Katrina Espinar Herranz
Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, Spain
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Neurol Neurosci
Life expectancy is lengthening almost linearly in most
developed countries, with no sign of deceleration. The
number of elderly people is also increasing at an alarming
rate, highlighting this rate in the developed countries. In
fact, the number of aging population will double in the
following fifty years. Consequently, the rate of diseases
related to aging population will increase, and we should
pay attention especially to neurodegenerative diseases as
they can be prevented by non-invasive strategies such as
language learning. Due to the fact that the rate of elderly
people is worryingly increasing, we should try to look for
solutions to the problems that it can arise. One of them is
the rate of neurodegenerative diseases and both the social
and economic costs that they can cost the society and its
components. Our proposal, the language learning as a noninvasive
strategy, can be a key solution in their prevention.
The main goal of the current investigation is to know the
potential and the pedagogic and didactic possibilities of
the language teaching and learning in the processes of
prevention of the neurodegenerative diseases with the
aim of achieving a much-needed lowering rate in the
society. For the achievement of this purpose, the following
specific aims are getting to know the educational and
neural implications of teaching and learning languages in
individuals (cognitive, social and attitudinal development,
and their relation with cognitive reserve); identifying
the advantages, disadvantages and difficulties derived
from the use of the language learning as a non-invasive
strategy in preventing neurodegenerative diseases; and
promoting the analysis, the reflection and the critical
thought concerning the utilization of this educational tool
in the clinical practice. At very short notice, the current
investigation cannot be classified into a single method as
we have used the combination of methods, what leads us
to a combination of methods called â??data triangulationâ?.
The idea of the use of these methods is shared by Harley.
Recent Publications
1. Berger J (2011) The age of biomedicine:
current trends in traditional subjects. Journal of
Applied Biomedicine. 9(2):57-61.
2. Christensen K, Doblhammer G, Rau R and
Vaupel J W (2009) Ageing populations: the
challenges ahead. The Lancet 374(9696):1196.
3. Hartley J (2004) Case study research. En
C. Cassell & G. Symon, Essential guide to
qualitative methods in organizational research
(1st ed.) 323-333. London, United Kingdom:
Sage
Katrina Espinar has her expertise in evaluation and passion in the potential effects that learning a second language may have in our brain. She has taken part in the European H2020 project ActivAge, the one that has created the first large-scale active and healthy ageing IoT based ecosystem. Since then, her research is aimed at active and healthy ageing with the aim of being able to contribute to the sustainability of the health and care systems and the improvement of the quality of life and autonomy of elder adults in the form of independent living. Her evaluation model supposes a different way of focusing as it is data triangulation based because of the fact that she considers both qualitative and quantitative data can provide relevant information.
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