Phonetic clustering characteristics in verbal fluency: A potential marker for differentiating subjective cognitive decline from mild cognitive impairment

Retrieving sequences of words based on their phonetic proximity while performing not only PVF but also SVF tasks pointed to more preserved cognitive functioning and appeared vulnerable to early cognitive changes. Linguistic analysis of VF performance can capture subtle cognitive reorganization missed by scoring of the total number of correct words only and may enhance early dementia-risk profiling.