Reagan's Speeches Analyzed for Dementia

Researchers at Arizona State University have analyzed Ronald Reagan's speech patterns and detected subtle changes that is linked to the onset of dementia before he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 1994. The study did not prove Reagan's signs of dementia would have impacted his judgment, as some believed at the time, but showed that early signs of Alzheimer's and other conditions can be detected via speech before significant brain damage occurs. The study also analyzed George H. Bush, but found no sign changes in speaking patterns, while Reagan increasingly used repetitive words and the word "thing" subbed in for nouns.