The Genetics of Speech and Links with Health
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Genetics of Speech and Links with Health
IRAS ID
325420
Contact name
Michelle Luciano
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 5 days
Research summary
We will seek to understand if aspects of naturally spoken language are influenced by genetics. To do so, we will collect speech data by telephone from volunteers from the Generation Scotland:Scottish Family Health Study, invited to participate via the Health Information Centre, Dundee, who holds their contact details. Then, we can see if measures of speech such as the pitch, pause length and word choice seem to be more similar in people who are part of the same family versus unrelated people, which is called heritability. If we find that these measures are heritable, then we can look at the genetic data already collected from these volunteers and see if we can find genes that relate to various aspects of speech. In addition, differences between people that can be measured by speech may also help us to better understand some health outcomes, such as mental health, Parkinson's disease or dementia. Using data previously collected by Generation Scotland (not by the NHS) we will measure how these natural language measures differ in individuals with mental illnesses such as depression versus individuals who do not have a mental illness. We will ask people to participate in a phone survey and to respond to questions while their speech is being recorded. The phone survey will be conducted by an automated call centre, and will not ask for any information that may be stressful, embarrassing or sensitive. This speech will then be analysed and paired with previously collected information from GS:SFHS. The phone survey will last approximately 10-15 minutes.
REC name
South Central - Oxford B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/SC/0256
Date of REC Opinion
9 Aug 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion