Amnesia

• Why does this universal problem among speakers happen?
• Everyone will experience an occasional word-finding difficulty, but if they happen very often with a broad range of words, names and numbers, this could be a sign of a neurological disorder.

The steps involved in speaking

Producing spoken words involves several stages of processing. These include:
• When a healthy speaker can’t retrieve a word from their lexicon despite the feeling of knowing it, this is called a “tip-of-the-tongue” phenomenon by language scientists.
• Tip-of-the-tongue states are relatively common and are a type of speech error that occurs primarily during retrieval of the sound pattern of a word (step three above).

What can affect word finding?

• In older adults, they can cause frustration and anxiety about the possibility of developing dementia.
• One way researchers investigate word-finding difficulties is to ask people to keep a diary to record how often and in what context they occur.
• It’s thought this is because they have weaker connections between their meanings and their sound patterns than more frequently used words.

When could it spell more serious issues?

• More frequent failures with a broader range of words, names and numbers are likely to indicate more serious issues.
• Primary progressive aphasia is typically associated with frontotemporal or Alzheimer’s dementias, although it can be associated with other pathologies.
• An assessment by a clinical neuropsychologist or speech pathologist can help clarify which processing stage is affected and how serious the problem might be.
• They might also be provided with a cue or prompt, such as the first letter (h) or syllable (ham).
• This is typically a sign of a more serious issue such as primary progressive aphasia.

• She is first told it’s nothing to worry about, then, a year later, that it’s “just normal aging.” Until finally, the penny drops: “It’s Alzheimer’s.
• Dementia remains largely underdetected, even in high-income countries such as Canada where rates of undetected cases exceed 60 per cent.
• Research has shown that people with mild changes in cognition are at a greater risk of developing dementia later in life.
• Despite this, protocols for early detection are not standard in the medical community, in part because significant gaps remain in our understanding of dementia.

Dementia and an aging population

• In my research, I use advanced brain MRI methods to characterize brain health in older adults who are at high risk of developing dementia.
• The goal is to identify new biomarkers of early pathology, which could lead to improved detection methods in the future.
• The proportion of senior Canadians is growing in our population.
• Dementia is strongly associated with aging, so the number of Canadians diagnosed with dementia — including Alzheimer’s — is expected to rise considerably in the next few decades, reaching an expected 1.7 million Canadians by 2050.

Lifestyle and brain health

• By making dementia risk assessment a part of routine medical visits for older adults, those who are most at risk could be identified and counselled on how to maintain brain health and cognition.
• At-risk individuals likely need those interventions the most (potentially a combination of pharmaceutical and lifestyle interventions), but anyone can benefit from adopting healthy lifestyle habits, which are known to protect from diseases not only of the brain, but also of the heart and other organs.
• Some evidence also suggests that a Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes high consumption of plants (especially leafy greens) while reducing saturated fats and meat intake, is also beneficial for brain health.

Barriers to healthy lifestyles

• Policy changes could address these inequalities not only by promoting healthy lifestyles, but also by taking action to improve the circumstances in which people of these communities live.
• Examples include improving access to sport centres or prevention clinics for people with lower incomes and designing cities that are conducive to active lifestyles.
• Governments need to evaluate and address the barriers that prevent people from specific groups from adopting healthy lifestyle habits.

• As a result of this blood test, potentially at-risk participants can check for early pre-symptomatic signs of Alzheimer’s.
• “Alzheimer’s is a devastating form of dementia that afflicts over 6 million Americans,” said Dr. Jason Morris, MD, the Care Access Principal Investigator for this study in Lake Charles.
• “Detecting early preclinical Alzheimer’s, which can start 10 to 20 years before you have symptoms, with a simple blood test is an important opportunity for seniors here in our Lake Charles community.
• Care Access opened its Lake Charles location in 2020, in collaboration with local community leaders and healthcare providers seeking to make clinical research more accessible to the greater Lake Charles community.

• SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As announced by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), BrainHQ is being incorporated into phase 2 clinical trials addressing persistent cognitive issues associated with long Covid.
• BrainHQ is an online brain exercise program, developed and marketed by Posit Science , and has been shown in hundreds of peer-reviewed studies to improve cognitive function and brain health.
• “We have been working with the lead researchers on this study for many months now,” said Dr. Dr. Henry Mahncke , CEO of Posit Science.
• RECOVER-NEURO will examine interventions for cognitive dysfunction related to long COVID, including brain fog, memory problems, and difficulty with attention, thinking clearly, and problem solving.