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How speech patterns can reveal early signs of dementia 💬

Individuals with mild cognitive impairment tended to speak less and used fewer, but more, abstract nouns.

September 05, 2024

Feature of the week

Detecting signs of dementia in the way older people speak

Researchers from the National University of Singapore have successfully detected signs of dementia among older people using an unconventional method: natural speech patterns. 💬 

Based on the study, the researchers observed that seniors with mild cognitive issues tended to speak less and use fewer nouns than those without. They also used more abstract nouns in their speech—a pattern commonly found in patients with Alzheimer’s.

Dementia is traditionally diagnosed using various neuropsychological and neurological tests. But, as the global incidence of dementia increases, using speech patterns for detection could possibly reduce the burden on healthcare systems and help medical practitioners in the early diagnosis, intervention and management of dementia.

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Rong Wang â†’

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Suresh was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering as an international member for his contributions to technologies that advance space exploration as well as his leadership promoting peaceful uses of outer space.