How some patients lose their second language and rediscover their first

by David Murphy, Aedin Ni Loingsigh, Ingeborg Birnie and Thomas H Bak,

Bilingualism and dementia: how some patients lose their second language and rediscover their first
Being bilingual can delay onset of dementia, but sometimes patients revert to their mother tongue, leaving them isolated. Credit: Shutterstock

For many people with dementia, memories of early childhood appear more vivid than their fragile sense of the present. But what happens when the present is experienced through a different language than the one spoken in childhood? And how might carers and care homes cope with the additional level of complexity in looking after bilingual people living with dementia?

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