January 29, 2020

Professor Bao Zhiming (NUS Department of English Language and Literature (ELL)) writes in NUS News about his collaboration with fellow ELL linguists and neuropsychologists at the Mind-Science Centre, which aims to discover linguistic markers of dementia.  Dementia affects 5 to 8 percent of people aged 60 and over. Building on previous research, Prof Bao believes that changes in a person’s use of language during everyday communication may be indicative of an onset of dementia.

While there is no cure for dementia, early diagnosis is an important step in slowing cognitive decline. Prof Bao hypothesises that cognitive decline is associated with a parallel decline in the use of sentences with complex structures, since they require more cognitive resources to process. With a unique blend of various dialects and languages influencing local English, Singapore provides a suitable environment in which the interdisciplinary team can conduct this research.

Once established, linguistic markers can serve as tools for early diagnosis of dementia and provide new avenues of care for Singapore’s ageing population.

Read the article here.