Dr Jed Meltzer, who co-authored the study, said: “Our results indicate that changes in general talking speed may reflect changes in the brain. This suggests that talking speed should be tested as part of standard cognitive assessments to help clinicians detect cognitive decline faster and help older adults support their brain health as they age.”
However, the study, entitled ‘Cognitive components of aging-related increase in word-finding difficulty’, only found a link between talking speed and brain health, not that one causes the other. So, training a person to speak faster might not improve brain health.
The team found that it wasn’t the pausing to find words that had the strongest link to brain health, but the speed of speech surrounding pauses. This suggests that while many older adults may worry about their need to pause to search for words, it might just be a normal part of ageing.
How does this affect you?
It affects you if you are older and concerned you are developing or may develop dementia. Their conclusion was that slowing down of normal speech, regardless of pausing, may be an important indicator of change in brain health.
This does not mean it you speak faster, you will not get dementia. And further work is needed on this discovery.
But if you think your speech is slowing down, it is a good reason to discuss it with your GP and perhaps start having tests for dementia. New treatments are starting to show beneficial effects.
