Bilingualism boosts cognitive capacity for low-income children

Bilingualism may be key to helping children from low-income families improve their focus and concentration, giving them an academic advantage over their monolingual peers, according to a recent study by an international team of researchers, including York University Professor Ellen Bialystok. “For children living in poverty, there are often conditions present that can negatively affect […]

York prof president of Royal Canadian Institute

University Professor Emeritus Ronald Pearlman of York’s Faculty of Science & Engineering has been named president of the prestigious Royal Canadian Institute (RCI) for the Advancement of Science. Pearlman, currently first-vice-president of the RCI, is the director of York’s Core Molecular Biology/DNA Sequencing Facility and former dean and associate dean of York’s Faculty of Graduate […]

Professor Ellen Bialystok speaks to the New York Times about the bilingual advantage

A cognitive neuroscientist, Ellen Bialystok has spent almost 40 years learning about how bilingualism sharpens the mind, wrote The New York Times May 30: Her good news: Among other benefits, the regular use of two languages appears to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms. Dr. Bialystok, 62, a distinguished research professor of psychology at […]

LA Times cites Professor Ellen Bialystok in bilingualism story

Neuroscience researchers are increasingly coming to a consensus that bilingualism has many positive consequences for the brain, wrote the Los Angeles Times Feb. 26, in story that also appeared in the Chicago Tribune and on numerous US television news websites. Several such researchers travelled to this month’s annual meeting of the American Association for the […]

Professor Ellen Bialystok's report on Alzheimer's and bilingualism makes world headlines

Mastering a second language can pump up your brain in ways that seem to delay getting Alzheimer's disease later on, scientists said Friday, wrote The Associated Press and The Canadian Press Feb. 18 [via sympatico.ca], in a story that was featured in reports by more than 300 newspapers, television stations and radio stations around the […]

Professor Ellen Bialystok co-authors CIHR-funded study on Alzheimer's and bilingualism

A team of Canadian researchers, including a York University professor, has uncovered further evidence that bilingualism can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s by up to five years. The study, published today in the journal Neurology, follows up on a 2007 study led by York University, which found that lifelong use of two or more languages […]

Toronto Star covers York-Baycrest research collaboration on Alzheimer's disease and bilingualism

Bilingual speakers can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and its symptoms for between four and five years, according to studies conducted by researchers at Toronto’s Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest, wrote the Toronto Star Oct. 15 : In a soon to be published study three researchers from Baycrest – Ellen Bialystok, Fergus Craik and […]

Professor Ellen Bialystok interviewed in The Wall Street Journal about building more resilient brains

A lifetime of speaking two or more languages appears to pay off in old age, with recent research showing the symptoms of dementia can be delayed by an average of four years in bilingual people, wrote The Wall Street Journal online Oct. 11: Over time, regularly speaking more than one language appears to strengthen skills […]

History Professor Marcel Martel: RCMP had files on Canadians for or against bilingualism during 1960s and 1970s

What few people realize when looking at French and English language rights issues across the country is that the RCMP were instructed to open files on individuals and organizations both for and against bilingualism in the 1960s and 1970s, says York history Professor Marcel Martel, co-author of a new book. “It raises some serious questions,” […]

Killam Prize winner Professor Ellen Bialystok interviewed by Globe & Mail

Professor Ellen Bialystok was interviewed by The Globe and Mail April 14 about winning the Killam Prize and her award-winning research in bilingualism and brain development across the human lifespan: Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology Ellen Bialystok, of York's Faculty of Health, is one of five scholars to be awarded this year’s Killam Prize in […]