Bilingualism delays the onset of dementia symptoms and contributes to cognitive reserve. However, the neural basis of this mechanism remains elusive. The few studies that have investigated neural mechanisms of cognitive reserve and bilingualism have focused on Alzheimer’s disease. This study investigated the neural basis of cognitive reserve among persons with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) using regional brain volumes. Sixty-eight persons with FTD (42 bilinguals and 26 monolinguals) were included. After propensity score matching for age, sex, education, FTD subtype and clinical severity, there were 26 bilinguals and 26 monolinguals. The results showed that bilinguals had reduced thalamic volume compared to monolinguals despite having similar cognitive performance. The results indicate that bilinguals were able to tolerate more severe atrophy compared to monolinguals while maintaining comparable cognitive abilities. Our study therefore suggests that bilingualism contributes to cognitive reserve in persons with FTD.

中文翻译：

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丘脑作为额颞叶痴呆双语患者认知储备的神经标志物


双语可延缓痴呆症状的发作，并有助于认知储备。然而，这种机制的神经基础仍然难以捉摸。为数不多的调查认知储备和双语神经机制的研究集中在阿尔茨海默病上。本研究使用区域脑体积调查了额颞叶痴呆 （FTD） 患者认知储备的神经基础。纳入 68 例 FTD 患者 （42 名双语者和 26 名单语者）。在年龄、性别、教育程度、FTD 亚型和临床严重程度的倾向评分匹配后，有 26 名双语者和 26 名单语者。结果表明，尽管认知表现相似，但与单语者相比，双语者的丘脑体积减少。结果表明，与单语者相比，双语者能够忍受更严重的萎缩，同时保持相当的认知能力。因此，我们的研究表明，双语有助于 FTD 患者的认知储备。