Tim Cawood
Your words could say more about you than you realise. New research suggests that changes in vocabulary could be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease.
The study by scientists at Southampton university focuses on the speeches of former UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson. It supports the theory that he was suffering from the condition but never diagnosed.
Writing in the Journal of Neurolinguistics, the university’s Dr Peter Garrard says he’s detected a marked change in the words Wilson used in the months leading up to his unexpected resignation. It seems that Wilson stopped using his trademark broad vocabulary shortly before he resigned, relying instead on much simpler words.
Dr Garrard has detected similar changes in the work of the author Iris Murdoch, who died of the disease in 1999.
Short words more powerful
The use of short words, of course, is not in itself an indicator of Alzheimer’s. Another famous prime minister and orator, Winston Churchill, favoured short words over long ones, as he felt they were more powerful. Our work with hundreds of the UK’s top organisations over the last ten years suggests that overuse of long words may actually be a sign of under-confidence.
Click here for details of our course on Writing high-impact speeches and presentations.
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