Using linguistic indicators of difficulty to identify mild cognitive impairment

Speaking is a complex task, and it is to be expected that speech will be effected when a speaker is faced with cognitive difficulties. To explore how cognitive impairment is manifested in a persons’ speech, we compared the speech of elders diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) to others who are cognitively intact, while the speakers attempt to retell a story they just heard. We found that the speakers with impairment, as compared to those who are cognitively intact, spent more time engaged in verbalized hesitations (e.g., “and um ...”) prior to speaking story content, and that these verbalized hesitations accounted for a larger ratio of the time spent retelling. In addition, we found that a higher percentage of the impaired speakers used phrases such as “I guess” and “I can’t recall” to qualify content they were unsure of, or to replace details they couldn’t recall. These results provide insight into how speakers manage cognitive impairment, suggesting that these indicators of difficulty could be used to assist in early diagnosis of MCI.