It’s becoming increasingly apparent that health can’t just be about physical signs. It also has to be about what’s going on in the brain, even though that’s a lot harder to quantify. As with many conditions, early detection is essential for providing the best standard of care. That’s why companies like LANGaware are focusing on diagnosing cognitive issues and mental health problems, particularly through AI (https://longevity.technology/news/langaware-bags-2m-for-cognitive-health-ai-platform/).
Sometimes there are clear physiological causes of cognitive and mental health issues. You can spot them on an MRI or detect them through a blood test. Perhaps your neurons are misfiring, or you’re experiencing a chemical imbalance. A lot of the time, the precise origin isn’t clear. Doctors have to make an educated guess based on what they can see.
That might mean trouble with your speech and language. It might involve lapses in memory or concentration. There might be inexplicable or disproportionate mood swings. Many of these symptoms are subtle, and it can easily be brushed aside or misdiagnosed until they deteriorate to the point where effective intervention is much harder.
That’s where AI comes into its own. It’s able to spot the signs that the regular human eye might miss and detect patterns that may not be obvious to us. If it identifies changes in our behavior through certain digital biomarkers, it can analyze them to assess the most likely cause, possibly even suggesting the most appropriate cause of action in response.
Many of the conditions affecting our brain can’t be cured, including neurodegenerative conditions such as dementia and Parkinson’s, psychological problems like depression or schizophrenia, neurodivergence like autism and ADHD (not diseases, but still capable of causing a lot of disruption to someone’s life without the right support). Sometimes medication can alleviate symptoms, or we can learn better coping mechanisms through therapy, but that requires an adequate diagnosis first.
It’s much easier to manage a mental health condition if we identify it while the symptoms are mild, before our thoughts become so clouded or confused that we can’t follow a treatment plan. Early diagnosis means we can build a strong foundation to support us if things start to deteriorate further. Therapies also need to be targeted to individual needs as these conditions manifest differently in every person.
Treatments could soon be quicker, cheaper and more effective with LANGaware thanks to their successful AI trials.
