Researchers at the University of Toronto analyzed some of the novels of Agatha Christie, and they've come up with a startling post-mortem diagnosis: The doyenne of English mystery fiction had Alzheimer's. They base their claim on a decreased complexity in Christie's grammar. Says the Guardian, "The most abrupt decline was seen in a novel Christie wrote aged 81, Elephants Can Remember. The book showed, they said, 30% fewer word types than Destination Unknown, which she wrote aged 63, 18% more repeated phrases, and almost three times as many indefinite words."
Details of the study are here.--David E
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