Scientists find subtle change happens to people’s speech before they get dementia – and it’s not good for Biden

Speak more slowly, pause and use the same words over and over.

If you notice this behavior in an older loved one, it could be an early warning sign of dementia.

New research is beginning to unravel what the natural signs of aging look like and which may be the result of serious brain disorders that affect the way people speak.

For example, forgetting the name of a person or place, or having difficulty finding words is a natural phenomenon related to retrieving memories. This problem gets worse as we get older.

However, combined with slower or slurred speech, pauses and a limited vocabulary, this may indicate a general decline, which may point to conditions such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

That was the finding of a University of Toronto study in February, involving more than 100 adults between the ages of 18 and 90. People who couldn’t quickly put into words what they saw in the photos were more likely to say the wrong word.

The findings could be considered timely as lawmakers and voters repeatedly call for President Joe Biden to resign over concerns about his cognitive health.

The 81-year-old man was faced with another disastrous press conference this week, during which he repeatedly felt left out and lost track.

At one point, he accidentally called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “President Putin.” Then he accidentally called Vice President Kamala Harris “Vice President Trump.”

And during a presidential debate with Donald Trump last month, Biden found himself underperforming.

“Making sure that we can accommodate every individual person for what I’ve been able to do with the… with the COVID… excuse me… dealing with everything that we have to do with…” he said before freezing for a few seconds.

“…look, we finally defeated Medicare,” he continued.

It emerged that the White House had been visited eight times in the past year by a Parkinson’s doctor, amid speculation that Biden’s speech problems were signs of the brain disease.

To test whether word-finding difficulty is actually a reliable indicator of brain health in older adults, researchers from the University of Toronto looked at 125 healthy adults.

The patients were divided into three groups: young, middle-aged and old.

The average age of the young participants was 26 years, of the middle-aged participants the average age was 48 years, and of the older adults the average age was 70 years.

The first phase consisted of a “picture-word interference task.” Researchers showed participants pictures of everyday objects—a broom, for example—while playing an audio clip of a word that was related to it—such as “mop”—or a word that sounded similar to it—such as “groom.”

The team found that older people who naturally spoke faster were able to correctly name the pictures more quickly, suggesting that slower language processing is a sign of cognitive decline rather than difficulty remembering words.

Neurologists have also told DailyMail.com that President Biden is showing signs of Parkinson’s disease, such as a stiff gait (seen here)

While this may sound obvious, people’s communication styles change as they get older. Sometimes, it’s nothing to worry about.

For example, having trouble finding words is something that comes with age. Older people also show subtle changes in their speech, such as speaking more slowly, pausing between words, and a lack of variety in the words they use.

But the difficulty it takes to retrieve the word itself from memory, known as the “tip-of-the-tongue” phenomenon, coupled with these speech changes could be a precursor to conditions such as dementia, the researchers warned.

Dementia researchers at the University of Sussex Claire Lancaster and Alice Stanton, who were not involved in the study, wrote The conversation: ‘This study highlights the potential of changes in speech rate as an important, yet subtle, indicator of cognitive health that may help identify people at risk before more serious symptoms become apparent.’

“This study has opened up interesting avenues for future research. It shows that not only what we say, but also how quickly we say it, can reveal cognitive changes.”

There are many doubts about Biden’s cognitive health. Neurologists told DailyMail.com that the president is showing signs of Parkinson’s disease, including speech problems and a stiff gait.

However, Biden continues to insist that he wants to remain in the race for president, despite mounting concerns.