"Want to protect against the effects of Alzheimer's? Learn another language. That's the takeaway from recent brain research ... " was the lead into recent "CBS Evening News" and "Fox News" reports.
Should we immediately go out and enroll in a French class? A headline in 2006 announced "Cabernet Sauvignon Red Wine Reduces the Risk of Alzheimer's Disease." Should those of us who like Pinot Grigio switch to Cabernet Sauvignon? After reading that people who drink 3 to 5 cups of coffee a day are 65 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's, should tea drinkers who want to avoid dementia switch to coffee?
It is hard to interpret Alzheimer's research news. Perhaps researchers, while presenting their data accurately, also hope positive results will lead to future funding. Maybe fair and honest news reporters or their editors want to make the front page with startling headlines. For sure all news readers really want to hear good Alzheimer's news whenever possible.
In the case of the link between bilingualism and dementia, we have a unique opportunity to compare news reports -- from February 2011 -- to the actual research. In May 2011, the New York Times carried an interview with the author of the research, Dr. Ellen Bialystok.
The first news report didn't say whether bilingualism protected only a small group, or whether all multilingual people -- which would include most residents of Canada, most immigrants to the US from non-English speaking countries and many people around the world who speak English, Spanish or Chinese as a second language -- were "protected."
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