How many times have we had a word on the tip of our tongue and have not been able to verbalize it, or have seen an image and know what we need to say to describe it but can’t get it out? These barriers to verbal fluency are the parameters that researchers at the University of Toronto have wanted to study, which argues that the brain health of older adults is not measured so much by the ability to search and find words, but by the speed of speech when considering natural language.
With a sample of 125 healthy adults aged between 18-90 years, a study was conducted with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), which analyzed aspects such as speech speed, the duration of pauses between words, and the variety of words used. The results of this study reflect that what can truly reveal cognitive changes related to aging is not what we say, but the speed at which we say it.
So much so, that artificial intelligence and its computational techniques have also been used to analyze changes in spoken and written language of individuals, long before they were diagnosed with dementia, such as Ronald Reagan or Iris Murdoch. It is expected that this type of study will be further developed and oriented more toward the future, in order to help predict signs or behaviors that respond to cognitive decline that may be related to neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.
Brain aging
There are two events that happen to all of us, to a greater or lesser extent, when we are having a conversation. One is called ‘lethologica’ and refers to when we have difficulty finding words while speaking. On the other hand, there is the ‘tip of the tongue phenomenon,’ which occurs when we are on the verge of finding a word but cannot seem to get it. Experts indicate that these types of difficulties can sometimes be attributed to brain aging or even signals of some neurodegenerative disease. This is why researchers at the University of Toronto have started a study to relate speech characteristics to brain aging.
Study of speech and aging
This study included a sample of 125 healthy adults aged between 18-90 years. The tasks involved describing a scene in detail while being recorded. These conversations were analyzed by artificial intelligence (AI) software, focusing on speech rate, pause duration, and the variety of words used. Aspects such as concentration, the ability to plan and complete tasks, and thought speed were also analyzed. The results of the study attracted the attention of both researchers and those of us who read the study.
Contrary to what one might think, the results linked the natural speech rate of adults with the speed they demonstrated when naming images. What does this imply? That cognitive and linguistic changes are related to a slowdown in processing capacity.
Study Results
The results of this study refute those of another conducted in 2022, which claimed that verbal fluency performance decreases with normal aging. This study not only shows that this is not the case, but that cognitive changes are related to the speed at which we speak, not to what we say.
This type of technology has made it possible to analyze data from human language. So much so that subtle changes in spoken and written language have been analyzed before individuals were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, as happened with Ronald Reagan or Iris Murdoch. It is expected that this technology will have a more forward-looking vision, and that its applications will focus on being able to detect and prevent any neurodegenerative disease through changes in speech.
