@misc{Lancashire1,
  author = "Ian Lancashire and Graeme Hirst",
  title = "Vocabulary changes in Agatha Christie's mysteries as an
                 indication of dementia: A case study",
  year = "2009",
  conference = "19th Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference,
                 Cognitive Aging: Research and Practice",
  month = "March",
  address = "Toronto",
  abstract = "Although the novelist Agatha Christie was
                 never diagnosed with dementia, it is believed to
                 have been the cause of her decline in her later
                 years.  We analyzed the vocabulary size, the
                 repeated use of fixed phrases, and the indefinite
                 noun usage in 16 Agatha Christie novels written
                 between ages 28 and 82.  We found statistically
                 significant drops in vocabulary, and increases in
                 repeated phrases and indefinite nouns in 15
                 detective novels from The Mysterious Affair at
                 Styles to Postern of Fate.  These language effects
                 are recognized as symptoms of memory difficulties
                 associated with Alzheimer's disease.  Our study
                 supports the conclusion that Agatha Christie's last
                 few novels show early signs of encroaching
                 dementia.",
  note = "Conference poster available <a href=http://ftp.cs.toronto.edu/pub/gh/Lancashire+Hirst-2009-poster.pdf>here</a>",
  download = "http://ftp.cs.toronto.edu/pub/gh/Lancashire+Hirst-extabs-2009.pdf"
}