From Word test may give clues to Alzheimer’s disease:
Results of a study presented at a science conference on Tuesday revealed that people in the first stages of the incurable illness cannot write down as many animals and fruits in one-minute period as healthy individuals.Professor Andy Ellis of the University of York in England also discovered that the characteristics of the words the Alzheimer’s sufferers produced were different.
They retained very familiar words, ones heard frequently and words learned in early, rather than late, childhood.
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Animals listed in the written test by the healthy elderly people included giraffes, zebras and badgers — creatures seldom seen on the Alzheimer’s patient list.“They are animals whose names children tend to learn more at around the age of 6-10 rather than 1-5,” he said, adding they are creatures less talked or heard about than cats or dogs.