RF1AG091509

DIGITAL SPEECH MARKERS FOR EARLY DETECTION OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE IN A LONGITUDINAL RACIALLY AND ETHNICALLY DIVERSE COHORT - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT - MODIFYING TREATMENTS BECOME AVAILABLE. TRADITIONAL DIAGNOSTIC METHODS, PRIMARILY EPISODIC MEMORY ASSESSMENTS, ARE OFTEN INADEQUATE IN THE EARLY STAGES, MISSING SUBTLE COGNITIVE SHIFTS THAT OCCUR YEARS BEFORE CLINICAL SYMPTOMS ARE APPARENT. LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENTS, SUCH AS DIFFICULTIES WITH WORD RETRIEVAL, EMERGE AS EARLY MARKERS OF AD, YET REMAIN UNDERUTILIZED IN CLINICAL SETTINGS. AUTOMATED SPEECH ANALYSIS OFFERS A NON-INVASIVE, SCALABLE, AND COST-EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO DETECTING THESE EARLY SIGNS BY ANALYZING SPONTANEOUS SPEECH PATTERNS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AND VALIDATE AN AD-SPECIFIC SPEECH PROFILE USING AUTOMATED SPEECH ANALYSIS TO IMPROVE EARLY DETECTION AND MONITORING OF AD. LEVERAGING EXISTING AND NEWLY COLLECTED LONGITUDINAL SPEECH SAMPLES FROM CULTURALLY AND EDUCATIONALLY DIVERSE POPULATIONS, WE WILL USE CUTTING-EDGE MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS TO IDENTIFY KEY LINGUISTIC AND ACOUSTIC FEATURES INDICATIVE OF COGNITIVE DECLINE. OUR LARGE AND DIAGNOSTICALLY DIVERSE COHORTS WILL ENABLE US TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN DIFFERENT STAGES OF AD AND DIFFERENTIATE AD FROM OTHER NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES SUCH AS PRIMARY PROGRESSIVE APHASIA AND FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA. AIM 1 FOCUSES ON DEVELOPING A SENSITIVE AND SPECIFIC AD-SPEECH PROFILE TO CLASSIFY CLINICAL DIAGNOSES AND PREDICT THE TRANSITION FROM PRECLINICAL TO CLINICAL AD. AIM 2 INVESTIGATES THE CLINICAL VALIDITY OF THE AD-SPEECH PROFILE BY CORRELATING IT WITH ESTABLISHED NEUROIMAGING BIOMARKERS (E.G., AMYLOID-PET, MRI) AND COGNITIVE MEASURES WHILE ACCOUNTING FOR SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC INFLUENCES. AIM 3 AIMS TO ESTABLISH THE REPRODUCIBILITY AND GENERALIZABILITY OF THE SPEECH PROFILE BY EXTERNALLY VALIDATING IT WITH AN INDEPENDENT COHORT. THIS MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT BRINGS TOGETHER EXPERTISE IN NEUROLOGY, LINGUISTICS, NEUROPSYCHOLOGY, BIOSTATISTICS, AND DIGITAL HEALTH TO CREATE AN ACCESSIBLE, OBJECTIVE TOOL THAT ENHANCES EARLY DETECTION AND MONITORING ACROSS RACIALLY AND ETHNICALLY DIVERSE POPULATIONS. BY FOCUSING ON SUBTLE CHANGES IN LANGUAGE PATTERNS, THE PROJECT LAYS THE FOUNDATION FOR AUTOMATED SPEECH ANALYSIS AS A CLINICALLY VIABLE AND EQUITABLE METHOD FOR EARLY AD DIAGNOSIS AND DISEASE MONITORING.

San Francisco Regents Of The University Of California

TO ENCOURAGE BIOMEDICAL, SOCIAL, AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING DIRECTED TOWARD GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE AGING PROCESS AND THE DISEASES, SPECIAL PROBLEMS, AND NEEDS OF PEOPLE AS THEY AGE. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING HAS ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS TO PURSUE THESE GOALS. THE DIVISION OF AGING BIOLOGY EMPHASIZES UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES OF AGING. THE DIVISION OF GERIATRICS AND CLINICAL GERONTOLOGY SUPPORTS RESEARCH TO IMPROVE THE ABILITIES OF HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS TO RESPOND TO THE DISEASES AND OTHER CLINICAL PROBLEMS OF OLDER PEOPLE. THE DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH SUPPORTS RESEARCH THAT WILL LEAD TO GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT BOTH THE PROCESS OF GROWING OLD AND THE PLACE OF OLDER PEOPLE IN SOCIETY. THE DIVISION OF NEUROSCIENCE FOSTERS RESEARCH CONCERNED WITH THE AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE RELATED SENSORY, PERCEPTUAL, AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH AGING AND HAS A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM: TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SBIR PROGRAM, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM: TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.866 - Aging Research

National Institute on Aging (NIA) [HHS - NIH]

California United States

State-Wide

Research on Current Topics in Alzheimer's Disease and Its Related Dementias (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) (PAR-22-093)