“Usually it starts with proper nouns, so the person who’s saying, ‘I can remember everything about that actor, but I can’t think of their name right now,’” added Whitson.
There are also limitations to this study. “Speech patterns are very dependent on culture and even families,” said Whitson, and this study doesn’t address the aspect of speech differences.
For example, it’s common for folks in the south to speak slower and with more pauses than those in the north, and that is not a sign of cognitive decline.
More, this data was all “drawn from one time point,” Whitson said. So, there is nothing to compare someone’s speech patterns to. Meaning, someone’s use of the word “uh” may be normal and something they picked up in childhood, not a sign of cognitive decline.