Can the structure of speech reveal where a psychotic episode is heading?

In this episode, Bruce talks with computational psychiatrist Natalia Mota, MD, PhD, about her research showing how the structure of speech can help differentiate between emerging psychotic disorders earlier and more precisely than traditional methods alone.

Using graph theory and natural language processing, Natalia and her team transform speech into “word graphs” that mathematically measure thought fragmentation and narrative connectedness. In one striking study with first-episode psychosis patients, for example, Natalia successfully predicted emerging schizophrenia versus bipolar disorder with over 90% accuracy -- simply by analyzing how participants described a recent dream.

Together, Bruce and Natalia discuss:

• The broader clinical implications o ...