From hindsight to insight – retrospective analysis of language written by a renowned Alzheimer's patient

Abstract

Among the early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease is a gradual decline of language skills. Longitudinal studies are a useful way to study the development of linguistic abilities in the course of a person's lifetime; subjects producing sufficient language output to allow a study spanning decades are rare but can provide valuable information. In this study, we analysed lexical diversity in three books by Gerard Reve (1923–2006), an acclaimed Dutch literary author who wrote his last novel not long before diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The data show a clear-cut decline in lexical diversity, coinciding with a reported 'forgetfulness' starting halfway during the creative process of writing this last novel. The findings match those of Garrard et al. (2005) in their study of Iris Murdoch.