Science Snag #3: Iris Closing
Write with care, scribbling ones, in your blog or journal. Do your best, for it will be the baseline upon which an early diagnosis might depend. (Assuming you actually want to know about it, of course.)
A vocabulary analysis of the final book by British novelist Iris Murdoch reveals the early stages of the Alzheimer's disease that killed her, neuroscientists have found. The discovery shows that even before she was diagnosed with the disease, her work betrayed the subtle signs of her condition.
The vocabulary of Jackson's Dilemma, published shortly before Murdoch was officially diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1995, is less rich than that of an earlier work The Sea, The Sea, published at the height of her powers in 1978. A team of British researchers made the discovery by using text-analysis software to compare the variety of words used in three of her novels.
What a frightening story, and very sad. With a grandmother, aunt, and mother all either diagnosed or showing signs of Alzheimer's, it's especially scary to me.
Posted by: Jena | December 08, 2004 at 08:11 PM
Good god. My jaw actually dropped in surprise. Wow. I don't mean metaphorically, I mean literally.
That's absolutely incredible, and yet makes perfect sense.
Posted by: Sidra Vitale | December 11, 2004 at 01:50 PM