According to the researchers, this algorithm was able to detect depression in the voice up to 87%.
In May 2020, 13.5% of French people over the age of 15 reported symptoms suggestive of a depressive state. But, not always easy to identify the symptoms of the disease. Depression is characterized by a different combination of symptoms from one person to another. “In all cases, these symptoms, more or less severe, are present almost every day, last at least two weeks, are a source of distress and have professional, social and family repercussions.“, details Ameli Health.
The platform points out that during a depressive episode, the person complains of at least two symptoms among “constant sadness, depressed mood that lasts most of the day and has repeated almost every day for at least two weeks“, “depression and loss of interest and pleasure in everyday activities and also in usually enjoyable activities” or “reduced energy or abnormal fatigability“.
An additional tool
But, Chinese researchers may have found an ally to identify depression more quickly, as relayed Doctissimo. Indeed, they have developed an artificial intelligence system capable of detecting signs of depression in the voice. These findings were published in the journal Mobile Network and Applications. In detail, the researchers trained this tool to recognize emotions in speech through vocal fluctuations. “First, the voice information is pre-processed, including voice signal pre-emphasis, framing windowing, endpoint detection, noise reduction, etc.“, details this study. And to complete:OpenSmile is used to extract features from speech signals. Speech characteristics that may reflect (a depression) are studied and analyzed in depth“.
In this study, researchers from Jinhua Advanced Research Institute and Harbin University of Technology found that these tests were able to detect depression in voice by 87%. This algorithm could therefore represent an additional tool to help the medical team diagnose depression.
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