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Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment
Published on: June 25, 2019
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Everyday Language and Cognitive Functioning in Late Life.
Shiyang Zhang1, Zexi Zhou2, Yee To Ng3,4
1Population Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Summary
Linguistic features like pronoun use and sentence complexity can predict cognitive functioning in healthy older adults. Complex language use may signal better cognitive health.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psycholinguistics
Background:
- Language changes are linked to cognitive decline in aging.
- Research is exploring language features associated with executive function and working memory in healthy older adults.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify specific linguistic features that predict cognitive functioning in cognitively healthy older adults.
Main Methods:
- Utilized speech recordings from 260 participants (aged 65-89) in the Daily Experiences and Well-being Study (DEWS).
- Transcribed speech and extracted 29 linguistic features using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software.
- Trained random forest machine learning models to predict cognitive functioning based on linguistic features.
Main Results:
- Machine learning models achieved high performance (accuracy=0.72, AUC=0.73) in predicting cognitive functioning.
- Key predictors included pronoun usage (first-person singular associated with worse cognition) and language complexity (articles, differentiation words, first-person plural pronouns, words per sentence associated with better cognition).
Conclusions:
- Language patterns reflect cognitive functioning even in healthy aging.
- More complex language use may be an indicator of optimal cognitive health in older adults, warranting further research.
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