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Phonetic clustering characteristics in verbal fluency: A potential marker for differentiating subjective cognitive decline from mild cognitive impairment
Applied Neuropsychology: Adult. 2026. P. 1–11.
Objective
Semantic and phonemic verbal fluency (VF) tasks are widely used to assess older adults’ cognition in clinical practice. Typical scoring only analyses the total number of correct words produced. We investigated whether differentiation between individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) versus mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which is often challenging, could be enhanced by also assessing linguistic (clustering) characteristics of VF responses.
Method
In this cross-sectional study, we retrospectively analyzed 426 VF responses from 127 community-dwelling older adults with SCD or MCI who underwent cognitive assessment in a memory clinic setting. Using mixed-effect models, we tested whether including linguistic (clustering) characteristics in addition to the total number of correct words enhanced the prediction of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score and clinical group (SCD or MCI), when adjusted for age, sex, education level, and repeated measures alongside with task type.
Results
A lower mean phonetic cluster size in both SVF and PVF was associated with a lower MoCA score. Adding clustering characteristics to the model of SVF (although not PVF) significantly improved classification into SCD versus MCI, compared to the model with the number of correct words alone.
Conclusions
Retrieving sequences of words based on their phonetic proximity while performing not only PVF but also SVF tasks pointed to more preserved cognitive functioning and appeared vulnerable to early cognitive changes. Linguistic analysis of VF performance can capture subtle cognitive reorganization missed by scoring of the total number of correct words only and may enhance early dementia-risk profiling.
Language:
English
Khurshudyan V., Plungian Vladimir, Stepanyants Maxim, Voprosy Jazykoznanija 2026 No. 5 P. 81–98
This study examines the range of strategies used to encode future time reference in Standard EasternArmenian, situating them within the broader context of other Modern Armenian varieties. Illustrative data are drawn from Standard Western Armenian, the Hadrut dialect, and the Hamshen dialect. Adopting a semantic approach, we employ the term “future time reference” to delimit ...
Added: September 27, 2026
Zhivlov M., Journal of Language Relationship 2025 Vol. 23 No. 3-4 P. 344–374
The article continues the series of publications focused on the reassessment of the controversial Hokan hypothesis. In this paper, the traditional comparative method is applied to the reflexes of Proto-Hokan obstruents and glottal stop. The obtained results are compared to Terrence Kaufman’s (1989) reconstruction of Proto-Hokan. ...
Added: September 27, 2026
Loesov S., Häberl C., Бромирская А. С., Journal of Semitic Studies 2026 Vol. 71 No. 2 P. 765–812
This contribution presents three excerpts from a Modern Western Aramaic interview collected in December 2020 in Maaloula, Syria. In the interview, the narrator relates his own biographical details, the legendary life of Thecla, and a personal account of a miraculous healing. The local traditions concerning Thecla feature distinctive motifs, including the miraculous opening of the ...
Added: September 27, 2026
Chermoshentseva K., Человек: образ и сущность. Гуманитарные аспекты 2026 Т. - № 2(66) С. 227–243
The paper focuses on the system of metaphorical images used in modern English-language memoir narratives in prenatal and postnatal discourse. It reveals a set of social representations of pregnancy and childbirth, which act as a modeling factor for the formation of metaphorical images. The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the decisive role of ...
Added: September 22, 2026
Никитенко Д. Ю., RHEMA. РЕМА 2026 № 1 С. 188–207
This study explores a fragment of the accentual system of the Pskov dialect, with data obtained from both a corpus and fieldwork. The focus is on a-stem nouns (1st declension), with the accent types and stress patterns described. The accent types of nouns are presented in tables, while the stress patterns are given in a dictionary format, allowing for a combined approach to describing the dialect’s accentual system. Special attention is paid to stress placement in the accusativus singularis form of a number of words, which in this case ...
Added: September 22, 2026
Воробьёва О. А., Достоевский и мировая культура. Филологический журнал 2026 № 3 С. 230–246
The article examines the history of the creation of the radio play
Babulyenka, directed in 1968 by N.S. Sukhotskaya based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel The Gambler. An analysis of archival materials preserved in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI), including the typescript of the script, Sukhotskaya’s directorial notes, the working notes of F. G. ...
Added: September 20, 2026
Springer, 2026.
Two volumes of the SPECOM 2026 proceedings contain a collection of submitted papers presented at SPECOM 2026, which were thoroughly reviewed by members of the Program Committee and additional reviewers consisting of almost 80 experts in the conference topic areas. In total, 65 regular full papers out of 99 submissions made via the EasyChair electronic ...
Added: September 20, 2026
Пинчукова А. Е., Вестник филологических наук 2026 Т. 6 № 9 С. 176–186
The paper focuses on the study of language phenomena within the interdisciplinary paradigm and the notion of a narrative as one of the most popular ones for investigation in various fields. The purpose of the article is to single out the principles of the communicative competence development in the medical sphere, in which the area ...
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Tsvetkova M. V., Алентьева А. А., Вестник Российского университета дружбы народов. Серия: Литературоведение, журналистика 2026 № 2 С. 385–397
The purpose of this article is to describe the specifics of Irish playwright Brian Friel’s adaptation of I.S. Turgenev’s novel Fathers and Sons for the theater and the reasons behind Friel’s transformations. The novelty of this study stems from the fact that the reception of Russian classical literature in Ireland in the 20th century has ...
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Гусев В. Ю., Языки и фольклор коренных народов Сибири 2025 Т. 56 № 4 С. 90–99
В нганасанском языке существует сложная система чередования гласных в суффиксах, которая восходит к противопоставлению переднего и заднего рядов, но в результате многих передвижений гласных лишилась фонетической мотивации. Из всех суффиксов есть один глагольный, который, присоединяясь к корням, выражающим визуально наблюдаемые свойства, способен принимать гласные обоих сингармонических классов, соответственно меняя гласные и всех аффиксов, следующих за ...
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Гусев В. Ю., Аралова Н. Б., Языки и фольклор коренных народов Сибири 2025 Т. 54 № 2 С. 81–95
Рассматриваются формы сравнительной степени прилагательных, которые возникли в диалектахсеверных тунгусо-маньчжурских языков. Морфологическая сравнительная степень ‒ типологически довольно редкое явление, которое отсутствует, в том числе, в большинстве языков Сибири. Однако во многих диалектах эвенкийского, эвенского и негидальского языков эти формы появились, грамматикализовавшись в континентальных диалектах из селективного показателя, а в быстринском эвенском (Камчатка) ‒ из аттенуатива. ...
Added: September 16, 2026
Гусев В. Ю., Вестник Российского фонда фундаментальных исследований. Гуманитарные и общественные науки 2025 № 3 С. 54–69
В статье рассматриваются модели образования числительных второго десятка (с 11 до 19) в языках Сибири. «Простая» модель, в которой эти числительные образуются соположением слова ‘десять’ и количества единиц («десять один», «десять два» и т.д.), характерна для языков юга Сибири, но проникает также на север восточнее Енисея и на восток Якутии. Вторая модель, включающая слово типа ...
Added: September 16, 2026
Салагай О. О., Сахарова Г. М., Антонов Н. С. et al., Здоровье населения и среда обитания 2026 Т. 34 № 6 С. 7-17
Introduction: Tobacco and nicotine use is a risk factor for noncommunicable diseases, malignant neoplasms, and a severe course of infectious diseases. This factor, however, is manageable and can be modified through prevention programs allowing for trends and specifics of the use of tobacco and nicotine products.
Objective: To analyze patterns of tobacco and nicotine product use among the ...
Added: September 15, 2026
Салагай О. О., Сахарова Г. М., Антонов Н. С. et al., Медицинский вестник Юга России 2026 Т. 17 № 2 С. 109–119
Objective: analysis of the structure and characteristics of the consumption of various types of tobacco and nicotine-containing products by Veterans.
Materials and methods: the analysis was carried out based on the results of a survey of Veterans using a developed questionnaire. The survey was conducted at the offices of the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation. The proportions ...
Added: September 15, 2026
Dimertsev A. V., Batmanova Y. V., Zhikhar T. V. et al., Zhurnal Voprosy Neirokhirurgii Imeni N.N. Burdenko 2025 Vol. 6 P. 38–45
Background. There are some unresolved issues in surgery for gliomas of Broca’s area (optimal intraoperative testing, cortical mapping, and stimulation parameters).
Objective. To clarify the peculiarities of neurosurgical technique and speech testing in surgery for gliomas of Broca’s area.
Material and methods. A single-center cohort retrospective study was devoted to surgical treatment of patients with Broca’s area ...
Added: September 14, 2026
Куликова В. А., Гусев А. Д., Токунова П. В., Коммуникативные исследования 2026 Т. 13 № 2 С. 355–369
The article examines the semantic and pragmatic features of cognitive terms functioning in modern Russian-language media texts. The study aims to describe the specifics of using cognitive terminology in contexts aimed at expressing evaluation. The relevance of the work is driven by the active processes of mediatization and determinologization, as a result of which scientific ...
Added: September 14, 2026
Паникратова Я. Р., Королькова О. А., Пчелинцева М. Е. et al., Национальный психологический журнал 2026 Т. 21 № 2 С. 144–158
Background.
Working memory (WM) declines with ageing. Despite a large body of relevant studies, changes in verbal and nonverbal WM, relevant specifically for healthy aging, and their brain correlates, remain understudied.Objectives. Our study aimed to analyse changes in maintenance and updating of verbal and nonverbal material in WM in healthy ageing (i.e., the absence of cognitive ...
Added: April 2, 2026
N. S. Cherkasov, Tomyshev A. S., Lebedeva I. S. et al., Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology 2025 Vol. 55 No. 9 P. 1681–1687
Objective. To identify the structural features of the brain in elderly patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and the correlations of these features with mild behavioral impairment. Materials and methods. Fifty-three patients with aMCI (age 73.0 ± 8.5 years, nine men) and 34 mentally healthy subjects (66.8 ± 9.6 years, four men) were examined. Cognitive status was ...
Added: December 25, 2025
Biryukova S., Kareva D., Stuzhuk D. et al., Журнал исследований социальной политики 2026 Т. 24 № 2 С. 243–258
This article examines the factors associated with subjective loneliness among young people, older adults, and women with young children in Russia. The study is based on an online survey conducted in 2023, which used a representative sample of Russians aged 20–74 (N=6557). The authors demonstrate that the level of subjective loneliness is statistically significantly higher than ...
Added: October 28, 2025
Dudkovskaia Anastasiia, / Series 005140 "Biorxiv". 2025.
The success of clinical trials of longevity drugs relies heavily on identifying integrative health and aging biomarkers, such as biological age. Epigenetic aging clocks predict the biological age of an individual using their DNA methylation profiles, commonly retrieved from blood samples. However, there is no standardized methodology to validate and compare epigenetic clock models as ...
Added: July 18, 2025
Cherkasov N., Томышев А. С., Лебедева И. С. et al., Журнал неврологии и психиатрии им. С.С. Корсакова 2025 Т. 125 № 6 С. 112–119
Objective. To determine structural brain features in elderly patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and to assess correlations between these features and mild behavioral impairment.
Materials and methods. The study included 53 patients with aMCI (age 73.0±8.5 years, 9 males) and 34 healthy controls (66.8±9.6 years, 4 males). Cognitive status was assessed using the Montreal ...
Added: July 1, 2025
Бальба Д. П., Khomenko A., Isakov D., В кн.: Первый Евразийский конгресс лингвистов. Москва, 9–13 декабря 2024: Тезисы докладов.: М.: Институт языкознания РАН, 2025. С. 276–277.
The article presents a study on the automatic clustering of lexicon for diagnosing aphasia in the Russian language. Using verbal fluency test data from 162 participants (both healthy individuals and those with aphasia), the authors applied an algorithm based on FastText distributional-semantic vectors and a clustering model using cosine similarity. The results revealed statistically significant ...
Added: March 12, 2025
Khomenko A., Бальба Д. П., Isakov D., RHEMA. РЕМА 2024 № 3 С. 87–111
In this article an algorithm of automatic vocabulary clustering is implemen- ted to solve the problem of creating a computer model for aphasia diagnostics based on the results of the verbal fluency test. This test involves generating the maximum number of words that fit a specified category within a given time limit. When analyzing test ...
Added: March 12, 2025
Maria Koriakina, Agranovich O., Ioannis Ntoumanis et al., Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2025 Vol. 19 Article 1499521
Introduction: The relationship between motor and cognitive skills is a pivotal issue in neuroscience, with embodied cognition theory asserting that bodily actions and experiences play a vital role in cognitive processing. This relevance is particularly noted in children with severe motor disorders (MD) from birth, highlighting a need to explore how these disorders may impede cognitive ...
Added: February 8, 2025