Language and aging: healthy elderly performance on MTL-Brazil battery

• Grant number: 22/06115-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): August 01, 2022
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Karin Zazo Ortiz
• Grantee: Julia Prado Caieiro da Costa
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Aging is a process in which biological, psychological, social, and chronological aspects interact and influence the life of the elderly. The changes that occur in the nervous system at this stage of life do not affect cognitive functions equally. Some skills remain stable due to the continuous involvement of additional circuits that are recruited and that support structures whose functioning has become impaired. However, the advance of the changes already in the elderly phase must be considered, since some studies suggest that the decline may be accentuated with advancing age. Additionally, we know that the number of elderly people tends to increase, so the study of language at this stage of life is important to differentiate between successful and pathological aging. Thus, the project seeks to analyze the performance of healthy elderly people aged 75 and over in the MTL-Brazil battery tasks and to observe if and how this performance changes with aging. For this, 2 groups of elderly people will be evaluated: a group composed of 40 elderly, female or male, aged between 60 and 75 years, and another group with 40 elderly females or males, aged over 75 years. For the selection of participants, the inclusion criteria will be a normal performance on cognitive screening tests, the Pfeffer Functional Assessment Scale, and on the Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15). Elderly people who meet the inclusion criteria and accept to participate in the study will be submitted to language assessment using the MTL-Br battery. The MTL-Br battery is composed of tasks for the assessment of Oral Comprehension, Written Comprehension, Oral Emission, Writing, and Numerical Transcoding. Data relating to the performance of the two groups will be statistically compared and, for this, schooling will be controlled.(AU)