Searching for the words on the tip of your tongue

McMaster psychologist Karin Humphreys and a team of students are studying language retention and retrieval in local seniors.

Using “tip of the tongue” tests, the researchers work with the octogenarians to determine what kinds of words present a struggle to the aging brain, whether seniors can improve language retention and whether they are are risk for more memory problems in the future.

The work was recently highlighted by the CBC.

So far, the team has found that being unable to recall a word that’s “on the tip of the tongue” does not necessarily indicate the onset of dementia.

Humphreys compares the human brain to a filing cabinet – the older you are, the more files it contains, and the longer it takes for you to find the word you’re looking for.

She explains the project in the video below: