Automated speech and language checks for Alzheimer’s and frontotemporal dementia in English and Spanish speakers
Official title: An automated machine learning approach to language changes in Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia across Latino and English-speaking populations
Funded at University of California, San Francisco · NIH-11404659 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses computer analysis of natural speech to find early signs of Alzheimer’s disease or frontotemporal dementia in English- and Spanish-speaking adults.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Francisco NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Francisco, United States) |
| Project start | August 15, 2023 |
| Project end | June 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $68,267 |
| NIH project number | 3R01AG075775-03S5 |
| Project ID | NIH-11404659 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are adults with Alzheimer’s disease or frontotemporal dementia and healthy control adults, especially English- or Spanish-speaking Latino participants and bilingual individuals.
✕Less likely to help
People who cannot produce natural spoken language (for example, those in advanced nonverbal stages) or whose primary language is neither English nor Spanish may not benefit or be eligible.
What this research studies
If you join, you'll be asked to speak naturally while short recordings are made so researchers can extract acoustic and language features. Those speech features will be analyzed with automated algorithms and machine learning using thousands of recordings from Latino and U.S. English-speaking participants. The team will compare patterns across diagnoses (Alzheimer’s, frontotemporal dementia, and controls) and across factors like language, dialect, bilingualism, sex, and brain profile. The goal is to create low-cost, scalable speech tools that work across diverse communities.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to affordable, simple speech-based tools to help detect and monitor dementia earlier in English- and Spanish-speaking patients.
How similar studies have gone: Smaller prior studies show automated speech analyses can detect dementia-related changes, but work in Latino and bilingual populations is limited and this approach is still being validated.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Gorno Tempini, Maria Luisa — University of California, San Francisco
- Study coordinator: Gorno Tempini, Maria Luisa
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Automated language analysis for Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia in Latino and English speakers
A low-cost, automated speech and language analysis tool is being developed to help identify Alzheimer’s disease or frontotemporal dementia in Latino and English-speaking people.
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Automated language analysis for Alzheimer’s and frontotemporal dementia across Latino and English-speaking groups
A low-cost, automated language study aims to help diagnose and understand Alzheimer’s and FTD in diverse Spanish- and English-speaking communities.
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Automated language analysis to help diagnose Alzheimer’s and frontotemporal dementia in Latino and English speakers
A low-cost, computer-based method analyzes speech and language to help identify Alzheimer’s disease or frontotemporal dementia in Latino and English-speaking people.
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Automated language analysis for Alzheimer's and frontotemporal dementia in Latino and English-speaking communities
A low-cost, computer-based language analysis method is being developed to help identify Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia in Latino and English-speaking people.
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Automated language analysis to detect Alzheimer’s and frontotemporal dementia in Latino and English-speaking adults
A low-cost, computer-based language and speech analysis tool will help identify Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia in Latino and English-speaking adults.
-
Automated language analysis for Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia in Latino and English speakers
A machine learning approach analyzes speech and language from Latino and English-speaking people to help detect Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.