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The effects of very early Alzheimer's disease on the characteristics of writing by a renowned author

The effects of very early Alzheimer's disease on the characteristics of writing by a renowned author
The effects of very early Alzheimer's disease on the characteristics of writing by a renowned author
Iris Murdoch (I.M.) was among the most celebrated British writers of the post-war era. Her final novel, however, received a less than enthusiastic critical response on its publication in 1995. Not long afterwards, I.M. began to show signs of insidious cognitive decline, and received a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, which was confirmed histologically after her death in 1999. Anecdotal evidence, as well as the natural history of the condition, would suggest that the changes of Alzheimer's disease were already established in I.M. while she was writing her final work. The end product was unlikely, however, to have been influenced by the compensatory use of dictionaries or thesauri, let alone by later editorial interference. These facts present a unique opportunity to examine the effects of the early stages of Alzheimer's disease on spontaneous written output from an individual with exceptional expertise in this area. Techniques of automated textual analysis were used to obtain detailed comparisons among three of her novels: her first published work, a work written during the prime of her creative life and the final novel. Whilst there were few disparities at the levels of overall structure and syntax, measures of lexical diversity and the lexical characteristics of these three texts varied markedly and in a consistent fashion. This unique set of findings is discussed in the context of the debate as to whether syntax and semantics decline separately or in parallel in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
0006-8950
250-260
Garrard, P.
4815434c-b90e-4998-934b-794c741eea76
Maloney, L.M.
0306943a-9529-4426-80e2-42786cab2663
Hodges, J.R.
c17af0a9-82e7-4f5a-8a97-d50ec06bbb0a
Patterson, K.
9f16a321-0329-4d02-8c66-8808072110ae
Garrard, P.
4815434c-b90e-4998-934b-794c741eea76
Maloney, L.M.
0306943a-9529-4426-80e2-42786cab2663
Hodges, J.R.
c17af0a9-82e7-4f5a-8a97-d50ec06bbb0a
Patterson, K.
9f16a321-0329-4d02-8c66-8808072110ae

Garrard, P., Maloney, L.M., Hodges, J.R. and Patterson, K. (2005) The effects of very early Alzheimer's disease on the characteristics of writing by a renowned author. Brain, 128 (2), 250-260. (doi:10.1093/brain/awh341).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Iris Murdoch (I.M.) was among the most celebrated British writers of the post-war era. Her final novel, however, received a less than enthusiastic critical response on its publication in 1995. Not long afterwards, I.M. began to show signs of insidious cognitive decline, and received a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, which was confirmed histologically after her death in 1999. Anecdotal evidence, as well as the natural history of the condition, would suggest that the changes of Alzheimer's disease were already established in I.M. while she was writing her final work. The end product was unlikely, however, to have been influenced by the compensatory use of dictionaries or thesauri, let alone by later editorial interference. These facts present a unique opportunity to examine the effects of the early stages of Alzheimer's disease on spontaneous written output from an individual with exceptional expertise in this area. Techniques of automated textual analysis were used to obtain detailed comparisons among three of her novels: her first published work, a work written during the prime of her creative life and the final novel. Whilst there were few disparities at the levels of overall structure and syntax, measures of lexical diversity and the lexical characteristics of these three texts varied markedly and in a consistent fashion. This unique set of findings is discussed in the context of the debate as to whether syntax and semantics decline separately or in parallel in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

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Published date: February 2005

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 48417
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/48417
ISSN: 0006-8950
PURE UUID: 61abac74-8ada-4501-958c-069a8f79cf66

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Date deposited: 21 Sep 2007
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 09:45

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Contributors

Author: P. Garrard
Author: L.M. Maloney
Author: J.R. Hodges
Author: K. Patterson

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