How Does Bilingualism Impact ADHD?
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- For most of the last century, in the US, bilingualism was considered a handicap, interfering with "normal" brain development. Some research indicates that bilingual children have smaller vocabularies and less fluent language than their monolingual peers. But for the last generation, the opposite narrative has held sway - that bilingualism leads to greater mental flexibility, more ability to avoid irrelevant stimuli, better self control, and more skillful planning.
If bilingualism is a detriment, that could compound the challenges of ADHD. If bilingualism improves executive functions, it could lessen the impact of ADHD.
So what does the actual data show? First of all, we don't have a lot of studies. Secondly, the results are all over the place, with some suggesting an advantage and others a disadvantage and the majority showing no major impact of bilingualism on how those with ADHD function. Basic neuroscience suggests a mulitutde of positive effects on brains from learning a second language, but the findings from neuropsychological testing are much less clear.
Despite good intentions, much of the research has fundamental flaws. ADHD and bilingualism both tend to be defined categorically, obscuring that both occur on a spectrum. Socioeconomic status, include financial, racial, and immigration status all confound groups defined as bilingual or multilingual. Publication bias favors studies that show results. And most of our executive function neuropsychologic tests don't seem to offer much help for deciphering what people do in the real world.
Learning a second language (or more) can broaden your circle of connections, and provide new ways of looking at the world. For most peopel, those are probably sufficient reasons to learn another language, rather than worrying about how it affects your ADHD or whether it will decrease your risk for dementia.
References:
The effects of bilingualism on cognition and behaviour in individuals with attention deficits: A scoping review (2022)
www.frontiersi...
The Impact of Bilingualism on Executive Functions in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review Based on the PRISMA Method
www.ncbi.nlm.n....
Interaction of bilingualism and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in young adults∗ (2017)
www.ncbi.nlm.n...
General:
Psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and author John Kruse, MD, PhD presents practical, actionable, well-researched information about treatment options that scientists and clinicians recommend for adult ADHD and other mental health conditions. Subscribe if you're curious about how neuro-atypical brains can optimize their functioning in our shared, and somewhat strange, world.
Dr. Kruse has posted talks in both the "live" and the "video" sections of this channel. Thumbnails on ADHD topics have a pink background, and those on more general mental health topics have a purple background. A small collection of ADHD-Trump videos have an orange background.
You're welcome to email him with topics you want discussed, people you think he should interview, or if you would prefer a time for the weekly CZcams Live option other than Tuesdays at 6:00 pm (Pacific Standard Time).
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:01 🧠 *Overview of Bilingualism and ADHD*
- Bilingualism historically seen as a burden on the brain, causing confusion and developmental challenges.
- Shifted perception: Bilingualism viewed as a brain-stimulating technique, enhancing flexibility and focus.
- Key message: Mixed and inconclusive research on the impact of bilingualism on ADHD; more studies needed.
02:48 🧠 *Learning a Language as a Burden*
- Evidence suggests deficits in multilingual children, especially in vocabulary and fluidity.
- Overlap with ADHD characteristics: Smaller vocabularies and semantic challenges.
- Limited data beyond childhood, indicating challenges in studying this aspect.
05:03 📚 *Benefits of Bilingualism According to Education Department*
- Bilingualism seen as enhancing brain flexibility, inhibition, abstraction, self-control, logic, memory, and decision-making.
- Limited and inconsistent data supporting these claims.
- Mention of lower dementia risk in multilingual individuals based on recent research.
08:03 🧠 *Neuroscientific Perspective on Bilingualism*
- Learning a new language may boost neurogenesis (new neuron formation) and synaptogenesis (synapse formation).
- Enhanced functional connectivity and stronger white matter and gray matter in bilingual individuals.
- Robust support from neuroscience for the positive impact of bilingualism on the brain.
10:47 🧠 *Bilingualism and ADHD: Data Overview*
- Limited and contradictory data on the impact of bilingualism on executive functions in ADHD.
- Meta-analysis finds no compelling reasons to avoid learning a second language with ADHD.
- Notable lack of significant differences in most executive functions between monolingual and bilingual ADHD individuals.
13:19 🌐 *Cultural and Psychological Advantages of Bilingualism*
- Bilingualism provides cultural, psychological, and opportunity advantages.
- Enhances openness to diverse perspectives, potentially increasing job options.
- Neurological assessment of bilingualism's impact is meager, but cultural benefits are significant.
14:03 🔍 *Challenges in Studying Bilingualism and ADHD*
- Issues with categorical classification of ADHD and bilingualism, overlooking spectrum variations.
- Confounding variables: Socioeconomic status, immigration, cultural attitudes, and educational attainment.
- Publication bias and the need for improved executive function tests in real-world scenarios.
18:19 🗣 *Multilingualism Research and Cultural Context*
- Multilingualism research notably more prominent in Canada than the US.
- Canada's bilingual culture (French and English) contributes to research focus.
- Multiculturalism and language studies in ADHD more comprehensive in Canada.
21:39 🌐 *Closing Remarks and Multilingual Experience*
- Encouragement for individuals with ADHD to embrace multilingualism.
- The importance of real-world validity in executive function tests.
- Holiday wishes and a break until the new year.
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Thanks again, I appreciate you doing this.
As a newly diagnosed ADHD bilingual adult, i was always searching my words. Now, with medication, being bilingual is much easier.
That's useful information to hear.
This is an interesting channel. As someone awaiting an ADHD diagnosis, is (somewhat) bilingual but with a phonological dyslexia, there is a whole intersection of questions I have regarding this topic.
executive function tests are so funny to my as someone with diagnosed ADHD.
That can't be the only assessment. For one; these tests are short and it's a new, exciting situation. So from the get-go you don't have the situation we struggle with the most: persistant executive function, even when we're bored.
Good point. They are often novel, highly structured, and the set up is usually designed to minimize other distractions - all of which will minimize real life ADHD issues.
@@DrJohnKruse Yes! And the instructions are clear. Which often is not the case irl. You have to guess what the other person wants you to do, what is expected. As people with more creative brains we can come to conclusions that seem outlandish to others. Also there's no interesting distractions, no interpersonal insecurities that relate to you as a person.
All of these factors make these tests inaccurate.
I speak 4 languages by the time I was 12 . And I have adhd. I wont give up 3 of those languages just to be normal. Now I speak 6
HOW? And which languages? I speak Russian and English. Had no choice but to learn English as family moved to UK. If I move to a different country then will learn local language (being submerged in it school/work helps tremendously otherwise no chance, maybe just some basics.
@@MrEpsilonZero cantonese english malay and mandarin. Cantonese and English learnt simultaneous at home. Mandarin Malay and English at school starting at 7 but already exposed to them from 5 onwards. Since I lived in a multilingual society that any person can speak one other language other than his mother tongue even at basic communicative level I got a lot of practise time. Do by the time I was 15 all 4 at B2 level
@@MrEpsilonZero code switching and creolising are way of life here in my country.
I am Dutch but have lived in the UK for more than half my life. I learned English, German and French. I can still understand French and German spoken and read but unless I spend time only speaking Dutch I cant think of the words in French and German. I am an adult awaiting a diagnosis for ADHD. Never thought about languages I love languages and wonder how this may have impacted my life.
Yikes! The old views about the “harmful effects” of learning 2nd languages reminds me of eugenics. As someone who’s been very creative since age 7 and is discovering that perhaps I do have ADHD and ASD, learning 8 languages after my native (English) language hasn’t been a problem. Plus, I believe the different skills I learned in language study and speech therapy (6.5 years as a child) have helped me in my music composing and doing-writing.
Because languages reflect and impact the beliefs of societies in which they are spoken, language can open the mind to other ways of perceiving and living in the world. Win-win situation for the learner and for the society.
I don't know many, if any adults, who regret having learned more than one language.
I currently speak 5 languages, and I have ADHD. Aside from the pride i feel for this achievement, I feel that's absolutely improved my executive functioning. Obviously from a scientific standpoint it's irrelevant, but I wonder if it's a "back door" way to improve stimulation from within rather than through forcing focus on external stimuli.
Which languages do you think in and dream in?
@@MrEpsilonZero I don't remember my dreams much, so I can't give an exhaustive answer in that sense, but my thinking goes back and forth between English and Italian, sometimes Dutch. That's because my partner is Canadian, I was born and raised in Italy and have been living for the past 12 years in the Netherlands
That''s the claim by the proponents, that having a second (or more) language helps the brain practice controlling the internal flow of information.
I fully agree with you on the executive function thing as a Linguist fluent in 3 languages and proficient in two more, diagnosed with ADHD at age 8 (a good two years after I started learning two of those languages). I honestly think code switching helped me develop techniques to cope with executive function deficits. Not only that but it expanded my vocabulary because I was able to identify the meanings of less familiar “SAT words” in my native language in middle/high school because they shared Latin or Greek roots with words I was familiar with in my secondary languages
@@Anna-rk2wi Thank you for sharing your experience.
Now this is interesting. I'm Brazilian, so my first language is Portuguese, but I got sober in 2021 in English (zoom meetings), and now I feel ridisculously umconfortable speaking my first language, even tho my English is far away from perfect, but I can switch all the time the language I'm speaking because I often forgot the words on the language I'm speaking.😂
Thank you as always, for all the helpful insights for understanding my own ADHD as well as my daughter's who happens to be bilingual. Hard to say if she has had challenges from growing up speaking two languages, though it is possible her ADHD was potentially exacerbated by it. I would hope that having two languages will help her in her career, as she has a great interest in using both languages at work, eg traveling overseas fore work in order to bridge gaps between the two cultures.
It sounds likely that being bilingual will help her.
I’m second generation and grew up speaking Konglish (korean style English) at home. I’m told my Korean is better than most second gen Korean-Americans peers but I know it’s not full native proficiency.
I’ve noticed my English vocabulary to be overall less developed than monolingual peers but may be due to reading less than others. I also noticed I was not familiar with many idioms and feel it may be partly due to having grown up speaking a mixed language at home, which seems possible to have contributed to a sort of jack of all trades, master of none, to a degree when looking at my English vs Korean. I’m a sample size of one and may be other factors involved but just my 2 cents.
Thanks for sharing your experience. It highlights that our term "bilingual" encompasses a broad range of fluencies/proficiencies.
I'm in my 40s, recently diagnosed ADHD Combined, medicated, and currently struggling to learn Swedish (where I am living) as a second language.
My awful working memory makes it very difficult to maintain what it being SPOKEN orally, often resulting remembering only the last couple words of the spoken sentence as by then I've already forgotten the beginning and the middle. Even if it is a relatively short sentence (4-6 words). This makes Swedish immersion extremely difficult for me.
In addition, words also "do not stick". I've asked countless times what certain words mean, only to find it's the same common words over and over again. People try to teach me new Swedish words all the time and it's embarassing when the word gets deleted in my brain moments after walking away.
Reading Swedish is not a problem except when it comes to the words that do not stick. I keep a score of the trouble words I cannot remember.
Do you (or anyone reading this) have any suggestions to learn words with a short-working memory?
For me creating flash cards and repeating them daily in the beginning has helped a lot. It's the system where you move the cards you know further back so that you repeat them less often and the ones you didn't know are always put up front to be repeated tomorrow again no matter where they came from. I actually did this for Swedish in my late 20s and progressed quickly. After I got down roughly the 1000 most common words, reading a lot helped me (at that point I couldn't be arsed with the cards anymore 😂)
Your problem sounds just like mine. I'm also in my 40s, but I'm living in Finland. It's like exactly how I would have described my problems with language learning, but replacing Swedish with Finnish.
You're not a programmer by any chance are you?
@@MorgainLafee13 Flash card practice is worth a shot in trying to remember trouble words while reading. I'll give a go at it. :) Thanks!
@@NoahNobody Oh hell, I tried to get into programming while I was in high school, but couldn't keep up with the..uh..everything. No, instead I focused on arts. Better for my overactive imagination.
I'm sorry you have the same problem, but at the same time, I'm glad I'm not alone. I found this clip from another site that explains the working memory issue really well using computer terms: czcams.com/video/HszXKZO_H18/video.htmlsi=6E0_NKzcrdXL2Deb&t=14 The narrator also mentions working memory is used for doing math in your head, which is another huge struggle for me. I CAN math, but I just can't math longer/larger numbers in my head!
I've also been digging into research about second language learning and working memory deficits with minimal luck. Currently, I'm looking at The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language p51-72
In addition to the flashcards, I would emphasize reading them out loud, since it seems you have been proficiency with reading than with speaking (and maybe hearing?).