Latest news with #LucinaUddin
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
How multilingualism may boost cognitive skills in children with autism
Recent research suggests that children with autism spectrum disorder may experience significant cognitive benefits from growing up in multilingual environments, according to a study by University of California, Los Angeles Health researchers. The study, published in Autism Research, reveals that children from multilingual households, both with and without autism, demonstrated enhanced executive function capabilities compared to their peers in monolingual households. These improvements encompassed crucial skills such as attention control, cognitive flexibility, and social perspective-taking, LA Post reports Dr. Lucina Uddin, professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA Health and director of the UCLA Brain Connectivity and Cognition Laboratory, led the investigation. "Speaking multiple languages, whether or not you have a diagnosis of autism, is associated with better inhibition, better shifting or flexibility, and better ability to take perspective," Dr. Uddin said. The research team examined more than 100 children between the ages of seven and 12, including both autistic and non-autistic participants from monolingual and multilingual households. Most multilingual families in the study communicated in Spanish and English at home. Parents assessed their children's executive function abilities through comprehensive surveys. The assessment focused on three key areas of executive function: inhibition control, working memory, and cognitive shifting. Researchers also evaluated core autism-related traits, including social communication skills and repetitive behavior patterns. Data analysis revealed that multilingual exposure correlated with enhanced inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility across both autistic and non-autistic groups. Dr. Uddin explained the mechanism behind these improvements: "If you have to juggle two languages, you have to suppress one in order to use the other. That's the idea, that inhibition might be bolstered by knowing two languages." The findings challenged previous concerns about potential language development delays in autistic children exposed to multiple languages. Instead, the research indicated no adverse effects and suggested possible developmental advantages. "The big takeaway is we do not see any negative effects of speaking multiple languages in the home," Dr. Uddin said. "It is actually beneficial to celebrate all the languages associated with your culture." Building on these promising results, Dr. Uddin and her team are expanding their research. A new study will involve approximately 150 children with autism and incorporate additional executive function assessments, language evaluations, and brain imaging techniques to deepen understanding of how multilingualism affects neurodevelopment in autism. The research contributes to a growing body of evidence supporting the cognitive benefits of multilingual exposure during childhood development, particularly for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. This story was produced by the LA Post and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Multilingual children have better executive function skills, study finds
Speaking more than one language may benefit children's executive function - especially those with autism spectrum disorder, a recent analysis suggests. The study, published in Autism Research, looked at 116 children ages 7 through 12. Of those, 53 had autism spectrum disorder and 63 did not, though four children were later excluded. Twenty-one of the children with ASD spoke more than one language, and 35 of the typically developing children were multilingual. Most of the multilingual children spoke English and Spanish, though some spoke Portuguese, Hebrew, French, Japanese or Bulgarian in addition to English. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. The researchers tested the children's executive function abilities and asked parents to fill out questionnaires assessing autism symptoms such as perspective taking - the ability to understand perspectives other than one's own - and social communication. The multilingual children all demonstrated better executive function than their counterparts who spoke just one language, regardless of whether they were on the autism spectrum. But the effect was stronger for multilingual kids with ASD diagnoses, who had significantly higher impulse control than their single-language counterparts on the autism spectrum. The research also found a 'direct and indirect association between multilingualism and perspective taking.' This could be because people who speak more than one language must assess social cues to decide which language to speak or that their knowledge of more than one language comes with a higher ability to understand language itself, the researchers said. Multilingual children's executive functions could be honed by the need to choose the right language to speak, the researchers write. 'If you have to juggle two languages, you have to suppress one in order to use the other,' Lucina Uddin, who was a professor at the University of Miami during the research, said in a news release. 'That's the idea, that inhibition - or the ability to stop yourself from doing something - might be bolstered by knowing two languages,' said Uddin, now a professor of psychiatry and developmental psychology at UCLA. Encouraging multilingualism at home could benefit kids with autism spectrum disorders, the researchers conclude, and could even provide a 'natural intervention' for some types of executive function. Related Content My mom died in 2020. I just found 86 unheard voicemails from her on my phone. In Idaho, a preview of RFK Jr.'s vaccine-skeptical America Circles of life
