Clinical Manifestations

Although there is evidence that measures of verbal fluency, naming and word memory can be good predictors of progression to dementia, language change and the main variables predicting it are not yet fully characterized. Recent research draws attention to the need to consider cognitive reserve, functional, and neurobiological indicators together to explain changes (Facal et al., 2021). The study sample was drawn from the participants of the Compostela Aging Study who completed the third and fourth follow-up assessments, with about 18 months between assessments. Sample included 24 persons with MCI, 42 with subjective cognitive decline and 41 cognitively unimpaired participants. Language performance was assessed via Boston naming test, semantic, phonemic, and ideational fluency. The difference in performance between the assessments (T4-T3) was calculated. General linear regression (GLR) models were developed, including the change in each language variable as dependent, and years of education, gait speed (timed-up and go test), grip strength and mean cortical thickness in the left and right hemispheres as covariates. Though cross-sectional differences were found in the four language measures, no differences were found in language change measures (Figure 1). The GLR model with the Boston naming test as the dependent variable was the only significant (F = 5.52, p