Speakers of more than one language twice as likely to recover brain function after stroke, study finds...

STROKE patients are more likely to regain their cognitive functions if they speak more than one language, new research has discovered.

A study of 608 stroke victims found 40.5 per cent of those who are multilingual had normal mental functions afterwards, compared to 19.6 per cent of patients who only speak one language.

The study was carried out by a team from Edinburgh University in conjunction with the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad. The Indian city was chosen as the location for the study because its multi-cultural nature means many languages are commonly spoken, including English, Hindi and Urdu.

Of the participants, 255 only spoke one language while 353 were bilingual.

 The researchers took into account other factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and age to ensure results could not be attributed to having a healthier lifestyle. Full story...

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