Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that impacts millions of people around the world. Around 50 million individuals worldwide suffer from dementia, with Alzheimer’s being the most common cause, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). A steady deterioration in cognitive abilities, such as memory, thinking, and reasoning, is a trademark of the illness. As it worsens, people may find it difficult to perform simple everyday tasks like eating, dressing or even taking a shower.
For context, cognitive assessments, brain imaging, and analysis of cerebrospinal fluid. These are some of the current techniques used in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease. These techniques, nevertheless, can be expensive, invasive, time-consuming, and occasionally erroneous. Now that you know the gravity of the disease, let’s jump to what this new study found!
A new, potentially non-invasive, and cost-effective method of early detection. This recent study shows how artificial intelligence can identify Alzheimer’s disease through speech analysis. Basically, AI systems may be able to identify abnormalities in cognitive function linked to Alzheimer’s disease even before other symptoms start to show.
Out of which, 114 of them met the standards for mild cognitive impairment. Before being asked to record a spontaneous one- to two-minute description of an artwork. They completed a number of standard mental ability tests. The audio descriptions of the image gave an approximate understanding of conversational skills that they could analyze with artificial intelligence to identify speech motor control, idea density, grammatical complexity, and other speech aspects of an individual. The main goal was to recognize subtle linguistic and auditory changes that occur in the very early stages of Alzheimer’s. But are difficult for family members or a person’s primary caretaker to notice.
The researchers compared the participants’ speech patterns, and spinal fluid samples. Brain scans to see if the digital voice markers could accurately diagnose Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive impairment. Even when Alzheimer’s disease is difficult to detect using regular cognitive tests. This unique testing method identified people with the disease and those with mild cognitive impairment.
Researchers said that if larger studies confirm it, using artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze speech patterns could offer a simple screening. This tool is for primary caregivers to identify individuals at risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The technology is new and research is needed to confirm its effectiveness and practical use. The potential impact of AI on healthcare is enormous.
