ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE - EFFECTS ON LANGUAGE

The longitudinal effect of Alzheimer's disease on language functions has rarely been investigated. Through support from the National Institute of Mental Health, language functions were comprehensively assessed in 94 Alzheimer's patients and 53 normal control participants in a 3-year study. Rate of decline of language abilities was calculated and related to overall dementia severity, family history of the disease, and age-at-onset. Linguistic communication inexorably declined during the disease course and was highly associated with increased dementia severity. However, rate of language decline was unrelated to either age at disease onset or family history of the disease. Notably, results failed to substantiate the existence of a clinically unique subgroup of Alzheimer's patients for whom language is particularly impaired, as was suggested by Faber-Langendoen, in the most detailed investigation of the longitudinal effects of Alzheimer's disease on language.