Washington, July 10 (Inditop.com) People who have superior language skills early in life are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s later, even though they may have some signs, according to a new study.
“A puzzling feature of Alzheimer’s disease is how it affects people differently,” said study author Juan C. Troncoso from Johns Hopkins University.
“One person who has severe plaques and tangles, the telling signs of Alzheimer’s disease in their brains, may show no symptoms affecting their memory.”
“Another person with those same types of plaques and tangles in the same areas of the brain might end up with a full-blown case of Alzheimer’s disease. We looked at how language ability might affect the onset of symptoms,” said Troncoso.
Researchers examined the brains of 38 Catholic nuns after death.
They analysed essays that 14 participants wrote as they entered the convent in their late teens or early 20’s. They studied the average number of ideas expressed for every 10 words. The analysis also measured how complex the grammar was in each essay.
The study found that language scores were 20 percent higher in the women without memory problems compared to those with memory problems. The grammar score, however, did not show any difference between the two groups.
“Despite the small number of participants in this portion of the study, the finding is a fascinating one,” Troncoso said.
“Our results show that an intellectual ability test in the early 20’s may predict the likelihood of remaining cognitively normal five or six decades later, even in the presence of a large amount of Alzheimer’s disease pathology.”
“Perhaps mental abilities at age 20 are indicative of a brain that will be better able to cope with diseases later in life,” said Troncoso.
These findings were published online in the issue of Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
