Objectives: A Script Generation Task (SGT), requiring participants to verbally describe the steps of everyday activities, was investigated as an efficient tool to detect mild functional difficulties and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: 83 participants (n=57 HC; n=26 MCI) completed a SGT, performance-based test of everyday function, cognitive tests, and questionnaires. SGT responses were transcribed and scored by human raters and automated text analysis. Results: Participants with MCI generated fewer SGT steps in a shorter amount of time and more pronouns relative to nouns, reflecting less specificity. Performance on the SGT was associated with cognitive tests of episodic memory, performance-based tests of everyday function, and questionnaires regarding everyday functioning. Conclusions: The SGT holds promise as a highly efficient measure of mild cognitive and functional difficulties in older adults.
Magnetoencephalography reveals adaptive neural reorganization maintaining lexical-semantic proficiency in healthy aging
Although semantic cognition remains behaviorally stable with age, neuroimaging studies report age-related alterations in response to semantic context. We aimed to reconcile these inconsistent findings



