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Bradley ER, Portanova J, Woolley JD, Buck B, Painter IS, Hankin M, Xu W, Cohen T. Quantifying abnormal emotion processing: A novel computational assessment method and application in schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res 2024; 336:115893. [PMID: 38657475 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2024.115893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Revised: 12/31/2023] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Abnormal emotion processing is a core feature of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) that encompasses multiple operations. While deficits in some areas have been well-characterized, we understand less about abnormalities in the emotion processing that happens through language, which is highly relevant for social life. Here, we introduce a novel method using deep learning to estimate emotion processing rapidly from spoken language, testing this approach in male-identified patients with SSDs (n = 37) and healthy controls (n = 51). Using free responses to evocative stimuli, we derived a measure of appropriateness, or "emotional alignment" (EA). We examined psychometric characteristics of EA and its sensitivity to a single-dose challenge of oxytocin, a neuropeptide shown to enhance the salience of socioemotional information in SSDs. Patients showed impaired EA relative to controls, and impairment correlated with poorer social cognitive skill and more severe motivation and pleasure deficits. Adding EA to a logistic regression model with language-based measures of formal thought disorder (FTD) improved classification of patients versus controls. Lastly, oxytocin administration improved EA but not FTD among patients. While additional validation work is needed, these initial results suggest that an automated assay using spoken language may be a promising approach to assess emotion processing in SSDs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen R Bradley
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, CA, USA.
| | - Jake Portanova
- Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, University of Washington, WA, USA
| | - Josh D Woolley
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, CA, USA
| | - Benjamin Buck
- Behavioral Research in Technology and Engineering (BRiTE) Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, USA
| | - Ian S Painter
- Department of Statistics, University of Washington, USA
| | | | - Weizhe Xu
- Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, University of Washington, WA, USA
| | - Trevor Cohen
- Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, University of Washington, WA, USA; Behavioral Research in Technology and Engineering (BRiTE) Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, USA
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Olson GM, Damme KSF, Cowan HR, Alliende LM, Mittal VA. Emotional tone in clinical high risk for psychosis: novel insights from a natural language analysis approach. Front Psychiatry 2024; 15:1389597. [PMID: 38803678 PMCID: PMC11128650 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1389597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis experience subtle emotional disturbances that are traditionally difficult to assess, but natural language processing (NLP) methods may provide novel insight into these symptoms. We predicted that CHR individuals would express more negative emotionality and less emotional language when compared to controls. We also examined associations with symptomatology. Methods Participants included 49 CHR individuals and 42 healthy controls who completed a semi-structured narrative interview. Interview transcripts were analyzed using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) to assess the emotional tone of the language (tone -the ratio of negative to positive language) and count positive/negative words used. Participants also completed clinical symptom assessments to determine CHR status and characterize symptoms (i.e., positive and negative symptom domains). Results The CHR group had more negative emotional tone compared to healthy controls (t=2.676, p=.009), which related to more severe positive symptoms (r2=.323, p=.013). The percentages of positive and negative words did not differ between groups (p's>.05). Conclusions Language analyses provided accessible, ecologically valid insight into affective dysfunction and psychosis risk symptoms. Natural language processing analyses unmasked differences in language for CHR that captured language tendencies that were more nuanced than the words that are chosen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabrielle M. Olson
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
| | - Katherine S. F. Damme
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences (DevSci), Northwestern University, Evanston and Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Henry R. Cowan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States
| | - Luz Maria Alliende
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences (DevSci), Northwestern University, Evanston and Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Vijay A. Mittal
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences (DevSci), Northwestern University, Evanston and Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Institute for Policy Research (IPR), Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
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Cowan HR, McAdams DP, Ouellet L, Jones CM, Mittal VA. Self-concept and Narrative Identity in Youth at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis. Schizophr Bull 2023:sbad142. [PMID: 37816626 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbad142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS Disturbances of the narrative self and personal identity accompany the onset of psychotic disorders in late adolescence and early adulthood (a formative developmental stage for self-concept and personal narratives). However, these issues have primarily been studied retrospectively after illness onset, limiting any inferences about their developmental course. STUDY DESIGN Youth at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR) (n = 49) and matched healthy comparison youth (n = 52) completed a life story interview (including self-defining memory, turning point, life challenge, and psychotic-like experience) and questionnaires assessing self-esteem, self-beliefs, self-concept clarity, and ruminative/reflective self-focus. Trained raters coded interviews for narrative identity themes of emotional tone, agency, temporal coherence, context coherence, self-event connections, and meaning-making (intraclass correlations >0.75). Statistical analyses tested group differences and relationships between self-concept, narrative identity, symptoms, and functioning. STUDY RESULTS CHR participants reported more negative self-esteem and self-beliefs, poorer self-concept clarity, and more ruminative self-focus, all of which related to negative symptoms. CHR participants narrated their life stories with themes of negative emotion and passivity (ie, lack of personal agency), which related to positive and negative symptoms. Reflective self-focus and autobiographical reasoning were unaffected and correlated. Autobiographical reasoning was uniquely associated with preserved role functioning. CONCLUSIONS This group of youth at CHR exhibited some, but not all, changes to self-concept and narrative identity seen in psychotic disorders. A core theme of negativity, uncertainty, and passivity ran through their semantic and narrative self-representations. Preserved self-reflection and autobiographical reasoning suggest sources of resilience and potential footholds for cognitive-behavioral and metacognitive interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henry R Cowan
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Dan P McAdams
- Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Leah Ouellet
- Human Development and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
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Hitczenko K, Segal Y, Keshet J, Goldrick M, Mittal VA. Speech characteristics yield important clues about motor function: Speech variability in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis. SCHIZOPHRENIA (HEIDELBERG, GERMANY) 2023; 9:60. [PMID: 37717025 PMCID: PMC10505148 DOI: 10.1038/s41537-023-00382-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/18/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS Motor abnormalities are predictive of psychosis onset in individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis and are tied to its progression. We hypothesize that these motor abnormalities also disrupt their speech production (a highly complex motor behavior) and predict CHR individuals will produce more variable speech than healthy controls, and that this variability will relate to symptom severity, motor measures, and psychosis-risk calculator risk scores. STUDY DESIGN We measure variability in speech production (variability in consonants, vowels, speech rate, and pausing/timing) in N = 58 CHR participants and N = 67 healthy controls. Three different tasks are used to elicit speech: diadochokinetic speech (rapidly-repeated syllables e.g., papapa…, pataka…), read speech, and spontaneously-generated speech. STUDY RESULTS Individuals in the CHR group produced more variable consonants and exhibited greater speech rate variability than healthy controls in two of the three speech tasks (diadochokinetic and read speech). While there were no significant correlations between speech measures and remotely-obtained motor measures, symptom severity, or conversion risk scores, these comparisons may be under-powered (in part due to challenges of remote data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic). CONCLUSION This study provides a thorough and theory-driven first look at how speech production is affected in this at-risk population and speaks to the promise and challenges facing this approach moving forward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kasia Hitczenko
- Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique, Département d'Études Cognitives, ENS, EHESS, CNRS, PSL University, Paris, France.
| | - Yael Segal
- Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Joseph Keshet
- Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Matthew Goldrick
- Department of Linguistics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Cognitive Science Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Vijay A Mittal
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Cognitive Science Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Evanston/Chicago, IL, USA
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Foltz PW, Chandler C, Diaz-Asper C, Cohen AS, Rodriguez Z, Holmlund TB, Elvevåg B. Reflections on the nature of measurement in language-based automated assessments of patients' mental state and cognitive function. Schizophr Res 2023; 259:127-139. [PMID: 36153250 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2022.07.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 07/12/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Modern advances in computational language processing methods have enabled new approaches to the measurement of mental processes. However, the field has primarily focused on model accuracy in predicting performance on a task or a diagnostic category. Instead the field should be more focused on determining which computational analyses align best with the targeted neurocognitive/psychological functions that we want to assess. In this paper we reflect on two decades of experience with the application of language-based assessment to patients' mental state and cognitive function by addressing the questions of what we are measuring, how it should be measured and why we are measuring the phenomena. We address the questions by advocating for a principled framework for aligning computational models to the constructs being assessed and the tasks being used, as well as defining how those constructs relate to patient clinical states. We further examine the assumptions that go into the computational models and the effects that model design decisions may have on the accuracy, bias and generalizability of models for assessing clinical states. Finally, we describe how this principled approach can further the goal of transitioning language-based computational assessments to part of clinical practice while gaining the trust of critical stakeholders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter W Foltz
- Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado Boulder, United States of America.
| | - Chelsea Chandler
- Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado Boulder, United States of America; Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder, United States of America
| | | | - Alex S Cohen
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, United States of America; Center for Computation and Technology, Louisiana State University, United States of America
| | - Zachary Rodriguez
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, United States of America; Center for Computation and Technology, Louisiana State University, United States of America
| | - Terje B Holmlund
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø - the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Brita Elvevåg
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø - the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway; Norwegian Centre for eHealth Research, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
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Parola A, Lin JM, Simonsen A, Bliksted V, Zhou Y, Wang H, Inoue L, Koelkebeck K, Fusaroli R. Speech disturbances in schizophrenia: Assessing cross-linguistic generalizability of NLP automated measures of coherence. Schizophr Res 2023; 259:59-70. [PMID: 35927097 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2022.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Revised: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Language disorders - disorganized and incoherent speech in particular - are distinctive features of schizophrenia. Natural language processing (NLP) offers automated measures of incoherent speech as promising markers for schizophrenia. However, the scientific and clinical impact of NLP markers depends on their generalizability across contexts, samples, and languages, which we systematically assessed in the present study relying on a large, novel, cross-linguistic corpus. METHODS We collected a Danish (DK), German (GE), and Chinese (CH) cross-linguistic dataset involving transcripts from 187 participants with schizophrenia (111DK, 25GE, 51CH) and 200 matched controls (129DK, 29GE, 42CH) performing the Animated Triangles Task. Fourteen previously published NLP coherence measures were calculated, and between-groups differences and association with symptoms were tested for cross-linguistic generalizability. RESULTS One coherence measure, i.e. second-order coherence, robustly generalized across samples and languages. We found several language-specific effects, some of which partially replicated previous findings (lower coherence in German and Chinese patients), while others did not (higher coherence in Danish patients). We found several associations between symptoms and measures of coherence, but the effects were generally inconsistent across languages and rating scales. CONCLUSIONS Using a cumulative approach, we have shown that NLP findings of reduced semantic coherence in schizophrenia have limited generalizability across different languages, samples, and measures. We argue that several factors such as sociodemographic and clinical heterogeneity, cross-linguistic variation, and the different NLP measures reflecting different clinical aspects may be responsible for this variability. Future studies should take this variability into account in order to develop effective clinical applications targeting different patient populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Parola
- Department of Linguistics, Semiotics and Cognitive Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; The Interacting Minds Centre, Institute of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
| | - Jessica Mary Lin
- Department of Linguistics, Semiotics and Cognitive Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; The Interacting Minds Centre, Institute of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Arndis Simonsen
- The Interacting Minds Centre, Institute of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Psychosis Research Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Vibeke Bliksted
- The Interacting Minds Centre, Institute of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Psychosis Research Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Yuan Zhou
- Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Huiling Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Lana Inoue
- LVR-Hospital Essen, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hospital and Institute of the University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Center for Translational Neuro- & Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), University Duisburg Essen, Germany
| | - Katja Koelkebeck
- LVR-Hospital Essen, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hospital and Institute of the University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Center for Translational Neuro- & Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), University Duisburg Essen, Germany
| | - Riccardo Fusaroli
- Department of Linguistics, Semiotics and Cognitive Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; The Interacting Minds Centre, Institute of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Linguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
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Parola A, Simonsen A, Lin JM, Zhou Y, Wang H, Ubukata S, Koelkebeck K, Bliksted V, Fusaroli R. Voice Patterns as Markers of Schizophrenia: Building a Cumulative Generalizable Approach Via a Cross-Linguistic and Meta-analysis Based Investigation. Schizophr Bull 2023; 49:S125-S141. [PMID: 36946527 PMCID: PMC10031745 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbac128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/23/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS Voice atypicalities are potential markers of clinical features of schizophrenia (eg, negative symptoms). A recent meta-analysis identified an acoustic profile associated with schizophrenia (reduced pitch variability and increased pauses), but also highlighted shortcomings in the field: small sample sizes, little attention to the heterogeneity of the disorder, and to generalizing findings to diverse samples and languages. STUDY DESIGN We provide a critical cumulative approach to vocal atypicalities in schizophrenia, where we conceptually and statistically build on previous studies. We aim at identifying a cross-linguistically reliable acoustic profile of schizophrenia and assessing sources of heterogeneity (symptomatology, pharmacotherapy, clinical and social characteristics). We relied on previous meta-analysis to build and analyze a large cross-linguistic dataset of audio recordings of 231 patients with schizophrenia and 238 matched controls (>4000 recordings in Danish, German, Mandarin and Japanese). We used multilevel Bayesian modeling, contrasting meta-analytically informed and skeptical inferences. STUDY RESULTS We found only a minimal generalizable acoustic profile of schizophrenia (reduced pitch variability), while duration atypicalities replicated only in some languages. We identified reliable associations between acoustic profile and individual differences in clinical ratings of negative symptoms, medication, age and gender. However, these associations vary across languages. CONCLUSIONS The findings indicate that a strong cross-linguistically reliable acoustic profile of schizophrenia is unlikely. Rather, if we are to devise effective clinical applications able to target different ranges of patients, we need first to establish larger and more diverse cross-linguistic datasets, focus on individual differences, and build self-critical cumulative approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Parola
- Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- The Interacting Minds Center, Institute of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Arndis Simonsen
- The Interacting Minds Center, Institute of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Psychosis Research Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Jessica Mary Lin
- Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- The Interacting Minds Center, Institute of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Yuan Zhou
- Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Huiling Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Shiho Ubukata
- Department of Psychiatry, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Katja Koelkebeck
- LVR-Hospital Essen, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hospital and Institute of the University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
- Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), University Duisburg-Essen, Germany
| | - Vibeke Bliksted
- The Interacting Minds Center, Institute of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Psychosis Research Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Riccardo Fusaroli
- Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- The Interacting Minds Center, Institute of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Linguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
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The computational psychiatry of antisocial behaviour and psychopathy. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 145:104995. [PMID: 36535376 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Antisocial behaviours such as disobedience, lying, stealing, destruction of property, and aggression towards others are common to multiple disorders of childhood and adulthood, including conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, psychopathy, and antisocial personality disorder. These disorders have a significant negative impact for individuals and for society, but whether they represent clinically different phenomena, or simply different approaches to diagnosing the same underlying psychopathology is highly debated. Computational psychiatry, with its dual focus on identifying different classes of disorder and health (data-driven) and latent cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms (theory-driven), is well placed to address these questions. The elucidation of mechanisms that might characterise latent processes across different disorders of antisocial behaviour can also provide important advances. In this review, we critically discuss the contribution of computational research to our understanding of various antisocial behaviour disorders, and highlight suggestions for how computational psychiatry can address important clinical and scientific questions about these disorders in the future.
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Loch AA, Lopes-Rocha AC, Ara A, Gondim JM, Cecchi GA, Corcoran CM, Mota NB, Argolo FC. Ethical Implications of the Use of Language Analysis Technologies for the Diagnosis and Prediction of Psychiatric Disorders. JMIR Ment Health 2022; 9:e41014. [PMID: 36318266 PMCID: PMC9667377 DOI: 10.2196/41014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Revised: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent developments in artificial intelligence technologies have come to a point where machine learning algorithms can infer mental status based on someone's photos and texts posted on social media. More than that, these algorithms are able to predict, with a reasonable degree of accuracy, future mental illness. They potentially represent an important advance in mental health care for preventive and early diagnosis initiatives, and for aiding professionals in the follow-up and prognosis of their patients. However, important issues call for major caution in the use of such technologies, namely, privacy and the stigma related to mental disorders. In this paper, we discuss the bioethical implications of using such technologies to diagnose and predict future mental illness, given the current scenario of swiftly growing technologies that analyze human language and the online availability of personal information given by social media. We also suggest future directions to be taken to minimize the misuse of such important technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Andrade Loch
- Institute of Psychiatry, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.,Instituto Nacional de Biomarcadores em Neuropsiquiatria, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazilia, Brazil
| | | | - Anderson Ara
- Departamento de Estatística, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
| | | | - Guillermo A Cecchi
- IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, United States
| | | | - Natália Bezerra Mota
- Instituto de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.,Research Department at Motrix Lab, Motrix, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Felipe C Argolo
- Institute of Psychiatry, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
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Cohen AS, Rodriguez Z, Warren KK, Cowan T, Masucci MD, Edvard Granrud O, Holmlund TB, Chandler C, Foltz PW, Strauss GP. Natural Language Processing and Psychosis: On the Need for Comprehensive Psychometric Evaluation. Schizophr Bull 2022; 48:939-948. [PMID: 35738008 PMCID: PMC9434462 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbac051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS Despite decades of "proof of concept" findings supporting the use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) in psychosis research, clinical implementation has been slow. One obstacle reflects the lack of comprehensive psychometric evaluation of these measures. There is overwhelming evidence that criterion and content validity can be achieved for many purposes, particularly using machine learning procedures. However, there has been very little evaluation of test-retest reliability, divergent validity (sufficient to address concerns of a "generalized deficit"), and potential biases from demographics and other individual differences. STUDY DESIGN This article highlights these concerns in development of an NLP measure for tracking clinically rated paranoia from video "selfies" recorded from smartphone devices. Patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder were recruited and tracked over a week-long epoch. A small NLP-based feature set from 499 language samples were modeled on clinically rated paranoia using regularized regression. STUDY RESULTS While test-retest reliability was high, criterion, and convergent/divergent validity were only achieved when considering moderating variables, notably whether a patient was away from home, around strangers, or alone at the time of the recording. Moreover, there were systematic racial and sex biases in the model, in part, reflecting whether patients submitted videos when they were away from home, around strangers, or alone. CONCLUSIONS Advancing NLP measures for psychosis will require deliberate consideration of test-retest reliability, divergent validity, systematic biases and the potential role of moderators. In our example, a comprehensive psychometric evaluation revealed clear strengths and weaknesses that can be systematically addressed in future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex S Cohen
- Louisiana State University, Department of Psychology, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
- Louisiana State University, Center for Computation and Technology, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Zachary Rodriguez
- Louisiana State University, Department of Psychology, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
- Louisiana State University, Center for Computation and Technology, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Kiara K Warren
- Louisiana State University, Department of Psychology, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Tovah Cowan
- Louisiana State University, Department of Psychology, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Michael D Masucci
- Louisiana State University, Department of Psychology, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Ole Edvard Granrud
- Louisiana State University, Department of Psychology, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Terje B Holmlund
- University of Tromsø—The Arctic University of Norway, Tromso, Norway
| | - Chelsea Chandler
- University of Colorado, Institute of Cognitive Science, Boulder, CO, USA
- University of Colorado, Department of Computer Science, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Peter W Foltz
- University of Colorado, Institute of Cognitive Science, Boulder, CO, USA
- University of Colorado, Department of Computer Science, Boulder, CO, USA
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Mota NB, Pimenta J, Tavares M, Palmeira L, Loch AA, Hedin-Pereira C, Dias EC. A Brazilian bottom-up strategy to address mental health in a diverse population over a large territorial area - an inspiration for the use of digital mental health. Psychiatry Res 2022; 311:114477. [PMID: 35245744 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2021] [Revised: 12/12/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Brazil is a continental country with a history of massive immigration waves from around the world. Consequently, the Brazilian population is rich in ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity, but suffers from tremendous socioeconomic inequality. Brazil has a documented history of categorizing individuals with culturally specific behaviors as mentally ill, which has led to psychiatric institutionalization for reasons that were more social than clinical. To address this, a "network for psychosocial care" was created in Brazil, that included mental health clinics and community services distributed throughout the country. This generates local support for mental health rehabilitation, integrating psychiatric care, family support and education/work opportunities. These clinics and community services are tailored to provide care for each specific area, and are more attuned to regional culture, values and neighborhood infrastructure. Here we review existing reports about the Brazilian experience, including advances in public policy on mental health, and challenges posed by the large diversity to the psychosocial rehabilitation. In addition, we show how new digital technologies in general, and computational speech analysis in particular, can contribute to unbiased assessments, resulting in decreased stigma and more effective diagnosis of the mental diseases, with methods that are free of gender, ethnic, or socioeconomic biases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natália Bezerra Mota
- Instituto de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil.
| | - Juliana Pimenta
- Instituto de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Maria Tavares
- Instituto de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Leonardo Palmeira
- Instituto de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Alexandre Andrade Loch
- Laboratorio de Neurociencias (LIM 27), Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil; Instituto Nacional de Biomarcadores em Neuropsiquiatria (INBION), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnológico, Brazil
| | - Cecília Hedin-Pereira
- Vice-Presidência de Pesquisa e Coleções Biológicas (VPPCB), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Elisa C Dias
- Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA
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Computerized analysis of facial expressions in serious mental illness. Schizophr Res 2022; 241:44-51. [PMID: 35074531 PMCID: PMC8978090 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2021.12.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2021] [Revised: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Blunted facial affect is a transdiagnostic component of Serious Mental Illness (SMI) and is associated with a host of negative outcomes. However, blunted facial affect is a poorly understood phenomenon, with no known cures or treatments. A critical step in better understanding its phenotypic expression involves clarifying which facial expressions are altered in specific ways and under what contexts. The current literature suggests that individuals with SMI show decreased positive facial expressions, but typical, or even increased negative facial expressions during laboratory tasks. While this literature has coalesced around general trends, significantly more nuance is available regarding what components facial expressions are atypical and how those components are associated with increased severity of clinical ratings. The present project leveraged computerized facial analysis to test whether clinician-rated blunted affect is driven by decreases in duration, intensity, or frequency of positive versus other facial expressions during a structured clinical interview. Stable outpatients meeting criteria for SMI (N = 59) were examined. Facial expression did not generally vary as a function of clinical diagnosis. Overall, clinically-rated blunted affect was not associated with positive expressions, but was associated with decreased surprise and increased anger, sadness, and fear expressions. Blunted affect is not a monolithic lack of expressivity, and increased precision in operationally defining it is critical for uncovering its causes and maintaining factors. Our discussion focuses on this effort, and on advancing digital phenotyping of blunted facial affect more generally.
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13
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Monteith S, Glenn T, Geddes J, Whybrow PC, Achtyes E, Bauer M. Expectations for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Psychiatry. Curr Psychiatry Rep 2022; 24:709-721. [PMID: 36214931 PMCID: PMC9549456 DOI: 10.1007/s11920-022-01378-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Artificial intelligence (AI) is often presented as a transformative technology for clinical medicine even though the current technology maturity of AI is low. The purpose of this narrative review is to describe the complex reasons for the low technology maturity and set realistic expectations for the safe, routine use of AI in clinical medicine. RECENT FINDINGS For AI to be productive in clinical medicine, many diverse factors that contribute to the low maturity level need to be addressed. These include technical problems such as data quality, dataset shift, black-box opacity, validation and regulatory challenges, and human factors such as a lack of education in AI, workflow changes, automation bias, and deskilling. There will also be new and unanticipated safety risks with the introduction of AI. The solutions to these issues are complex and will take time to discover, develop, validate, and implement. However, addressing the many problems in a methodical manner will expedite the safe and beneficial use of AI to augment medical decision making in psychiatry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott Monteith
- Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Traverse City Campus, Traverse City, MI, 49684, USA.
| | | | - John Geddes
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK
| | - Peter C. Whybrow
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA USA
| | - Eric Achtyes
- Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Grand Rapids, MI 49684 USA ,Network180, Grand Rapids, MI USA
| | - Michael Bauer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Medical Faculty, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
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