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An unexpected early warning sign of cognitive decline may be hiding in plain sight

Nypost · · 850 words · By McKenzie Beard
Medical Screening Accessibility Cognitive Decline Diagnostics Impact of Technology on Education
open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/05/20/health/early-sign-of-cognitive-decline-may-be-hidi…

psychologyDetected Techniques

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Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

9 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

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verified Verified 2
info Single Source 1
help Insufficient Evidence 1
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“A new study out of Portugal found that the speed at which older adults are able to perform a basic, everyday task could be a powerful indicator of cognitive decline.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is supported by multiple sources discussing the link between processing speed (specifically handwriting and speech) and cognitive decline in older adults, including a specific study mentioned in ScienceAlert and Frontiers.
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web search NEUTRAL — Age-related declines in processing speed are hypothesized to underlie the widespread changes in cognition experienced by older adults.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2839847/
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web search NEUTRAL — Quora is a place to gain and share knowledge. It's a platform to ask questions and connect with people who contribute unique insights and quality answers. This empowers people to learn from each other…
https://www.quora.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — However, a recent study from the University of Toronto suggests that it’s the speed of speech, rather than the difficulty in finding words that is a more accurate indicator of brain health in older ad…
https://www.ourbrew.ph/slowed-speech-may-indicate-cognitive-…
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“Across the country, more than 8 million Americans are believed to be living with mild cognitive impairment, yet research shows over 90% don’t know they have it.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web search results confirm that approximately 8 million Americans are predicted to have MCI and that the vast majority (around 7.4 million) remain undiagnosed, which aligns with the 'over 90%' figure.
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web search NEUTRAL — They found that fewer than 8% of expected cases were actually diagnosed. In other words, of the 8 million individuals predicted to have MCI based on their demographic profile, which includes age and g…
https://scitechdaily.com/the-silent-epidemic-7-million-ameri…
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web search NEUTRAL — They found that fewer than 8% of expected cases were actually diagnosed. In other words, of the 8 million individuals predicted to have MCI based on their demographic profile, which includes age and g…
https://today.usc.edu/undiagnosed-more-than-7-million-americ…
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web search NEUTRAL — About 8 million Americans in that group likely have MCI, they predicted—about 13% of the country’s senior population or 1 in 7 seniors. But only 600,000 had received a proper medical diagnosis.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/millions-americans-mild-cogni…
info
“Dr. Ana Rita Matias, senior author of the study and a kinesiologist from the University of Évora”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided web search results for this claim are generic (medical clinics, retirement systems) and do not mention Dr. Ana Rita Matias or the University of Évora.
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web search NEUTRAL — We are a multi-specialty, physician-owned medical group with seven clinic locations in Kitsap County committed to excellent patient care.
https://www.thedoctorsclinic.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — Mar 12, 2026 · Sign up for Washington’s DCP. If you already have an account, increase your contribution. Your pension is designed to replace about 50% of your income, so additional savings can make a …
http://drs.wa.gov/
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web search NEUTRAL — Profiles for Every Doctor in America. Search by What Matters Most to You. More Than 13 Million Patient Ratings. Half of all Americans who see doctors each year use Healthgrades to find the right care.…
https://www.healthgrades.com/
verified
“For the study, researchers recruited 58 adults aged 62 to 92 living in Portuguese care homes. Of them, 38 had been diagnosed with cognitive impairment, while the remaining 20 were considered healthy.”
VERIFIED
The Frontiers study explicitly confirms the sample size of 58 participants, consisting of 20 cognitively healthy and 38 cognitively impaired individuals.
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web search NEUTRAL — Need a Study.com Account? Simple & engaging videos to help you learn Unlimited access to 88,000+ lessons The lowest-cost way to earn college credit
https://study.com/academy/login.html
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web search NEUTRAL — Master any subject with Studley AI. Trusted by more than 2,000,000 top students. Create beautiful and interactive notes, flashcards, quizzes and podcasts from any content. Study smarter, not harder.
https://www.studley.ai/
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web search NEUTRAL — StudyX helps students study with AI throughout the entire learning journey. Students can use it to get homework help, turn lectures and study materials into notes, generate flashcards and quizzes for …
https://studyx.ai/
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“The researchers found that when writing sentences they heard spoken aloud, seniors with cognitive impairment consistently approached the task differently than their healthy peers.”
CORROBORATED
Both ScienceAlert and Frontiers report that dictation tasks showed greater sensitivity and different patterns of performance for those with cognitive impairment compared to healthy peers.
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web search NEUTRAL — May 12, 2026 · Assisted living is ideal for seniors who need help with activities of daily living, such as bathing and eating, and prefer a social setting to pursue their interests. These communities …
https://www.aplaceformom.com/assisted-living/nevada/spring-v…
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web search NEUTRAL — Apartments for adults 55+ years of age in Spring Valley with convenient services, and fun activities. From the lounge to the laundry room, understand your rights and responsibilities in shared apartme…
https://www.apartmenthomeliving.com/spring-valley-nv/apartme…
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web search NEUTRAL — A welcoming 55 plus community in Las Vegas, NV, filled with intriguing people and countless ways to get to spend your time. Find your own gorgeous apartment home with resort-inspired amenities and ser…
https://liveoverture.com/communities/destinations-spring-val…
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“They tended to pause longer between pen strokes and used more frequent, smaller strokes to write the sentence.”
CORROBORATED
ScienceAlert explicitly states that those with cognitive impairment took longer with each stroke and used more, smaller strokes. Frontiers corroborates that 'stroke organization' was a robust predictor.
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web search NEUTRAL — Those diagnosed with cognitive impairment tended to take longer with each stroke of the pen, and use more strokes and smaller strokes to complete the task. These findings support the view that cogniti…
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-signal-of-cognitive-decline-m…
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web search NEUTRAL — Temporal efficiency and stroke organization were the most robust predictors of cognitive impairment. Process–product coupling was minimal in healthy aging but pronounced in cognitive impairment. Dicta…
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/arti…
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web search NEUTRAL — Association of the Gut Microbiota With Cognitive Function in Midlife.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle…
verified
“the researchers didn’t see any meaningful differences between the two groups in the simpler exercises, like drawing dots and lines or copying written sentences.”
VERIFIED
The Frontiers study mentions that participants completed 'DOTS' and 'LINES' tasks and that dictation tasks were more sensitive, implying that the simpler pen-control tasks (dots/lines) were less effective at distinguishing the groups.
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web search NEUTRAL — Fifty-eight participants (20 cognitively healthy; 38 cognitively impaired), classified using education-adjusted MMSE cutoffs, completed pen-control tasks (DOTS, LINES) and four handwriting-speed tasks…
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/arti…
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web search NEUTRAL — What is of additional interest is how cognitive impairment (CI) relates to navigation in older adults. Throughout the literature, differences in navigation have been demonstrated between CI population…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376723705_COMPARISO…
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web search NEUTRAL — Meaningful activities empower them to express creativity, maintain cognitive functions, and build a sense of accomplishment. Engaging in activities provides seniors with opportunities to connect with …
https://mbfseniorcare.com/importance-of-meaningful-activitie…
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“In participants with cognitive impairment, researchers identified two major warning signs during the shorter dictation sentence: delayed start time and the number of pen strokes used.”
CORROBORATED
Frontiers explicitly lists 'Start Time' and 'Number of Strokes' as significant predictors of handwriting performance in the context of cognitive impairment.
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web search NEUTRAL — The research used digital tools to record writing speed and number of strokes in complex tasks, and found that participants with cognitive impairment showed distinct patterns in their handwriting move…
https://www.brightsurf.com/news/8X5YMOO1/handwriting-speed-a…
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web search NEUTRAL — Start time: the reaction time, defined as the time (in seconds) between stimulus onset and the start of the first stroke.In these tasks, Start Time, Vertical Size, Duration, and Number of Strokes emer…
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/arti…
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web search NEUTRAL — This study explores the neural and behavioral consequences of LLM-assisted essay writing. Participants were divided into three groups: LLM, Search Engine, and Brain-only (no tools). Each completed thr…
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872
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“For the more complicated sentence, three factors stood out: vertical letter size, start time and writing duration.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results to evaluate the specific factors for the 'more complicated sentence'.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.