Researchers Identify Link between Bilingualism and Cognitive Efficiency
An international team of researchers, including scholars from HSE University, has discovered that knowledge of a foreign language can improve memory performance and increase automaticity when solving complex tasks. The higher a person’s language proficiency, the stronger the effect. The results have been published in the journal Brain and Cognition.
Cognitive efficiency refers to the ability to use one’s mental resources optimally when learning or carrying out different tasks. It includes such processes as attention, memory, speech, and the capacity to switch between tasks. According to previous studies, speaking two or more languages enhances cognitive efficiency because it requires constantly switching between several linguistic systems without mixing them up.
Researchers from Russia, Norway, and Italy, together with scientists from the HSE Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, examined how cognitive efficiency manifests in bilinguals. They conducted an experiment involving 45 Russian-speaking bilinguals aged 18 to 34 who were learning English. The participants completed a series of tests using the n-back task. This is a sequence of exercises presented as a computer game designed to test working memory: players must track a sequence of stimuli and determine when the current stimulus matches the one shown n steps earlier. The task has several difficulty levels—from 0 to 3, depending on how many steps back the comparison is made. In this experiment, the stimuli were Russian consonants: Б, Г, Ж, К, Л, М, П, Ф, Ч, Ш. The results were assessed by accuracy, reaction time, and the speed/accuracy ratio.
It turned out that participants with a higher level of English proficiency as their second language showed a smaller drop in accuracy and speed when completing high-difficulty tasks. At the same time, no differences were found when solving simpler tasks (n-back from 0 to 2).
‘Cognitive efficiency is the ability to do a lot while spending little. But to assess it, one must look not only at the ratio between completed tasks and resources spent. It is important to vary task difficulty and observe how the brain copes with the load,’ explained one of the study’s authors, Federico Gallo, Research Fellow at the HSE Cognitive Health and Intelligence Centre. ‘During the experiment, we saw that bilinguals maintain high working-memory performance—both in terms of speed and accuracy—even when task difficulty increases, which is a sign of cognitive efficiency.’
The researchers note that the strength of the positive effect of bilingualism increased as the cognitive load grew. ‘This can be explained by the fact that the participants were young adults—their cognitive abilities are naturally high due to their age. Therefore, when performing simpler tasks, bilingualism had no chance to show its effects, as the brain did not require additional resources. But when the load increased, we saw a different picture,’ Federico Gallo said.
More experienced bilinguals also displayed distinct patterns in the speed/accuracy trade-off depending on task difficulty. Among those with weaker second-language proficiency, the trade-off shifted towards accuracy at levels 1 and 2 (when they had to recall what appeared one or two steps earlier) and shifted back towards speed at level 3 (when participants recalled what appeared three steps earlier). In more advanced bilinguals, the shift towards accuracy occurred only at the 2-back level and persisted at the 3-back level. This indicates greater automatisation of working-memory processes in experienced bilinguals.
‘While some results were also tied to how early individuals acquired their second language, others—and the majority of the effects reported—were linked to second-language proficiency, independently of the age of acquisition. This suggests that is never too late to acquire a second language and obtain this type of cognitive benefits,’ Federico Gallo commented.
Federico Gallo
See also:
Physicists at HSE University and FIAN Discover Way to 'Photograph' Sound for Testing Materials Used in 6G Communications
Researchers at HSE University, in collaboration with colleagues from the Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FIAN), have developed a method for rapidly determining how firmly a film is bonded to a substrate. This is important for the creation of ultrahigh-frequency acoustic filters, which are key components of next-generation 5G and 6G communications. For the first time, researchers have succeeded in measuring the lateral rigidity of the bond between a two-dimensional material film and a substrate in this way. The study results have been published in Applied Physics Letters.
Scientists Create Open Dataset for Studying Concentration
A team of Russian researchers, including scientists from HSE University–St Petersburg, has developed the first open multimodal dataset containing recordings of brain activity, heart function, and video observations to help researchers understand what happens in the human brain during deep concentration. In the future, the dataset could accelerate the development of neural interfaces, rehabilitation technologies, and AI systems. The article has been published in Scientific Data.
Scientists Propose Method for More Efficient Resource Use in Machine Learning
An international group of researchers, including mathematicians from the AI and Digital Science Institute at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science, has provided a theoretical justification for a simple and computationally efficient method of estimating uncertainty in Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD). The paper has been published on the scientific preprint server arXiv.org and presented at AISTATS 2026.
HSE University to Launch New AI Supercomputer
HSE University is preparing to launch its second supercomputer. The new cluster will be primarily dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI) workloads and will complement the existing cHARISMa supercomputer. It is scheduled to become operational by the end of 2026.
Team Success: Aligning Means with Objectives
In corporations, sports, and academia, people often face challenges they cannot handle alone. In such cases, selecting the right team is crucial. Tatiana Mayskaya, Associate Professor at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences and the International College of Economics and Finance, together with colleagues from foreign universities, examined team characteristics and found that less diverse teams are better suited to objectives where a high average performance is important, whereas more diverse teams are preferable when avoiding failure is critical. The paper has been published in Economic Theory.
HSE MIEM Students to Develop Two Satellites from Scratch for Orbital Experiments
The devices, created by student teams, will conduct space research on the properties of promising solar cells, on-board energy storage systems, and serial electronics for student satellites.
Economists Propose More Effective Approach to Reducing Smoking
Economists at HSE University have examined how smokers respond to changes in cigarette prices. When tobacco prices increase, cigarette consumption does not always decline. In fact, spending on tobacco may even rise: according to the researchers, a 1% decrease in cigarette affordability leads to a 0.28% increase in per capita tobacco expenditure. The findings suggest that to reduce smoking rates, tobacco prices must rise faster than household incomes. The study has been published in Voprosy Statistiki.
Biologists Discover Unique Properties of MiR-93-5p MicroRNA in Prostate Cancer
Researchers at the International Laboratory of Microphysiological Systems of the HSE Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology investigated how different isoforms of the same microRNA influence gene function in prostate adenocarcinoma. The study found that in some cases, microRNAs can reinforce each other’s effects by targeting and suppressing the same genes. This finding offers a fresh perspective on the molecular mechanisms underlying tumour development and on the search for disease biomarkers. The results have been published in PeerJ.
HSE Researchers Provide the World’s First Legal Definition of a Digital Ecosystem
Digital ecosystems have evolved from a technological innovation into a fundamental institution of the modern economy over the past few years. According to HSE University’s latest estimates, they account for 8.5% of Russia’s GDP. Previously, no jurisdiction had a statutory definition of what constitutes a digital ecosystem. HSE University researchers have addressed this gap by proposing the first legal concept of a digital ecosystem. Their article, ‘The Digital Ecosystem as a Novel Economic Phenomenon and Legal Concept,’ has been published in the BRICS Law Journal.
HSE Economists Use Search Queries to Forecast Birth Rates
Researchers from the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences have shown that the accuracy of birth rate forecasts for Russia can be improved by almost 50% by incorporating the dynamics of online search queries related to pregnancy and childbirth into forecasting models. In the best-performing models, the forecasting error fell from 4.6% to 3.2%. The findings have been published in Populations and Economics.