Dementia in Fiction and Clinical Narratives

Alzheimer s Disease, Dementia

Dementia, Language Decline, Neurology, Narrative Medicine, Literary Analysis

This study aims to compare the natural narrative language of patients with Alzheimer's disease and the fictional depictions of dementia in contemporary novels from both neurological and literary perspectives. It investigates the similarities and differences in the deterioration of semantic and episodic memory. The goal is to develop a cross-disciplinary language observation model that enhances early diagnostic understanding, fosters empathy in caregiving, and strengthens medical humanities education.

Background： Dementia is a major neurodegenerative disease of concern in aging societies worldwide, with Alzheimer's disease being the most common form. Early symptoms often involve language impairments and narrative disorganization. While neurology has extensively studied semantic memory and pragmatic dysfunction, systematic analysis of natural language narratives remains limited. Meanwhile, contemporary "neuronovels" depict the linguistic and cognitive decline of characters with dementia in highly realistic and emotionally resonant ways, providing narrative insights that may complement clinical observations. This project uses novels such as The Tunnel by A. B. Yehoshua and Still Alice by Lisa Genova as key texts, integrating real patient data and neurobehavioral assessments to construct a model that bridges clinical and literary approaches. Study Design： This is a one-year prospective study. Methods： Semi-structured interviews will be conducted to collect spontaneous narratives focusing on childhood memories, life events, and self-description. Audio recordings will be transcribed and analyzed for linguistic features and behaviors. In parallel, fictional narratives from selected dementia-themed novels will be analyzed for language disruption, narrative fragmentation, and identity construction in characters with dementia. A multidisciplinary team will conduct cross-comparative analyses between clinical data and literary texts to establish a reference framework of language decline and narrative behavior for future diagnostic support and empathy training.

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