Gaby
Many of us are familiar with the term “lethology,” which refers to the difficulties in finding or recalling words in everyday life. Typically, this issue becomes more pronounced as we age.
Struggles with finding the right words can signal changes in the brain that correspond to the early (preclinical) stages of Alzheimer’s disease, often before more obvious symptoms appear.
However, a recent study from the University of Toronto revealed that the most accurate indicator of brain health in older adults is speech rate, rather than word-finding difficulties. Researchers reached this conclusion with the help of artificial intelligence.
How the Study Was Conducted
A team of scientists asked 125 healthy adult participants, aged 18 to 90, to describe a specific scene in detail. The recordings of these descriptions were then analyzed using artificial intelligence. The researchers utilized software to detect characteristics such as speech rate, the duration of pauses between words, and the variety of words used.
The volunteers also answered questions from a standard set of tests measuring concentration, processing speed, as well as planning and task execution abilities. It turned out that age-related declines in these abilities were more closely linked to the participants’ everyday speech rate rather than their struggles with finding the right words.
A crucial part of this research involved a task requiring quick and accurate word identification for specific images, as reported by Science Alert. The scientists found that the natural speech rate of older adults correlated with their speed in naming pictures.
Thus, the team believes that the underlying cause of significant cognitive and linguistic changes with age may be a general slowdown in information processing, rather than issues with word recall.
Why This Matters
This scientific work has opened the door for future research on this topic. It demonstrated that for timely detection of age-related cognitive changes, it is important not only to consider what we say but also how quickly we say it.
Using artificial intelligence technology that employs computational methods to analyze and understand speech data, researchers have shed new light on the early diagnosis of dementia. Previous studies on this issue focused on subtle changes in the spoken and written language of well-known figures like Ronald Reagan and Iris Murdoch. These changes occurred years before they were diagnosed with dementia. The new study offers a more systematic and forward-thinking approach than what researchers have previously employed.
Utilizing the latest advancements in speech processing will enable the timely and effective detection of changes such as a slowdown in speech rate.
Therefore, scientists emphasized the importance of changes in speech tempo as a significant, subtle marker of cognitive health. This research could help identify individuals at risk before more serious symptoms of dementia manifest.
