Abstract
AbstractThe ability to correctly interpret complex syntax and long sentences is gradually impaired as people age. Typical ageing is characterised by working memory deficits, which are thought to play an important role in determining whether syntax can be comprehended correctly, and neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) are thought to exacerbate these limitations. Furthermore, declines in processing speed appear to cause increasing difficulty in the proper allocation of cognitive resources necessary for sentence processing. Typically ageing adults may compensate for these deficits successfully when interpreting sentences using semantics or intact cognitive functions, but AD patients may exhibit deficits too severe for this to occur. The causes of syntax comprehension deficits in Alzheimer's are still contested, and may consist of language‐specific impairments or deficits in general cognition impacting linguistic behaviour. In this review, we aim to give an overview of the main markers of cognitive ageing and AD in the domain of sentence comprehension, as well as discuss potential underlying factors that may affect sentence comprehension in older speakers and Alzheimer's patients.
Highlights
The question of how these general cognitive changes affect linguistic behaviour has been a topic of academic research for decades (e.g., Whitaker, 1976), yet much remains unclear about what linguistic deficits characterise ageing, and what causes them
This review aims to give an overview of the sentence comprehension deficits seen in ageing and Alzheimer's disease (AD) and discuss potential explanations for these impairments that have been put forward over time
Changes in semantic categorisation and the ability to search through semantic memory gradually become evident as the ageing process continues
Summary
From a general slowing of cognitive operations as ageing progresses (Salthouse, 1996) to reductions in the efficacy of inhibitory and attentional processes The question of how these general cognitive changes affect linguistic behaviour has been a topic of academic research for decades (e.g., Whitaker, 1976), yet much remains unclear about what linguistic deficits characterise ageing, and what causes them. Research into neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease (hereafter AD) provides a window into the cognitive processes underlying linguistic behaviour, and how these may be impaired. These questions are made all the more relevant by the increasing age of the general population and the increasing prevalence of AD. There is a larger aged population on the planet than there ever has been in world history (United Nations, 2013), and the number of Alzheimer's patients in the United Kingdom alone is set to grow from 850,000 in 2019 to over 1.5 million in 2040 (Wittenberg et al, 2019); research on topics in ageing and neurodegeneration will become ever more important as time progresses (Börsch-Supan, 2003, p. 6)
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