Terry Pratchett’s novels may have held clues to his dementia a decade before diagnosis, our new study suggests

By Thom Wilcockson, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Loughborough University
Ahmet Begde, Research Associate, Dementia, University of Oxford
Melody Pattison, Lecturer in Linguistics, Cardiff University

The earliest signs of dementia are rarely dramatic. They do not arrive as forgotten names or misplaced keys, but as changes so subtle they are almost impossible to notice: a slightly narrower vocabulary, less variation in description, a gentle flattening of language.

New research my colleagues and I conducted suggests that these changes may be detectable years before a formal diagnosis — and one of the clearest examples may lie hidden in the novels of Sir Terry Pratchett.

Pratchett is remembered as one…

Read complete article

~	South Sudan: UN and rights experts warn against risk of mass violence in Jonglei

~	US hospitality and tourism professors don’t mirror the demographics of the industry they serve

~	Shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis has put America’s gun lobby at odds with the White House

~	Suella Braverman defects: is Reform becoming a magnet for Tory baggage?

~	What an ancient jellyfish can teach us about the evoution of sleep

~	How political leanings affect views on academic freedom – new research

~	On Being Ill at 100: Virginia Woolf’s ‘best essay’ still shapes how we read sickness

~	What the Beckham family feud reveals about social media and our love of ‘mess’

~	Who really holds the cards: Trump or the bond market?

~	People from sexual minorities really do die younger, new data suggests