“More than words”–Longitudinal linguistic changes in the works of a writer diagnosed with semantic dementia

Yun Tae Hwang, Cherie Strikwerda-Brown, Hashim El-Omar, Siddharth Ramanan, John R. Hodges, James R. Burrell, Olivier Piguet, Muireann Irish

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Leveraging recent advances in automated language analysis and anovel statistical approach utilizing an independent control group, we explored changes in lexical output across two published works of a man diagnosed with semantic dementia. We found significant increase in adverb usage and decline in familiarity, meaningfulness, age of acquisition and co-occurrence probability over 2 years. Collectively, these indices suggest that WR’s narrative structure became progressively simpler, lexically less sophisticated, and that words commonly associated together no longer appeared in close proximity. Our study illustrates how degeneration of the semantic knowledge base impacts the production, content, and quality of literary works.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)243-252
Number of pages10
JournalNeurocase
Volume27
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of '“More than words”–Longitudinal linguistic changes in the works of a writer diagnosed with semantic dementia'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this