiology, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran

    Reyhaneh Toufan

  5. Department of Audiology, School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran

    Maryam Aghamollaei

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  1. Zahra Jafari
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  2. Mahdiye Esmaili
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  3. Reyhaneh Toufan
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  4. Maryam Aghamollaei
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zahra Jafari.

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Jafari, Z., Esmaili, M., Toufan, R. et al. Bilingual proficiency and cognitive reserve in Persian–English bilingual older adults. Aging Clin Exp Res 27, 351–357 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-014-0288-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-014-0288-x

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