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Vocal acoustic biomarkers predict amyloid positivity in non-demented individuals
Ham H, Han AL, Bae M, Lee H, Son J, Yeo J, Yoon EJ, Lee S et al.. Research Square, 2026-09-11
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
Amyloid-β deposition begins in the earliest preclinical stages of Alzheimer's disease, long before cognitive decline is detectable by standard clinical assessments, which are often limited by ceiling effects and create a need for non-invasive, scalable markers. Speech production is a demanding motor skill requiring precise neuro-motor coordination, so the acoustics of motor speech may index early pathological burden that conventional cognitive testing overlooks. In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed acoustic features of motor speech from a sequential motion rate task in 64 non-demented participants (43 amyloid-negative, 21 amyloid-positive), spanning prosody, voice quality, and spectral domains. Using two complementary linear classifiers with repeated stratified five-fold cross-validation, we tested whether these motor-speech features improved classification of amyloid positivity beyond clinical baselines comprising demographics, white matter hyperintensity burden, and scores on the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-KC). Adding acoustic features substantially improved classification across both classifiers, and acoustic-only models outperformed models using MMSE-KC scores alone. Features reflecting variability and consistency across repeated speech motor productions were the most informative. These results indicate that high-load motor speech can reveal subtle neuro-motor changes associated with early Alzheimer's pathology, supporting vocal acoustic markers as a sensitive, low-burden complement to established biomarkers.
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APA 7th
Ham, H., Han, A. L., Bae, M., Lee, H., Son, J., Yeo, J., et al. (2026). Vocal acoustic biomarkers predict amyloid positivity in non-demented individuals. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-10848194/v1
Vancouver
Ham H, Han AL, Bae M, Lee H, Son J, Yeo J, et al. Vocal acoustic biomarkers predict amyloid positivity in non-demented individuals. Research Square. 2026. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-10848194/v1.
BibTeX
@article{ham2026-976d25d7,
author = {Ham, H. and Han, A. L. and Bae, M. and Lee, H. and Son, J. and Yeo, J. and Yoon, E. J. and Lee, S. and others},
title = {{Vocal acoustic biomarkers predict amyloid positivity in non-demented individuals}},
journal = {Research Square},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.21203/rs.3.rs-10848194/v1},
url = {https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-10848194/v1}
}
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Key findings
- These results indicate that high-load motor speech can reveal subtle neuro-motor changes associated with early Alzheimer's pathology, supporting vocal acoustic markers as a sensitive, low-burden complement to established biomarkers.
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Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 16/100
Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. It scored 27 on the same rubric, but non-peer-reviewed sources are capped at 16, so it shows as 16. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 17 of the 62 points we could judge it on, which is 27 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (Research Square) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 4 / 10 | Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. Hosted on a preprint server. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 17 / 62 | Scored on 12 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 17 of the 62 points we could judge it on is 27 out of 100. |
| Total | 27 / 100 | Capped to 16 because this is not a peer-reviewed article. |
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