Writing tests could help predict Alzheimer's disease: Study

An analysis of writing patterns may help spot early signs of Alzheimer's disease years before the onset of the symptoms, says a new study by IBM researchers.

In the study published in The Lancet EclinicalMedicine, the researchers found that older adults who were more repetitive in word usage, made spelling errors, and missed words like "the," "is" and "are" even when they were cognitively normal were more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease later.

The study involved a group of 80 men and women in their 80s, The New York Times reported on Monday.

They were participants in the Framingham Heart Study, a multi-generational study initiated in 1948 that has spurred thousands of health studies.

As part of it, they took a writing test. At that time, none of the 80 participants developed Alzheimer's disease.

The IBM researchers used an artificial intelligence (AI) programme that analysed subtle differences in language to examine the word usage by the participants.