Russian Researchers Launch App to Diagnose Speech Disorders
A new publicly available application helps identify aphasia, a speech impairment that can occur after head trauma or stroke.
Scientists at the Center for Language and Brain at the Higher School of Economics have developed an app for diagnosing aphasia – speech impairments that can follow head injuries or strokes, the university’s press service said.
The test can determine the presence and severity of changes within minutes. It is available for download on RuStore. The researchers relied not only on linguistic characteristics of stimuli, but also on psycholinguistic factors such as age of word acquisition, frequency of use, and the visual complexity of depicted objects.
For Early Diagnosis
The application has already been tested on large groups of Russian-speaking participants, including individuals with speech impairments and those without them. Users complete six tasks in the mobile app, including repeating words and actions and naming objects. Additional exercises assess articulation disorders and verbal fluency.
Test results range from 0 to 26 points: the higher the score, the more severe the impairment. Early diagnosis can help physicians choose a more effective rehabilitation strategy.
The app stores user data to track recovery progress, and the results can be exported for printing. Aphasia tests are typically conducted by neurologists; the developers say the mobile tool will allow them to diagnose speech disorders more quickly and accurately.
