# Spontaneous Speech and Health Disparities in Risk of Cognitive Decline: WHICAP Offspring Ancillary Study

> **NIH NIH R01** · KENT STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $638,622

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The proposed ancillary study looks to better understand racial/ethnic disparities in Alzheimer's disease (AD) by
investigating spontaneous speech as part of the Washington Heights/Inwood Columbia Aging Project
(WHICAP) Offspring Study. Limitations of existing cognitive screening instruments is a known contributor to
racial/ethnic disparities in AD and recent work suggests that speech analysis may be a sensitive marker of
cognitive decline and future AD. New technological advances raise the possibility that automated speech
analysis could be conducted using smartphones in community settings, creating an inexpensive and scalable
approach to early detection. However, many challenges remain in developing this method, including a very
limited understanding of the biological underpinnings of spontaneous speech in at-risk individuals (e.g.,
hippocampal volume, amyloid deposition, contribution of executive function vs. language).
We propose to examine spontaneous speech as part of the ongoing WHICAP Offspring Study (RF1AG054070,
RF1AG058067). This large project is enrolling a diverse cohort (>70% minorities) of pre-clinical participants
with varying degrees of risk for AD using medical, genetic, and neuropsychological testing (N = 3000),
structural MRI (N = 1000), and amyloid and tau PET imaging (N = 150 for each). Both English and Spanish
speakers are included. One measure of spontaneous speech has been included since study onset and a
second brief measure would be added. We hypothesize that spontaneous speech will reflect a combination of
both biological and sociocultural risk factors to AD and that bilingualism will show protective effects.
By leveraging the rich data collection of the WHICAP Offspring Study, this application would generate
substantial new insight into the basic underpinnings of spontaneous speech in diverse pre-clinical samples, as
well as determine the feasibility of using speech analysis as a novel biomarker of AD risk. Additionally, should
the cohort be followed longitudinally, the ability of spontaneous speech to predict future incidence of AD in
racially/ethnically diverse samples over time could also be evaluated.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9866678
- **Project number:** 1R01AG065432-01
- **Recipient organization:** KENT STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** ADAM M BRICKMAN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $638,622
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-02-01 → 2023-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9866678

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9866678, Spontaneous Speech and Health Disparities in Risk of Cognitive Decline: WHICAP Offspring Ancillary Study (1R01AG065432-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9866678. Licensed CC0.

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