The finding that bilingualism contributes to cognitive reserve has also been replicated by several other studies For example, Abutalebi et al. (2015) tested 19 bilinguals (8 Cantonese-Mandarin and 11 Cantonese-English, age range 55-75) and 19 monolinguals (Italian speakers, age range 49-75) who had been matched for education level, performance on the Flanker Task (a cognitive response test,) and socioeconomic status. It is important to remember that this is a relatively small sample size; however, the results did confirm previous studies. According to the research, the bilinguals outperformed the monolinguals on all experimental tasks, and the researchers found that monolinguals' neural imaging showed higher signs of age-related effects on performance of tasks and decreased gray matter density. Meanwhile, the bilinguals' neural imaging showed higher levels of gray matter along the anterior cingulate cortex. Because of these results, the investigators concluded that bilingualism aids in protection against cognitive decline.