Analysis of spontaneous language in the older normal population.

Language sample data from normal subjects, spanning an age range of 40-79, were collected in order to determine how normal aging might affect performance on a picture description task, routinely used for assessment of aphasic individuals. The Shewan Spontaneous Language Analysis system was used to analyze each sample. For most variables, performance was stable across the age span studied, with no significant changes indicated with aging. However, a significant increase in the number of paraphasias and a significant decrease in communication efficiency were observed with an increase in age. Establishing normative data is necessary to separate aging effects from the communication impairment in the older population.