Speech analysis as a signal for brain health

Why speech can provide insight into brain health

Speech seems obvious, but it is neurologically complex. While speaking, multiple brain areas work together, including those for language processing, planning, memory, and motor skills.

Scientific research shows that with cognitive decline, very subtle changes often occur in speech, long before daily problems become apparent. Think of changes in tempo, pauses, or word usage.

Precisely because speaking is an everyday activity, speech lends itself well to tracking changes over time.

How speech functions as a digital biomarker

In a speech test, a short (60 seconds) spoken assignment is recorded. That recording is then analyzed using algorithms trained on large datasets.

Among other things, the analysis looks at:

• speech rate and variation
• pauses and patterns of silence
• fluency of sentences
• repetitions and self-corrections

These characteristics say something about information processing and cognitive load.

It’s important to note that a single measurement tells little. The value lies mainly in repetition and comparing measurements over time.

Research into digital biomarkers shows that this longitudinal nature contributes to the early detection of changes in brain function.

What is and isn’t analyzed

What is assessed:

• How someone speaks
• Structure and rhythm of speech
• Changes compared to previous measurements

What is not assessed:

• The content or meaning of what someone says
• Emotions, opinions, or intentions
• Individual diagnoses or conclusions

The speech test is not a listening tool where conversations are recorded and analyzed. The analysis is entirely focused on patterns in speech structure.

Clinical and scientific substantiation

Speech analysis as a digital biomarker has been investigated for some time in academic and clinical settings.

Research shows that speech patterns can be associated with cognitive changes. Research is also being conducted at academic centers, including Amsterdam UMC, into the use of speech as an objective and scalable biomarker.

In a doctoral research (opent in een nieuw venster) published in 2025 by Rosanne van den Berg (opent in een nieuw venster) (Amsterdam UMC), digital signals are examined that can contribute to monitoring cognitive functions over time.

Additionally, speech analysis aligns with broader developments around brain age and digital biomarkers, where multiple measurement methods are combined to better understand changes.

is a promising way to detect early signs of cognitive decline.

How does the speech model behind this test work?

Behind speech analysis lies a so-called algorithm or model. You can see it as a computational method that learns from examples. Instead of following fixed rules, the model is trained with large amounts of speech recordings from different people, linked to known outcomes from research and care.

With the speech model applied by Remind from Canary Speech (opent in een nieuw venster), it works as follows: the model analyzes thousands to millions of speech fragments and learns to recognize patterns in, among other things, tempo, pauses, variation, and articulation. These patterns are then compared with data from people with and without cognitive disorders. Thus, the model learns which combinations of characteristics occur more frequently with certain forms of cognitive change.

Importantly, the model does not listen to the content of what someone says, but to how someone speaks. The meaning of words is therefore not relevant, only the way in which speech is produced.

Applied more widely than just dementia and Alzheimer’s

In research and specialized care contexts, this type of model is studied and applied in various neurological and psychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer’s, mild cognitive impairment, and Parkinson’s. Within Remind, this technology is used exclusively for non-diagnostic monitoring of changes over time.

Applications in clinics and hospitals by Microsoft

This technology is now also used in clinical practice. In the United States, speech analysis is applied within medical documentation, for example via Microsoft DAX Copilot (opent in een nieuw venster). There, speech technology is used to assist doctors during consultations, with research also investigating how speech characteristics can contribute to recognizing cognitive load and change in patients.

Within Remind, the same scientific foundation is applied, but in a more accessible, repeatable form. By analyzing speech at multiple points in time, insights into changes over time are gained, which aligns with how cognitive decline usually develops: gradually and subtly.

The role of speech analysis within Remind

Within Remind, the speech test is used as one of several indicators.

Concretely, this occurs in three ways:

• **Starting point for monitoring **The first speech test provides a personal reference point.
• **Tracking changes over time **Through repetition, subtle trends can become visible without drawing conclusions based on one moment.
• **Context with other measurements **Speech, combined with lifestyle, cognitive tests, and other digital signals, forms a broader picture of brain health.

Within the app, these insights are presented step by step, with room for explanation and context.

What you should and shouldn’t expect from a speech test

The speech test is not:

• a medical diagnosis
• a prediction
• an assessment of how “well” someone speaks

It is precisely because of these limitations that speech can play a safe and valuable role in monitoring brain health.

Speech as part of a broader whole

Speech analysis is never a standalone signal within Remind. Changes in brain health often manifest on multiple levels simultaneously. That’s why Remind deliberately chooses a multi-modal approach, combining speech with other measurements.

Speech patterns are examined in conjunction with lifestyle, memory tests, and other cognitive signals. This prevents conclusions from being drawn based on a single measurement method and helps to better understand subtle changes. The strength lies not in one test, but in bringing together multiple perspectives over time.

In conclusion

Speech is a natural, daily function in which the brain is continuously active. By analyzing speech in a careful and scientifically substantiated manner, an additional way emerges to monitor changes in brain health over time.

Within Remind, speech is therefore used as a digital biomarker: supportive, contextual, and always in combination with other insights.