@mastersthesis{Le:2010:thesis,
  author = "Xuan Le",
  title = "Longitudinal Detection of Dementia Through Lexical and
                  Syntactic Changes in Writing",
  year = "2010",
  school = "Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto",
  month = "January",
  abstract = "Studies of language in dementia have concluded that,
                  along with a general cognitive decline, linguistic
                  features are also negatively affected. Studies of
                  the language of healthy elders also observe a
                  linguistic decline, but one which, in contrast, is
                  markedly less severe than that induced by
                  dementia. In this paper, we examine whether the
                  disease can be detected from the diachronic changes
                  in written texts and, more importantly, whether it
                  can be clearly distinguished from normal
                  aging. Lexical and syntactic analyses were conducted
                  on fifty-one novels by three prolific literary
                  authors: Iris Murdoch, P.D. James, and Agatha
                  Christie. Murdoch was diagnosed with Alzheimer's
                  disease shortly after finishing her last novel;
                  James, at 89 years of age, continues to publish
                  critically-acclaimed works; Christie, whose last few
                  novels are deemed strikingly subpar compared to her
                  previous works, presents an interesting case study
                  of possible dementia. The lexical analysis reveals
                  significant patterns of decline in Murdoch's and
                  Christie's later novels, while James's rates remain
                  relatively consistent throughout her career. The
                  syntactic measures, though unveiling fewer
                  significant linear trends, discover a cubic model of
                  change in Murdoch's novels, with a deep decline
                  around her 50s. Our findings provide further support
                  for the hypothesis that dementia, which manifests
                  clearly in lexical features, can be detected in
                  writing.",
  download = "http://ftp.cs.toronto.edu/pub/gh/Le-MSc-2010.pdf"
}