cover of episode Vanishing Words

Vanishing Words

2021/12/17
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A
Alana Casanova-Burgess
I
Ian Lancashire
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Alana Casanova-Burgess:选择"La brega"作为播客名称,是因为这个词无法完美翻译成英语,它代表了波多黎各人日常生活中面对的挑战、奋斗和韧性。该词的模糊性和多义性,反而更能吸引听众去探索波多黎各文化的深层含义。节目通过讲述各种故事来展现"La brega"的内涵,而不是给出明确的定义。 Ian Lancashire:通过对阿加莎·克里斯蒂小说中词汇频率和词汇量的电脑分析,可以发现其语言能力的细微变化,这可能暗示着早期认知障碍的迹象。其晚期作品中词汇量的下降可能与其患阿尔茨海默病有关。这项研究表明,语言分析可以作为一种潜在的工具,用于早期发现认知能力的下降。 Kelvin Lim & Serguei Pakhomov:对修女研究(Nun Study)中年轻时写作样本的语言分析,可以预测老年痴呆症的发生。低词汇密度和简单的语法结构与老年痴呆症的风险显著相关。这项研究强调了语言风格与认知健康之间的关联,为早期诊断和干预提供了新的思路。 Sister Alberta Sheridan:作为修女研究的参与者,她分享了自己年轻时写作的经历,以及研究人员如何利用这些写作样本进行分析,以预测老年痴呆症的风险。她的个人经历为研究结果提供了具体的案例支持。 Alana Casanova-Burgess: The word 'La brega' is untranslatable. It captures the essence of life in Puerto Rico and draws listeners in by its ambiguity. The show uses stories to illustrate its meaning, rather than providing a clear definition. Ian Lancashire: Computer analysis of Agatha Christie's novels reveals subtle changes in her language that may indicate early signs of cognitive impairment. The decline in vocabulary in her later works may be linked to Alzheimer's disease. This suggests language analysis could be a tool for early detection of cognitive decline. Kelvin Lim & Serguei Pakhomov: Analysis of writing samples from the Nun Study can predict the onset of dementia. Low idea density and simple grammatical structures are significantly associated with an increased risk of dementia. This highlights the link between writing style and cognitive health, offering new avenues for early diagnosis and intervention. Sister Alberta Sheridan: As a participant in the Nun Study, she shares her experience of writing in her youth and how researchers use these samples to predict dementia risk. Her personal experience provides concrete support for the research findings.

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Alana Casanova-Burgess discusses the naming process for her podcast about Puerto Rican life, focusing on the word 'La Brega' which has no direct English translation but encapsulates the essence of Puerto Rican life.

Shownotes Transcript

When Alana Casanova-Burgess set out to make a podcast series about Puerto Rico, she struggled with what to call it. Until one word came to mind, a word that captures a certain essence of life in Puerto Rico, but eludes easy translation into English. We talk to Alana about her series, and that particular word, then turn to an old story about treating words as signals of something happening just beneath the surface. 

Agatha Christie's clever detective novels may reveal more about the inner workings of the human mind than she intended. According to Dr. Ian Lancashire) at the University of Toronto, the Queen of Crime left behind hidden clues to the real-life mysteries of human aging in her writing. Meanwhile, Dr. Kelvin Lim) and Dr. Serguei Pakhomov) from the University of Minnesota add to the intrigue with the story of an unexpected find in a convent archive that could someday help pinpoint very early warning signs for Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Sister Alberta Sheridan, a 94-year-old Nun Study) participant, reads an essay she wrote more than 70 years ago.

La Brega update was produced by Maria Paz Gutierrez