Brain Health: Medical studies now indicate that the part of the brain that controls language function is improved through the learning of a foreign language. More recent studies also indicate that learning a foreign language late in life appears to delay dementia and Alzheimer’s. An important study by Dr. Thomas Bak at the University of Edinburgh and replicated at the Perleman Medical School at the U. of Pennsylvania show that the attention mechanisms of the brain area “stretched” and kept active when older adults work on learning a foreign language.