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New Delhi
Are you somebody who finds it difficult to figure out the right words at the right time? Sometimes you hear a song and simultaneously find an article about it in the morning newspaper. You try to find a word for this serendipitous moment but fail to, leaving you wondering if something is wrong with your brain.
It is a frustrating moment and might even lead you to worry about something as bad as dementia in the worst-case scenario. Well, we have news that will calm down your fears. Scientists say that not being able to find the right words at the right time is not exactly an accurate indicator of brain health in older adults.
A new study has claimed that the speed of speech is a more accurate indicator of brain health in older adults rather than limited vocabulary or difficulty in finding words.
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The research based on a database of 125 health volunteers aged 18 to 90 used Artificial Intelligence software to analyse language performance. The researchers focused on the speech rate and word-finding pauses.
The researchers found that word-finding abilities declined with age. However, they were not linked with cognitive decline. But slower talking speed was linked with weaker functions. The speech rate emerged as a crucial marker for detecting cognitive changes.
What does it mean?
The study, conducted by Baycrest and the University of Toronto, is reportedly one of the first studies to simultaneously analyse both differences in natural speech and brain health among healthy adults.
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"Our results indicate that changes in general talking speed may reflect changes in the brain," Dr Jed Meltzer, Baycrest’s Canada Research Chair in Interventional Cognitive Neuroscience and the lead author on this study, said in an official statement.
"This suggests that talking speed should be tested as part of standard cognitive assessments to help clinicians detect cognitive decline faster and help older adults support their brain health as they age."
(With inputs from agencies)