NUS linguists make breakthrough discovery on detecting early linguistic signs of dementia by studying the natural speech of seniors

A study led by linguists from the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has found that early linguistic signs of dementia can be detected through the study of the natural speech of senior Singaporeans. The novel study revealed that participants with memory-related mild cognitive impairment spoke less and used fewer, but more abstract, nouns that is consistent with the speech pattern of Alzheimer’s patients.