University of Toronto scientists have discovered that difficulties with word finding and verbal fluency may precede cognitive decline. results of work It was published In Science magazine.
125 adult volunteers between the ages of 18 and 90 participated in the study. Subjects were asked to verbally describe various scenes while recording, and the speech was then analyzed using modern artificial intelligence technologies. Particular attention was paid to the rate of speech, the length of pauses and the variety of vocabulary.
A key element of the study was a task in which volunteers were shown pictures of objects and simultaneously played audio clips containing words that sounded like words or had similar meanings. This allowed scientists to separate two stages of the speech process: searching for the right word and pronouncing it.
The results showed that age-related changes in cognitive functions were closely related to slower speech rate. Researchers have found that slow processing is a more important mechanism for age-related changes than word-finding difficulty.
Scientists also pointed out possible symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Experts emphasized that problems with speech fluency may be early symptoms of these diseases, and that not only the difficulty in finding words but also the speed of speech is an important factor.
Previous scientists I learnedthat eyes can predict the development of dementia.
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Source: Gazeta
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