Structural Cerebral Correlates of Perplexity: Exploring a Linguistic Marker in Cognitive Aging
Xingsong Wang1, Christina J Herold2, Claudia Frankenberg2
1School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.
Psych Journal
|March 14, 2025
Summary
Speech predictability, or perplexity, is linked to brain structure in older adults. Lower perplexity correlates with gray matter volume in language and memory areas, suggesting its potential for early cognitive decline detection.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Aging
Background:
- Language changes are early indicators of cognitive decline.
- Perplexity quantifies speech predictability and may detect early cognitive changes.
- Neural substrates of perplexity in aging are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the structural brain correlates of perplexity in elderly individuals.
- Examine associations between perplexity measures and regional gray matter volume.
- Understand perplexity's reflection of linguistic processing and autobiographical memory.
Main Methods:
- Recruited 38 elderly participants (26 cognitively healthy, 12 with mild cognitive impairment).
- Utilized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for structural brain analysis.
- Computed perplexity (1-g and 2-g models) from autobiographical interviews and performed voxel-based morphometry.
Main Results:
- Found distinct associations between perplexity measures and regional gray matter volume.
- Observed positive correlations between 1-g perplexity and left middle temporal gyrus volume.
- Identified positive correlations between 2-g perplexity and left precuneus volume.
Conclusions:
- Perplexity reflects both linguistic processing (temporal regions) and autobiographical memory (precuneus).
- Provides initial insights into the neural basis of perplexity in cognitive aging.
- Suggests perplexity captures linguistic and content aspects of language production.
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