Your speaking speed can be an early signal of cognitive deterioration. According to a recent study, our speaking speed, which means how fast we speak, could be an indicator of cognitive deterioration and diseases like Alzheimer. Normally, the focus was on memory, but researchers now believe the way we express can have many valuable clues on our brain’s health. So, let’s find out more about this study.
What scientists found
Researchers from Toronto University analyzed 125 healthy adults, whose ages ranged from 18 to 90 years old. They did this to understand how the speaking speed was related to cognitive functions. So, the experiment was divided into two parts:
- Participants had to describe a scene in detail, which allowed scientists to measure their natural speaking rhythm.
- Then, they were shown some pictures of common objects along with audios that could help them (with rhymes like broom/groom) or confuse them (with similar words like broom/mop).
After this, scientists found out that those with a faster speaking speed were also quicker when answering the second task.
Processing speed theory
This result is connected to the ‘’processing speed theory’’, which says that cognitive deterioration in old age it’s not a matter of memory issues, but it has to do with the fact that the whole brain processes the information slower.
This would explain why elderly people take longer when naming objects, make pauses like ‘’eh’’ or ‘’um’’, and show a slower speaking speed than young adults.
Speaking speed and Alzheimer
Everybody knows about Alzheimer, the neurodegenerative disease that tends to be detected when memory issues are more evident. However, scientists believe that speaking speed could work as an early sign, even when classic symptoms show up.
In fact, some artificial intelligence programs are already capable of predicting an Alzheimer’s diagnosis with a precision up to 78,5% by only using speaking patterns.
Also, other studies found that people with more amyloid plaque buildup in their brains are 1.2 times more likely to have speech-related problems. What’s more, a slower speaking speed is also linked to higher levels of tau proteins, another hallmark of Alzheimer’s.
Early detection
The speaking speed analysis is an open door for new medical tools. If changes in the way we speak show brain alterations, then it would only be needed to record and analyze everyday conversations to detect risks of cognitive deterioration. Of course, this would have great advantages:
- A non-invasive method.
- It could be done anywhere in the world.
- It would allow the start of treatments and care very early, improving patients’ quality of life.
How to keep a good speaking speed in adult years?
Although speaking speed depends on biological factors, experts recommend some practices to stimulate the brain and delay cognitive deterioration. So, let’s have a look at them to put them into practice as soon as possible:
- Reading out loud frequently.
- Practicing memory and vocabulary games.
- Having an active social life.
- Doing physical exercise, which is great for your brain’s health.
Thanks to this investigation, now we know that it matters what we say and how we say it. So, if you speak slowly, make pauses, or find it difficult to find the proper words; you could be experiencing signs of aging, therefore, a warning that your brain is changing.
Imagine how important it is to keep studying more about the human body, we are closer to early detection of diseases like Alzheimer which affects so many people around the world. This is really important and we should be grateful that science is making so many improvements. Let’s hope we can have more news like this more often.