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Sign Languages in Healthy Aging Population: Review of Neurobehavioral Evidence
1Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Alabama.
Topics in Cognitive Science
|February 13, 2025
Summary
Healthy aging signers show changes in language use, favoring simpler structures. This research explores cognitive and neural factors influencing these shifts in sign language.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- Aging affects cognitive functions and neural structures, influencing language processing in both spoken and signed languages.
- Understanding age-related language changes in sign language is crucial for comprehending broader patterns of linguistic aging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide an overview of research on sign language changes in healthy aging signers.
- To examine the cognitive and neural underpinnings of age-related language modifications.
- To discuss how sign language data can inform theories of brain aging and language change.
Main Methods:
- Review of observational and experimental data on sign language processing in aging individuals.
- Analysis of cognitive and neural changes associated with aging.
- Examination of theoretical frameworks for brain aging and their predictions for sign language.
Main Results:
- Aging signers tend to rely more on canonical syntactic and lexical structures.
- Reduced use of complex structures at the syntax-pragmatics and semantics-morphology interfaces observed.
- Cognitive and neural aging processes are key factors underlying observed language changes.
Conclusions:
- Sign language changes in healthy aging are influenced by cognitive and neural aging.
- Sign language research offers valuable insights into general theories of language and brain aging.
- Further investigation can bridge understanding between sign language, spoken language, and aging.
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