Language skills offer protection
Updated on 09 July 2009
Young people with a way with words may be protected against memory loss from Alzheimer's later in life, a study suggests.
Scientists who examined the brains of 38 women after death found that those with superior language skills in their teens and 20s were less likely to have developed memory problems.
It made no difference whether or not the women had clinical symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
Women with poorer language skills were more likely to have experienced memory declines as they aged.
Participants had been enrolled into the Nun Study - an on-going health investigation involving Roman Catholic nuns in the US.
After entering their convent in their late teens or early 20s, the nuns underwent regular tests of memory and mental skills until death.
Researchers analysed essays written by 14 of the women when they began their lives as nuns. They found those who could write essays expressing large numbers of ideas and complex language had a lower incidence of later memory problems. Language scores were 20% higher for nuns whose memories remained intact. However, grammar scores did not show up any differences.
Having good language skills at a young age appeared to protect the memory even in women whose brains contained the physical hallmarks of Alzheimer's.
Study leader Dr Juan Troncoso, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said: "Despite the small number of participants in this portion of the study, the finding is a fascinating one."
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