--- title: "Language skills stay strong in older adults, even while other cognitive abilities decline" url: https://daily.dev/posts/language-skills-stay-strong-in-older-adults-even-while-other-cognitive-abilities-decline-fo3zityyc source_url: https://news.mit.edu/2026/language-skills-stay-strong-older-adults-even-while-other-cognitive-abilities-decline-0824 type: article source: "MIT News" published: 2026-08-24T09:06:17.806Z updated: 2026-08-24T09:06:34.043Z tags: ["cognitive-science"] reading_time: 6 upvotes: 1 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Language skills stay strong in older adults, even while other cognitive abilities decline **[MIT News](https://daily.dev/sources/mit)** · 6 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A brain imaging study from MIT and Boston University found that the brain's language processing network shows nearly identical activity patterns in older adults compared to younger adults, unlike the multiple demand network (involved in executive functions like working memory and decision-making), which shows significant decline with age. Researchers used tasks isolating each network and found the language network remained well-synchronized and unblurred with the multiple demand network in older subjects, while the multiple demand network showed reduced synchronization and activation. The findings suggest specialized brain functions like language may be more resilient to aging than flexible, general-purpose executive systems. The study appears in Nature Communications. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Language development in the brain](https://daily.dev/posts/language-development-in-the-brain-lgh4mpfcd) · MIT News · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [The brain’s language network is more extensive than previously thought](https://daily.dev/posts/the-brain-s-language-network-is-more-extensive-than-previously-thought-aec4nb4sn) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [A satellite language network in the brain](https://daily.dev/posts/a-satellite-language-network-in-the-brain-ie3uetggb) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#cognitive-science](https://daily.dev/tags/cognitive-science) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/language-skills-stay-strong-in-older-adults-even-while-other-cognitive-abilities-decline-fo3zityyc)