How speech patterns evolve could predict cognitive decline, Canadian research team suggests

Natural speech patterns could predict a decline in cognitive function and may even point to early signs of dementia, a new study suggests. (Kampus Production)

Natural speech patterns could predict a decline in cognitive function and may even point to early signs of dementia, a new study suggests.

Published on Wednesday, the research from Baycrest Hospital, the University of Toronto and York University underscored how speech patterns in aging adults, including long pauses, excessive use of filler words and difficulty finding what to say could signify deteriorating brain health.

Jed Meltzer, senior author of the study, told CTV News on Thursday that the research began from his interest in “the idea that changes in a person’s speech can reveal when they are experiencing a decline in brain health.”

The study featured two cognitive assessment experiments – one in 2019, the other in 2023 – which compared the executive function and speech characteristics of the participants. The first study saw 67 healthy adults aged 65–75, while the second one had 174 healthy adults aged 18–90.

“We gave people standard tests of mental ability,” Meltzer said in a Zoom interview, which included colour-word interference tasks. They also recorded the patients describing complex photos of mundane life scenarios in their own words.

“We analyzed the speech (samples) with a very powerful computer algorithm to see if we could find aspects of their speech that predicted their mental abilities,” said Meltzer.

Baycrest’s assessment of the speeches utilized an algorithm designed by Toronto-based tech company Winterlight Labs. According to the company, their technology can “quickly and accurately detect signs of cognitive impairment from a sample of speech,” focusing on complexity of sentences, repeat words and ability to use rare words.

According to a press release from Baycrest, their strategy differs from industry standard cognitive tests, calling it one of the first ever “to demonstrate a direct link between natural speech patterns and essential cognitive function”.

The study concluded that participants struggled most with timing-related aspects like long pauses, relying on using filler words like “um” and “ah” and word-finding difficulty.

Meltzer says these results suggest “talking slower is related to thinking slower,” which is a sign of cognitive deterioration.

While frequent use of filler words isn’t necessarily a sign of cognitive delay, Meltzer adds that it can become an alarming sign of deterioration when it becomes exaggerated.

“If you do it more than you did five years ago, maybe you want to take a look at your cardiovascular health,” he added.

‘That will be detectable’

Although Meltzer says his research team’s test is not a direct diagnosis for cognitive decline, it can be an early detection measure, which he says can aid doctors in detecting the slow decline in someone’s brain health over the span of several years.

“If you test someone once, they may have dementia, or they may not … but you can’t definitively diagnose someone from one examination,” he said.

“But if you test somebody twice, with one year in between, if someone is undergoing a serious decline, that will be detectable by the comparison between the two (tests).”

Meltzer says this development gives the Baycrest team hope that their experiment can play a role in testing the effectiveness of dementia drugs and treatments.

Modifiable risk factors

When it comes to delaying cognitive disorders like dementia, Meltzer says there are some measures you can take, pointing to modifiable risk factors like decreasing isolation and loneliness, as well as increasing exercise.

“The single best thing you can do is go on a walk with your friend,” he shared.

Other factors that can help prevent cognitive decline also include bilingualism and higher education, and while they may not stop brain damage, Meltzer said it “makes (the brain) more resilient towards it.”

Unfortunately, old age and genetics fall under non-modifiable things he says are “risk factors for everything