Automated speech and language tests for Alzheimer's and frontotemporal dementia in Latino and English 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-11404658 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses automated speech and language analysis with machine learning to spot language changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia in Latino and English-speaking people.
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) | $120,372 |
| NIH project number | 3R01AG075775-03S4 |
| Project ID | NIH-11404658 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are Spanish-speaking Latino adults and U.S. English speakers with diagnosed or suspected Alzheimer’s disease or frontotemporal dementia, as well as healthy control participants and bilingual individuals.
✕Less likely to help
People who cannot speak, have severe hearing impairments, or whose condition does not affect language may not get direct benefit from this approach.
What this research studies
You would be asked to speak naturally while your voice is recorded so the team can extract sounds and language patterns. The project combines thousands of recordings from Spanish speakers across Latin America and English speakers in the U.S. to train machine learning tools that work across languages, dialects, and bilingual backgrounds. The goal is to create low-cost, culturally fair tools that compare to standard tests and help tell Alzheimer’s apart from frontotemporal dementia.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could provide cheaper, earlier, and culturally appropriate screening and monitoring tools for dementia in Latino and English-speaking communities.
How similar studies have gone: Prior small studies of automated speech analysis have shown promise for detecting dementia, but few have been large, cross-language, or focused on Latino populations, making this approach relatively novel at scale.
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.
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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.