Discover the Speech Clues That May Signal Cognitive Health Changes

As our age advances, so do the health risks we face. Among these, cognitive decline, often a harrowing symptom that may signal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, is particularly frightening. Though risk factors and early indications of cognitive decline have been deeply researched, new findings continue to emerge. A recent study from November 2023, published in Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, has discovered a speech pattern that could potentially serve as an early warning sign of cognitive decline.

The study was conducted by researchers from Baycrest’s health science center and the University of Toronto. They examined whether patterns in speech could predict the onset of cognitive decline. Previous research suggested word-finding difficulty (WFD) as a potential indicator, but this is also a common sign of aging. The pace of speech, whether fast or slow, however, might offer a clearer warning signal.

Jed Meltzer, PhD, Baycrest’s Canada Research Chair in Interventional Cognitive Neuroscience and lead author of the study, said in a press release, “Our results indicate that changes in general talking speed may reflect changes in the brain.” He added, “This suggests that talking speed should be tested as part of standard cognitive assessments to help clinicians detect cognitive decline faster and help older adults support their brain health as they age.”

This groundbreaking study evaluated both talking speed and WFD in adults across a broad age range of 18 to 90 years. All 125 participants underwent three different assessments, including a picture-naming game which tested their ability to identify and name the images while ignoring distracting words played through headphones.

The second assessment tasked participants with describing two complex pictures within sixty seconds each. Their speech pace and pauses were analyzed using AI technology. The final assessment comprised of standard tests to evaluate various mental abilities, including executive function.

Post the completion of these assessments, researchers found that WFD and certain other abilities tend to decrease with age – an expected outcome. However, what intrigued them was that the reduced ability to recognize and remember an object’s name in a picture was not connected to a decline in other mental skills. Furthermore, there was no link between pauses while finding words and brain health.

The press release explains: “Instead, how fast participants were able to name pictures predicted how fast they spoke in general, and both were linked to executive function. In other words, it wasn’t pausing to find words that showed the strongest link to brain health, but the speed of speech surrounding pauses.”

Therefore, the researchers concluded that a noticeable slowdown in normal speech could be a more significant marker of cognitive decline than struggling to find the right words. However, this connection needs further exploration, and researchers suggest repeating these tests with the same participants over several years to confirm if speech speed indeed forecasts cognitive decline.

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