Historian Nicholas Rogers and mathematician Jianhong Wu were named distinguished research professors for sustained and outstanding scholarly, professional or artistic achievement largely accomplished at 91亚色.聽聽

Political scientist David Dewitt and education scholar Don Dippo were named University professors for extraordinary contributions to 91亚色 as colleagues, teachers and scholars.

The following profiles are based on citations given at convocation ceremonies in June:

Distinguished Research Professors

Nicholas Rogers (right) is one of the world鈥檚 leading scholars of the political culture of 18th-century British and Atlantic worlds.

In his writing, Rogers blends keen insights into the nature and operation of the early modern state with a detailed understanding of the social and cultural contexts in which it functioned. He has explored a remarkably diverse range of topics, from reactions to press gangs in British ports to religious conflicts amongst London鈥檚 crowds, from food riots to public reactions to blunders made by admirals, and even the genealogy of Halloween festivities. His compelling prose, intellectual rigour, powers of synthesis and painstaking archival research has allowed him to produce works that have served as models for subsequent writers on these and other topics.聽

In 1999, Rogers was awarded the Wallace Ferguson Prize for his book Crowds, Culture and Politics in Georgian Britain, a study of 18th-century Britain that fundamentally transformed our understanding of early modern Britain and prompted historians to reconsider how they treat the interplay between politics and culture. He brilliantly and persuasively mapped the pathways of political power and identified those who opposed, resisted and deflected its effects.

Jianhong Wu (left) is best known for his groundbreaking work on the application of mathematical modelling to the epidemiology of infectious diseases and was instrumental in establishing the MITACS Centre for Disease Modelling at 91亚色. This research has had a direct impact upon public health policy in Canada and abroad. After the SARS crisis in Toronto he was asked to establish a national working group on disease modelling and since then his research has advanced our understanding of H1N1, West Nile virus and avian influenza, to name but a few.

Wu joined 91亚色 in 1990, and was named Canada Research Chair in Industrial and Applied Mathematics in 2001. He has made fundamental advances in a number of seemingly disparate areas, from wave theory to neural network theory to differential equations and his intellectual achievements have made him an international leader in the field of applied mathematics. His career exemplifies 91亚色鈥檚 emphasis on interdisciplinarity and on the application of research to real-time issues.

University Professors

Since political scientist David Dewitt (right) joined 91亚色 in 1984, he has demonstrated the utmost commitment to 91亚色 through his scholarship and outstanding service to other researchers, and in his two terms as the associate vice-president (AVP) of research in the humanities and social sciences.

Dewitt is a widely respected expert on human security and was instrumental in establishing the 91亚色 Centre for International & Security Studies. At the heart of his research into arms proliferation, conflicts in the Asian Pacific and the Middle East and national defence policies have always been a concern for managing conflict and the safety of peoples. He has passed these essential concerns on in his mentoring and supervision of generations of graduate students and junior faculty.

As AVP, he has been pivotal in transforming 91亚色鈥檚 research culture. He has been a motivating force in improving service support for researchers, increasing the number of external grants, creating facilities for organized research units and establishing an influential 91亚色 presence on national research councils. In all of these endeavours he has been mindful that research is not the exclusive preserve of those in science, engineering and medicine. His constant attention to 91亚色鈥檚 enduring research strength in the humanities and social sciences has made him an ideal ambassador both to this University and for research and scholarship in all fields of human knowledge.

Don Dippo (right)聽has made an extraordinary contribution to the University as a colleague, teacher, mentor and scholar. He has played an important, consistent and multifaceted role in the development of the Faculty of Education and to 91亚色. Through his teaching, administration and scholarship, he has also helped others learn how and why community engagement matters.

Before he joined 91亚色 in 1987, Dippo was an elementary school teacher specializing in music. He has brought the same skills, knowledge, dedication, patience and energy he used as a teacher to his academic life to great and wide acclaim.

Dippo has served as graduate program director and twice as associate dean of preservice education. He has spearheaded new initiatives and educational innovations dedicated to enhancing social justice and inclusivity. He has encouraged advanced study that will transform lives and communities. And he has posed urgent and difficult questions.

Dippo devotes long hours to initiatives that involve schools and community organizations. He is actively affiliated with 91亚色鈥檚 Centre for Refugee Studies. He is sought out by graduate students who enjoy his lively mind and capacious scholarly reach.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Her good news: Among other benefits, the regular use of two languages appears to delay the onset of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease symptoms. Dr. Bialystok, 62, a distinguished research professor of psychology at 91亚色 [Faculty of Health] in Toronto, was for her contributions to social science. We spoke for two hours in a Washington hotel room in February and again, more recently, by telephone. An edited version of the two conversations follows.

Q. How did you begin studying bilingualism?

A. You know, I didn鈥檛 start trying to find out whether bilingualism was bad or good. I did my doctorate in psychology: on how children acquire language. When I finished graduate school, in 1976, there was a job shortage in Canada for PhDs. The only position I found was with a research project studying second language acquisition in school children. It wasn鈥檛 my area. But it was close enough.

As a psychologist, I brought neuroscience questions to the study, like 鈥淗ow does the acquisition of a second language change thought?鈥� It was these types of questions that naturally led to the bilingualism research. The way research works is, it takes you down a road. You then follow that road.

Q. So what exactly did you find on this unexpected road?

A. As we did our research, you could see there was a big difference in the way monolingual and bilingual children processed language. We found that if you gave 5- and 6-year-olds language problems to solve, monolingual and bilingual children knew, pretty much, the same amount of language.

But on one question, there was a difference. We asked all the children if a certain illogical sentence was grammatically correct: 鈥淎pples grow on noses.鈥� The monolingual children couldn鈥檛 answer. They鈥檇 say, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 silly鈥� and they鈥檇 stall. But the bilingual children would say, in their own words, 鈥淚t鈥檚 silly, but it鈥檚 grammatically correct.鈥� The bilinguals, we found, manifested a cognitive system with the ability to attend to important information and ignore the less important.

Q. How does this work聽鈥� do you understand it?

A. Yes. There鈥檚 a system in your brain, the executive control system. It鈥檚 a general manager. Its job is to keep you focused on what is relevant, while ignoring distractions. It鈥檚 what makes it possible for you to hold two different things in your mind at one time and switch between them.

If you have two languages and you use them regularly, the way the brain鈥檚 networks work is that every time you speak, both languages pop up and the executive control system has to sort through everything and attend to what鈥檚 relevant in the moment. Therefore the bilinguals use that system more, and it鈥檚 that regular use that makes that system more efficient.

Q. One of your most startling recent findings is that bilingualism helps forestall the symptoms of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. How did you come to learn this?

A. We did two kinds of studies. In the first, published in 2004, we found that normally aging bilinguals had better cognitive functioning than normally aging monolinguals. Bilingual older adults performed better than monolingual older adults on executive control tasks. That was very impressive because it didn鈥檛 have to be that way. It could have turned out that everybody just lost function equally as they got older.

That evidence made us look at people who didn鈥檛 have normal cognitive function. In our next studies, we looked at the medical records of 400 Alzheimer鈥檚 patients. On average, the bilinguals showed Alzheimer鈥檚 symptoms five or six years later than those who spoke only one language. This didn鈥檛 mean that the bilinguals didn鈥檛 have Alzheimer鈥檚. It meant that as the disease took root in their brains, they were able to continue functioning at a higher level. They could cope with the disease for longer.

Q. So high school French is useful for something other than ordering a special meal in a restaurant?

A. Sorry, no. You have to use both languages all the time. You won鈥檛 get the bilingual benefit from occasional use.

Q. One would think bilingualism might help with multitasking 鈥� does it?

A. Yes, multitasking is one of the things the executive control system handles. We wondered, 鈥淎re bilinguals better at multitasking?鈥� So we put monolinguals and bilinguals into a driving simulator. Through headphones, we gave them extra tasks to do 鈥� as if they were driving and talking on cellphones. We then measured how much worse their driving got. Now, everybody鈥檚 driving got worse. But the bilinguals, their driving didn鈥檛 drop as much. Because adding on another task while trying to concentrate on a driving problem, that鈥檚 what bilingualism gives you 鈥� though I wouldn鈥檛 advise doing this.

Q. Has the development of new neuroimaging technologies changed your work?

A. Tremendously. It used to be that we could only see what parts of the brain lit up when our subjects performed different tasks. Now, with the new technologies, we can see how all the brain structures work in accord with each other.

In terms of monolinguals and bilinguals, the big thing that we have found is that the connections are different. So we have monolinguals solving a problem, and they use X systems, but when bilinguals solve the same problem, they use others. One of the things we鈥檝e seen is that on certain kinds of even nonverbal tests, bilingual people are faster. Why? Well, when we look in their brains through neuroimaging, it appears like they鈥檙e using a different kind of a network that might include language centres to solve a completely nonverbal problem. Their whole brain appears to rewire because of bilingualism.

Q. Bilingualism used to be considered a negative thing 鈥� at least in the United States. Is it still?

A. Until about the 1960s, the conventional wisdom was that bilingualism was a disadvantage. Some of this was xenophobia. Thanks to science, we now know that the opposite is true.

Q. Many immigrants choose not to teach their children their native language. Is this a good thing?

A. I鈥檓 asked about this all the time. People e-mail me and say, 鈥淚鈥檓 getting married to someone from another culture, what should we do with the children?鈥� I always say, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e sitting on a potential gift.鈥�

There are two major reasons people should pass their heritage language onto children. First, it connects children to their ancestors. The second is my research: Bilingualism is good for you. It makes brains stronger. It is brain exercise.

Q. Are you bilingual?

A. Well, I have fully bilingual grandchildren because my daughter married a Frenchman. When my daughter announced her engagement to her French boyfriend, we were a little surprised. It鈥檚 always astonishing when your child announces she鈥檚 getting married. She said, 鈥淏ut Mom, it鈥檒l be fine, our children will be bilingual!鈥�

Bialystok also holds an appointment at in Toronto. Her interview was featured on the front page of The New 91亚色 Times and was the site's most emailed story on May 31, 2011.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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This intensive -funded international workshop will take place Thursday, May 26 to Saturday, May 28 in the Research Tower on the聽Keele campus.

The event is by invitation only and not open to the public. However, detailed information, including聽the full list of presentations and abstracts can be聽viewed by visiting the New Constitutionalism and World Order website.聽Following聽the events, the website will be used to provide publication and other information.

Right: Stephen Gill

The workshop will be one component of the International Political Economy and Ecology Graduate Summer School, hosted by 91亚色 graduate programs in political science, geography and environmental studies, that has been taking place since May 16.

Some of the speakers at the workshop will include:

• Richard Falk, the Albert G. Millbank Professor Emeritus of International Law & Politics at Princeton University and a Visiting Distinguished Research Professor聽in Global & International Studies聽at the University of California, Santa Barbara
• 91亚色 political science Professor , a current Trudeau Fellow
• sociology, social and cultural analysis Professor Neil Brenner of New 91亚色
• Tim DiMuzio, a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre of Excellence in Global Governance Research at the University of Helsinki
• current Trudeau Fellow Janine Brodie, Canada Research Chair in Political Economy & Social Governance at the University of Alberta.

Each presentation will be followed by a Q聽& A where the workshop participants can engage with the presenters.

New constitutionalism refers to the complex of politico-juridical and constitutional frameworks, regulations and rights that have emerged as key mechanisms of global governance to regulate political economy, society and ecology in the era of neo-liberal capitalism.

Some of the questions the participants and聽students will discuss include: What are the main transformations occurring in governance arrangements for the global political economy? What legitimacy concerns are raised by new constitutionalism in the context of the deepest crisis of global capitalism since the 1930s? Is there evidence of the emergence of, or conceptualization of, alternative forms of constitutionalism and world order?

Substantial evidence, says Gill, suggests that new constitutionalism is a key feature of the present world economic order, exemplified in organizations such as the , and in the emergence of independent central banks, each of which have been largely premised on neo-liberal development models. These developments have coincided with the global expansion of capitalism and the extension of private property rights and a proliferation in private governance mechanisms.

However, the recent deep crisis of accumulation has called into question the legitimacy and sustainability of these arrangements, prompting critical reflection on alternative forms of constitutionalism and global governance and questions concerning the potential shape of the emerging world order.

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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91亚色 Professor Emeritus John S. Saul and 91亚色 Distinguished Research Professor in African history and Canada Research Chair Paul Lovejoy will be presented with the awards during the opening reception of the conference of the Canadian Association of African Studies 鈥� Africa Here; Africa There 鈥� at 91亚色 May 5 to 7.

As 91亚色 history Professor Jos茅 C. Curto, co-organizer of the conference along with sociology Professor聽Ratiba Hadj-Moussa, says, 鈥淭hey鈥檝e spent a lifetime fighting, in one way or another, for Africa. You can鈥檛 get any better than them.鈥�

Right: John S. Saul

President of the CAAS Dennis Cordell聽wrote that聽Saul鈥檚 research achievements, along with his 鈥渄eep and long-standing commitment to the struggle for equity, equality and human rights in Africa鈥� are legion. He also pointed to Lovejoy鈥檚 鈥渨onderful abilities to teach and mentor鈥� students and younger colleagues.

Left: Paul Lovejoy

Lovejoy says the award is significant to him 鈥渂ecause of the recognition of my contribution to understanding the history of people of African descent especially so since this is the UN International Year for People of African Descent and my personal commitment to exposing the crime of the 鈥榮lave route鈥� and seeking reconciliation that can only be based on truth about the past.鈥�

In addition to receiving lifetime achievement awards, both Saul and Lovejoy will launch books in conjunction with the conference Saturday, May 7, at Accents on Eglinton Bookstore, 1790 Eglinton Ave. W., Toronto. Saul鈥檚 Liberation Lite: The Roots of Recolonization in Southern Africa (Three Essay Collective) will launch beginning at 6:30pm, followed by The Harriet Tubman Institute Series of which Lovejoy is the general series editor at 7pm. There are 10 books in the Tubman series, including Slavery, Islam and Diaspora; Africa, Brazil and the Construction of Trans Atlantic Black Identities; and Africa and the Americas: Interconnections During the Slave Trade.

Liberation Lite is comprised of聽five essays. 鈥淭he theme I鈥檓 emphasizing is that of liberation as a multiplex concept,鈥� says Saul. His definition of liberation would include race, nation, class and gender, but also a democratically empowered voice. "Others in Africa and elsewhere聽have come to define liberation only in terms of the narrow construct of national independence."

Saul says liberation has to be multidimensional to be a useful concept. 鈥淲e expected the liberation struggle would yield more than that,鈥� more than simply national liberation, but also class, race and gender freedom.聽聽It is not simply an emphasis that聽"we white lefties had dreamt up and聽taken over to Africa. We learned it there. We learned it there from Mozambique's Eduardo Mondlane, FRELIMO's first president, for example.鈥� As it stands, 鈥渓iberation has been pretty light and those who are concerned have to figure out how to deepen and enrich聽it,鈥� he says. He also takes a聽critical stance towards global capitalism and corporate imperialism, and what he calls聽the "re-colonizing" of Africa by a new "empire of聽capital". In consequence, the concluding essay looks at why socialism still has significant resonance and merit in southern Africa and beyond.

Saul has published聽some 19聽books, including Revolutionary Traveller: Freeze Frames from a Life (Arbeiter Ring, 2009) (see YFile, Jan. 13, 2010), Development after Globalization: Theory and Practice for the Embattled South in a New Imperial Age (Fernwood Publishing, 2006) and Decolonization and Empire: Contesting the Rhetoric and Reality of Resubordination in Southern Africa and Beyond (Fernwood Publishing, 2008).

He is hard at work on three more books. He says the lifetime achievement award聽may well be聽an acknowledgement of his body of work, but聽he is also accepting it 鈥渙n behalf of all those who have worked diligently in support of聽South African-related struggles over the years, as well as against Canada's own complicity 鈥� that is, our government and corporations too often being on the wrong side of such struggles there.鈥� In 2004,聽Saul was elected fellow of the .

Last year, Lovejoy received the Distinguished Africanist Research Excellence Award from the University of Texas at Austin for his dedication, lifetime of service and contributions to the discipline. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History, and has dedicated his career to researching and teaching African history.

For more information, visit the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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"If a child is bullied at home by his or her parents or siblings, they鈥檙e going to learn the patterns they need to learn about the use of power and aggression in relationships," says Debra Pepler [Distinguished Research Professor in psychology at 91亚色鈥檚 LaMarsh Centre for Child & Youth Research].

These "children who are morally disengaged tend to think that the other child is just deserving of it, that they鈥檙e not human. They really disregard that child鈥檚 basic rights."

Pepler, who works at 91亚色 [Faculty of Health] and the in Toronto, co-founded the Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network.

She says that for most kids, bullying or being bullied are minor problems that pass with time. But 10 to 15 per cent require extra support, and chronic bullies need help from mental health experts.

Pepler found that "85 per cent of the time, we saw bullying in the schoolyard or in the classroom, other children are there, and they form the audience for bullying and they reinforce the child who is bullying."

Her findings show that chronic bullies are more likely to skip school, abuse substances, sexually harass others, use violence in romantic relationships and eventually get into crime.

"They don鈥檛 have that voice inside that says, 鈥業s this a good idea, should I do this?鈥� They鈥檙e really willing to go along to keep their friends, to keep their status, and do all sorts of negative things when they鈥檙e exposed to peer pressure. If we wanted to identify and help those children who are going to cost society the most in terms of criminal behaviour . . . we would be looking at the children who are involved in high rates of bullying."

These kids "probably need mental health services, (and) they and their families need a lot of support around how to develop the social-emotional capacity for healthy relationships." Schools need to keep track of every occurrence of bullying and focus their resources on the chronic bullies, she says.

Combating the stigma against reporting bullying to adults requires re-educating both children and adults, Pepler says.

"Children have a responsibility to tell when it鈥檚 happening, either to (teachers) or to someone else, because it violates a child鈥檚 rights, to be bullied. A child who is bullied isn鈥檛 safe, and similarly a child who bullies others is really in need of help."

This approach also helps combat cyberbullying because "the children who are cyberbullying are the children who traditionally bully," Pepler says.

She says teaching math and literacy is different from teaching kids how to interact positively. "Two plus two always equals four, and Cat on the Mat always looks the same, but social-emotional development is hugely complex," she says.

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"I'm optimistic about the explosion that's happened in Wisconsin," says Leo Panitch, a political science professor at 91亚色 [Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies]. "For the first time in a long time, the Canadian left is looking south, rather than the other way."

But he's loath to make too many claims for a new dawn rising: "The craziness and mindlessness of so much of what is going on in the American right may 鈥� and I'm very cautious about this 鈥� it may lead to the same kind of sensibilities that produced a radical new left in the sixties."

Says Panitch, "It's much more complicated now. It's not easy to organize these days when you don't have masses of workers brought together in a big factory and they aren't living in the same part of the city. A lot of people now who are exploited and poorly paid are working in funky areas like producing software or advertising."

Two years ago, he wrote a piece for Foreign Policy magazine titled 鈥淭horoughly Modern Marx鈥� about how the post-crash world might possibly (though by no means inevitably) see a rebirth in radical thinking. That, of course, has not happened 鈥� in fact, the political left has suffered setbacks and since 2008, centre-right parties have gained power in Europe.

Panitch is the Canada Research Chair in Comparative Political Economy and a Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

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Embleton was nominated by 91亚色 Vice-President Academic聽& Provost Patrick Monahan for her leadership in being 鈥渁 strong proponent for internationalization鈥� and for providing a 鈥渂road and deep foundation on which we can build.鈥�

Right: Sheila Embleton

鈥淚'm thrilled at the award, and thrilled to be part of the team that has really moved 91亚色, in the last decade, from being 鈥榠n the pack鈥� as far as international is concerned, to being an undoubted leader in Canada,鈥� said a delighted Embleton.

鈥淚t was during her term [as vice-president academic聽from 2000 to 2009] that her greatest impact was felt,鈥� Monahan noted in his nomination document. 鈥淪he created the position of associate vice-president聽international and appointed its first incumbent [Adrian Shubert]. She also created an annual competition for funds, in order to stimulate and promote innovative international projects in support of research, teaching and the student experience. Under [her] leadership in partnership with the AVPI, 91亚色鈥檚 position as a leader in Canada in internationalization was enhanced and solidified.鈥�

Some of Embleton鈥檚 accomplishments in this area聽include: expansion of 91亚色鈥檚 language curriculum, supporting the establishment of the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) award-winning 91亚色 International Internship Program (YIIP); establishment of the 91亚色 International Mobility Award to help support students with exchange and study abroad expenses; establishment of numerous exchange agreements with universities abroad; helping to聽introduce the Letter of Recognition program as a complement to a student鈥檚 academic record; helping expand the CBIE award-winning Emerging Global Leadership Program聽 into the Caribbean; and contributing to the development of聽a number of programs incorporating international dimensions and opportunities including the international bachelor of science聽and bachelor of arts聽programs.

She聽has also played an important role as an adviser to numerous government agencies聽and has helped develop and strengthen 91亚色's global academic ties,聽in India in particular. She spent a year as president of the and is now president of the . She had a long and distinguished international career before she became the vice-president academic. In 1999 she was named a Knight First Class of the Order of the White Rose by the government of Finland for contributions to Canadian-Finnish relations; and in 2005 received the CBIE International Leadership Award.

鈥淚 truly believe internationalization enhances the University鈥檚 reputation. 91亚色 is actually quite well known and well respected in Germany and in India, for example,鈥� said Embleton. 鈥淏ut the real reason is for our students聽鈥� all that is said about needing to educate students to be the global citizens of tomorrow聽鈥� I think it's absolutely true, and absolutely essential to our students' futures, to get some solid exposure to things international now and to develop those competencies聽鈥� wherever they will end up working.鈥�

Award Ceremony to be held March 25

Embleton will receive her award at 91亚色 International鈥檚 annual Cultural Gala on March 25, along other members of the 91亚色 community recognized by 91亚色 International. Tickets are still available at their office at 200 91亚色 Lanes. Cost for each ticket is聽$5 and a donation of three non-perishable canned聽food items, or $10 without a donation.聽All canned food collected will be donated to the 91亚色 food bank.

"We are very pleased to present these awards to outstanding members from our University鈥檚 community,鈥澛爏aid , 91亚色鈥檚 associate vice-president international. 鈥淥nce again we have outstanding faculty, staff and students doing fabulous work to promote internationalization at 91亚色 and beyond our borders, too.

"Internationalization is pervasive and integral to all teaching and learning at 91亚色. These awards recognized people and groups that continue to raise the international profile of 91亚色,鈥� said Wright, who was聽a 91亚色 International faculty recipient in 2006-2007 when she was a professor at Schulich School of Business.

More information is available聽on the website.

Submitted by Edward Fenner, 91亚色 International

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These benefits come from having a brain that鈥檚 constantly juggling two 鈥� or even more 鈥� languages, said Ellen Bialystok, [Distinguished Research Professor in Psychology, ] at 91亚色 in Toronto, who spoke at the AAAS annual meeting. For instance, a person who speaks both Hindi and Tamil can鈥檛 turn Tamil off even if he鈥檚 speaking to only Hindi users, because the brain is constantly deciding which language is most appropriate for a given situation.

This constant back-and-forth between two linguistic systems means frequent exercise for the brain鈥檚 so-called executive control functions, located mainly in the prefrontal cortex. This is the part of the brain tasked with focusing one鈥檚 attention, ignoring distractions, holding multiple pieces of information in mind when trying to solve a problem, and then flipping back and forth between them.

鈥淚f you walk into a room, there are a million things that could attract your attention,鈥� Bialystok said. 鈥淗ow is it we manage to focus at all? How does our mind pay attention to what we need to pay attention to without getting distracted?鈥�

To test one鈥檚 ability to identify pertinent nuggets while being bombarded with extraneous information, scientists use something called the Stroop test. Subjects are presented with a word for a particular colour and asked to identify the colour of ink it鈥檚 printed in. So if the word is 鈥渂lue鈥� and it鈥檚 printed in blue, no problem. If, on the other hand, the word 鈥渂lue鈥� is printed in red, they have to sort out which piece of information 鈥� the colour of the ink, or the colour being spelled out 鈥� is the one they need.

鈥淭his is extremely hard to do, because it鈥檚 terribly difficult to block out the information from the word,鈥� Bialystok said.

In monolingual speakers, this kind of mental curveball will add 240 milliseconds to their reaction time 鈥� a significant delay, in brain reaction terms. Bilingual people, on the other hand, take just 160 extra milliseconds to sort this out. Bialystok theorizes that it鈥檚 because they鈥檙e used to prioritizing information in potentially confusing situations all day.alz

Those advantages aren鈥檛 just useful for schoolchildren 鈥� they last over the course of a lifetime. A study published last year in the journal Neurology surveyed 211 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer鈥檚 and found that those who spoke only one language saw the onset of their first symptoms four to five years earlier than their bilingual peers. While knowing two languages doesn鈥檛 fight the disease, it does strengthen those parts of the brain that are susceptible to dementia鈥檚 early attacks, allowing them to withstand the assault much longer.

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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The more proficient you become, the better, but "every little bit helps," said Ellen Bialystok, a psychology professor at 91亚色 [Faculty of Health].

Much of the study of bilingualism has centered on babies, as scientists wondered why simply speaking to infants in two languages allows them to learn both in the time it takes most babies to learn one. Their brains seem to become more flexible, better able to multi-task. As they grow up, their brains show better "executive control," a system key to higher functioning 鈥� as Bialystok puts it, "the most important part of your mind."

Bialystok studied 450 Alzheimer's patients, all of whom showed the same degree of impairment at the time of diagnosis. Half are bilingual 鈥� they've spoken two languages regularly for most of their lives. The rest are monolingual.

The bilingual patients had Alzheimer's symptoms and were diagnosed between four and five years later than the patients who spoke only one language, she told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Being bilingual does nothing to prevent Alzheimer's disease from striking. But once the disease does begin its silent attack, those years of robust executive control provide a buffer so that symptoms don't become apparent as quickly, Bialystok said. "They've been able to cope with the disease," she said.

Her work supports an earlier study from other researchers that also found a protective effect.

But people don't have to master a new language to benefit some, Bialystok said. Exercising your brain throughout life contributes to what's called "cognitive reserve", the overall ability to withstand the declines of aging and disease. That's the basis of the use-it-or-lose-it advice from aging experts, who also recommend such things as crossword puzzles to keep your brain nimble. "If you start to learn at 40, 50, 60, you are certainly keeping your brain active," she said.

Newspapers and online news sites around the world reported on Bialystok鈥檚 lecture remarks, including media across Canada, the US, Australia, Bangladesh, China, England, Iran, Ireland, India, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Qatar, South Africa, Scotland and Wales.

Bialystok鈥檚 study was also features in stories on radio and television stations around the world, including major networks in the US and Canada.

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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At the very least, it would be good to have been reassured that the bad old days when the business of garbage was so commonly associated with organized crime in many North American cities 鈥� not for nothing was Tony Soprano鈥檚 calling card that of a 鈥渨aste management consultant鈥� 鈥� is truly a thing of the past.

But even assuming that is so, just as there are questions properly being raised today, everywhere from Washington to Cairo, about the cozy relationships between businessmen and politicians, I am sure your readers would be grateful for a careful, balanced and objective analysis of just who owns the companies that are already profiting from the taxes people pay to have their garbage collected, and whether they have any personal, financial and political relationships with politicians, here or elsewhere.

We could use some investigation of the ecological implications too. As Heather Rodgers showed in her widely acclaimed important book Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage (New Press) an alignment of manufacturing and marketing forces have used environmental laws to help the US mega-鈥渨aste management鈥� corporations make mega-profits, while often using Third World countries, or poorer regions of our own society, as our garbage dump. Will privatizing Toronto鈥檚 garbage collection further contribute to this?

Finally, dare I suggest that some interviews with the workers of these companies would be worth doing to see what they have to say about their conditions and whether they consider themselves exploited or fairly treated?

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

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