Trouble with sentences may predict Alzheimer's Having trouble
finding the right word to say is a known side effect of healthy
aging. But older adults with early Alzheimer's disease may find
it especially difficult not only to find words but also to
construct complex sentences, finds a Cornell pilot study. Such
language problems can make daily communication difficult and may
be an early marker for Alzheimer's disease or other cognitive
impairments, says Barbara Lust, professor of human development
and director of the Cornell Language Acquisition Laboratory, who
led the study in collaboration with neuropsychologist Janet
Cohen Sherman at Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor
Suzanne Flynn at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Its
results have been presented at several conferences, most
recently at the May 26-29 American Psychological Society
convention in Washington, D.C., and at a May 11 Alzheimer's
Association conference in Boston. "There is a distinct gap in
the research on language decline in