Constraints on Language: Aging, Grammar and Memory

Age-comparative studies are particularly relevant to this debate for several reasons: difficulties with language and communication are frequently mentioned by older adults and signal the onset of Alzheimer's dementia and other pathologies associated with age; older adults commonly experience working memory limitations that affect their ability to perform everyday activities; the rapid ageing of the United States population has forced psychologists and gerontologists to examine such effects of ageing on cognition, drawing many investigators to the study of cognitive ageing.