• forrgott@lemmy.sdf.org
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    4 days ago

    This “study” doesn’t seem to provide anything other than a correlation between WFD and cognitive decline. Sample size also seemed low? (125 adults)

    Now, if somebody regularly struggles to recall the word they want to use, I don’t argue that “could” indicate cognitive decline. However, it seems far from being a “clear indication”.

    Anybody with knowledge in related fields who wants to tackle reading the full published article, I’d be keen to hear your thoughts! But really seems like the linked article overplays the results for dramatic effect…

    • DisOne@lemmy.zip
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      4 days ago

      Near the bottom of this article it mentions that WFD isn’t the thing, but instead reaction time. Either way this does require an expert opinion

      • catty@lemmy.world
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        22 hours ago

        Reaction time in what sense? I read some of it, and it states that slower reactions are part of the normal ageing process as well!

        • DisOne@lemmy.zip
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          20 hours ago

          Basically they’re seeing slower speech overall: “Instead, overall reaction time – the raw speed of pulling any word – stood out as the best indicator. The finding nudged attention back toward general processing speed.”

      • forrgott@lemmy.sdf.org
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        4 days ago

        That sounds like an important distinction; I appreciate it.

        I am kinda assuming the actual study has valid use; I think I probably just found the way it was described off-putting.

        But yeah, expert opinion would definitely help here. Oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯