Narrative Discourse On The Language Abilities Of Elderly Individuals

Verbal communication needs to be changed not only depending on age and ability but dependent

The purpose of the Ross Information Processing Assessment-Geriatric: Second Edition (RIPA-G:2) is to provide a comprehensive and norm-referenced cognitive-linguistic assessment instrument that is designed to identify, describe, and quantify cognitive-linguistic deficits in individuals ages 55 years and older.

The parietal lobe of the brain if affected by dementia affects language skills. This means that communication skills could be reduced. The person may not be able to ‘find’ the appropriate words to use, or may not understand questions asked of them. They may not relate ‘words’ to the correct ‘objects’ for instance if they pick up a cup, but call it a ‘pot’.

Living with an insidious cognitive declining illness, individuals diagnosed with early onset familial Alzheimer’s disease often fear losing their sense of self (Borrello et al. 2495). This theme is carried out in the film through the character of Alice, a 50 year old linguistics professor at Columbia University. The inevitable decline in memory, communication, and eventually independence strike those with the disease (Borrello et al. 2494), which will quickly affect not only themselves, but also relationships with others. In this essay, I will discuss the level of accuracy in the film, Still Alice, directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, by analyzing its display of knowledge on neurological and psychological

Many of us have had experience in one way or another with friends or family members developing cognitive difficulty, but for most it didn’t happen all at once with an accident. We are given time to slowly adapt to the new course life has taken. Alan, Cathy, Kelly, friends, and family woke up one day and everything was different from that day

The Center for Neuroscience (CN) at UC Davis is an interdisciplinary group that focuses on learning and memory research. The members of this discourse community vary in age (20 years and older), educational

When a traumatic brain injury happens to the frontal “zone”, it is striking the brain’s largest lobe. The frontal lobe is anterior to the left and right cerebral hemispheres, this lobe is in charge for conscious thinking, voluntary responses, and personality traits. When someone is trying to find the right word or phrase to say, it is this part of the brain he or she may rely on. Destruction to this crucial lobe can create destruction to a person’s brilliance, attention span, and organizational efficiency, as well as the failure of

For instance, in the “Changes in Communication Skills” section of the NIH manual, a son of an Alzheimer’s patient states, "Talking with Dad is hard. Often, I don't understand what he is trying to say or what he wants. We both get pretty frustrated sometimes"(1). This quote serves as another way to gain a better understanding of the challenge by looking at it from an individual’s point of view, appealing to readers’

As we age, it is natural for cognitive deterioration, however if this deterioration significantly impairs one’s independence, a diagnosis of major neurocognitive disorder is given There are currently 24 to 36 million people with neurocognitive disorders around the world, with 4.6 million new cases emerging each year (Hollingworth, P., Harold, D., Jones, L., Owen, M. J., & Williams, J. (2011); Ames, D., Chiu, E., Lindsesay, J., & Shulman, K. I., 2010). Those suffering with a neurocognitive disorder experience a significant decline in facets of cognitive function such as: memory and learning, attention, perceptual motor skills, planning and decision making, language ability, or social cognition (APA, 2013, 2012). Alzheimer’s disease is the most

The article can be viewed as very important to the neuropsychological discourse community because it focuses on the coping mechanisms after a TBI has been diagnosed. Since coping is the last facet of a TBI, it is imperative that neuropsychologists understand how to work with patients through the coping process. This article can be applied to multiple discourse communities since the article was published in the Neurorehabilitation Journal, yet it can be applied to neuropsychologists since it focuses on brain and behavior. The area of the brain examined within the discussion section, examined the frontal lobe which involves higher cognitive

Alzheimer Disease caused degeneration of the mind. Memory, judgment and ability to functions start to fade away. This study supported the facts that those with Alzheimer Disease struggled through explaining what they say. Those without Alzheimer Disease added recollections along with the picture even thought they were false

For example, an mTBI or TBI can generate impairments in a person’s short-term memory retention if the impact of the injury is considerable enough to cause the hippocampus and the adjacent anterior temporal lobe to become tremendously sensitive or vulnerable, despite recovering from the initial stages of injury. As Barzman, Kennedy, & Fozdar (2002) further explain, “when the hippocampus is damaged, the transformation of memories from long-term to active is impaired. Consequently, retrieval of learned information is more difficult for the TBI patient” (p. 51). In addition, other research submits that injuries to the non-dominant hemisphere of a person’s brain may also cause the individual to develop the wrong impression while interpreting both verbal and nonverbal communication of others (e.g., body language, facial expressions, the tone of voice, etc.). Accordingly, those with TBI may have trouble in maintaining social connections or may respond to some situations inappropriately as a response. Other potential complications of TBI with some of the communicative functionalities of the brain also consists of lowering or diminishing scores on both intelligence and memory tests and assessments, constriction of operational vocabulary or difficulty in common retrieval

These facts give momentum to the importance of the roles and responsibilities for Speech Language Pathologists when counseling patients, and the caregivers of people who have Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s disease directly attacks areas of the brain that effect cognitive abilities and memory, these skills are essential for an individuals comprehension and the production of language – this acquired language disorder is called Aphasia and it is within the speech language pathologists scope of practice to provide counseling to those that are diagnosed, and their caregivers.

Many studies have been broad, studying the vocabulary, reasoning, memory, and speed of the person, but zoning in on one thing specific may lead to further understanding. Studying the effects of cognitive aging in relation to memory possibly will open so many more areas of study. Studying specific age groups could also be helpful when attempting to understand cognitive aging as a whole. Learning about how speed, memory, vocabulary, and reasoning all work within a child, 10-15 years old, might be helpful when comparing that data to that information of an adult. between 50-60 years

My research is in the final stages. My research aims to evaluate the narrative discourse performance in older adults with and without cognitive or nervous system disorders. My specific goals were to evaluate any differences between narrative tasks, between age groups, and between typical aging and atypical aging individuals. Over the summer, I recruited 20 participants from Murfreesboro and Knoxville. Each participant was asked to tell two stories: one based on a personal event and one based on a picture. After I collected the data, I transcribed and coded each narrative. I evaluated the narratives on total T-Units, or utterances, use of cohesive ties, story relevancy, dysfluencies, and lexical diversity. I used the SALT Transcription software