Watching loved ones age is hard on everyone involved – and when fears of dementia or Alzheimer’s creep in, stress levels can go over the top.

Many people are watching closely, and wish there were some definitive ways to know whether or not their aging loved one is heading into cognitive decline.

This new research shows that there is a speech pattern than could do just that – and it’s one your probably recognize.

Word Finding Difficulty

We’ve all had those moments when a word or phrase just won’t move come, but as we get older, the incidents happen more frequently. It turns out that the brain’s natural aging process helps clinicians spot trouble brewing in memory networks a long time before more serious symptoms show themselves to family and friends.

Researchers at the University of Toronto and the Baycrest Health Sciences say that word-finding difficulty is tied to the same neural pathways that break down in Alzheimer’s patients. Slower speech, along with lapses in finding words, also tracks closely with cognitive health.

Everyday Talk

There is also evidence that links verbal fluency to how long we live healthy lives, as adults who have regular conversations are more likely to live longer than those who spend more time in silence.

When you find yourself or someone you love going from pauses like “um” to more of those “the word is right there but it won’t come” moments, red flags should go up.

Neural transmissions are still firing, but they’re slower than they used to be.

Inhibition Deficit

This hypothesis argues that as we age, our brains struggle to pick the important information out from similar noise.

There are issues with traffic control, and because adults are hesitant to make mistakes in front of others, they’ll just stay silent.

Transmission Deficit

This hypothesis builds vocabulary like a web, with a concept at the top, words in the middle, and sounds at the bottom. Proponents say age loosens the ties between the middle and the bottom layers, putting the trouble with translating words into to sounds.

This is why reading and listening are easier for people who are aging – those neural pathways are stronger.

Conclusions

Researchers turned these picture-word interference tasks into online games, and one study pulled results from more than 125 people between the ages of 18 and 85.

The tests are meant to tease apart semantic and phonological forces without having to somehow record spontaneous and free conversations in real life. They logged executive function scores and recorded the “natural” chatting.

In the end, a person’s overall reaction time to pull any word from the depths of their brain was the best indicator of them experiencing word finding difficulty in real life.

So, general processing speed is a huge indicator of cognitive decline.

Researchers believe this test offers a “quick, engaging way to capture subtle shifts before they tip into impairment.”

The measuring of speed and accuracy together could beat traditional naming methods when it comes to early detection, and the speech-analysis software that helps diagnose already exists.

What You Can Do

Having conversations every day will strengthen neural pathways the same way having a walk every day will strengthen your heart.

If a loved one is having trouble pulling a name from their head, it’s better to wait for them to find it than to say it for them. A slow-down in speech in general is more concerning that someone pausing to find the right word, even on a regular basis.

Keep an eye on the people you love, and keep having conversations yourself.

Exercising your brain is just as important as exercising your body.

If you found that story interesting, learn more about why people often wake up around 3 AM and keep doing it for life.