Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 Oct 20:7:195.
doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2015.00195. eCollection 2015.

Speaking in Alzheimer's Disease, is That an Early Sign? Importance of Changes in Language Abilities in Alzheimer's Disease

Greta Szatloczki  1 , Ildiko Hoffmann  2 , Veronika Vincze  3 , Janos Kalman  1 , Magdolna Pakaski  1
Affiliations
Review

Speaking in Alzheimer's Disease, is That an Early Sign? Importance of Changes in Language Abilities in Alzheimer's Disease

Greta Szatloczki et al. Front Aging Neurosci. .

Abstract

It is known that Alzheimer's disease (AD) influences the temporal characteristics of spontaneous speech. These phonetical changes are present even in mild AD. Based on this, the question arises whether an examination based on language analysis could help the early diagnosis of AD and if so, which language and speech characteristics can identify AD in its early stage. The purpose of this article is to summarize the relation between prodromal and manifest AD and language functions and language domains. Based on our research, we are inclined to claim that AD can be more sensitively detected with the help of a linguistic analysis than with other cognitive examinations. The temporal characteristics of spontaneous speech, such as speech tempo, number of pauses in speech, and their length are sensitive detectors of the early stage of the disease, which enables an early simple linguistic screening for AD. However, knowledge about the unique features of the language problems associated with different dementia variants still has to be improved and refined.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; language domain; mild cognitive impairment; screening; systematic review.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Appell J., Kertesz A., Fishman M. (1982). A study of language functioning in Alzheimer patients. Brain Lang. 17, 73–91.10.1016/0093-934X(82)90006-2 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Axer H., Klingner C. M., Prescher A. (2013). Fiber anatomy of dorsal and ventral language streams. Brain Lang. 127, 192–204.10.1016/j.bandl.2012.04.015 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Balthazar M. L. F., Martinelli J. E., Cendes F., Damasceno B. P. (2007). Lexical semantic memory in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer’s disease. Arquivos de Neuropsiquiatria 65, 619–622.10.1590/S0004-282X2007000400014 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Barth S., Schönknecht P., Pantel J., Schröder J. (2005). Mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease: an investigation of the CERAD-NP test battery. Fortschr. Neurol. Psychiatr. 73, 568–576.10.1055/s-2004-830249 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bayles K. A. (1993). “Pathology of language behaviour in dementia,” in Linguistic Disorders and Pathologies, eds Blamken G., Dittmann J., Grimm H., Marshall J. C., Wallesch C.-W. (Berlin/New York, NY: de Gruyter; ), 388–409.

LinkOut - more resources