Speaking multiple languages has been linked to Alzheimer’s symptoms appearing several years later. That is a striking finding, but it leaves an important question unanswered: what is it about multilingual life that might help the brain stay resilient for longer?

The Veni project looks beyond the simple label “multilingual” and focuses on the richness of people’s everyday language experiences: which languages they use, with whom, how often they switch between them, and how they move between different linguistic and cultural contexts. Using MRI, the project will examine which of these experiences are most clearly related to the way the brain is organised, and use this to develop a new, brain-informed measure of multilingualism. It will then test whether the same experiences are linked to better-preserved brain organisation and cognitive functioning in people with Alzheimer’s disease.

The aim is to identify which parts of multilingual life may give the brain the greatest “resilience boost”, moving the field from the promising idea that multilingualism matters to clearer evidence about what matters, for whom, and why, and, in time, to practical ways of supporting healthier ageing.

Veni is aimed at newly promoted researchers. Researchers eligible for a Veni grant have academic qualities that clearly exceed what is usual.