Introduction:

In recent research, changes in the vocal tone and timbre production that occur in late adulthood have been described. These changes indicate early cognitive disturbances, even in preclinical stages of cognitive decline. This study aims to identify relevant findings from the literature regarding acoustic analysis in elderly adults with cognitive impairment.

Material and methods:

A systematic review study was conducted, in which the following databases were consulted: PlosOne, Science Direct, PubMed/PMC, and Google Scholar. Search engines such as acoustic analysis, Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, prosody, voice analysis, and voice production were used. Additionally, empirical articles describing the acoustic analysis in elderly adults with cognitive risk are included. The evaluation was independently performed by two evaluators, who determined the risk of bias in the review. A total of 59 articles related to the topic were found, of which 25 met the inclusion criteria.

Results:

The reviewed articles identified changes in linguistic and paralinguistic prosody, timbre, and vocal tonality, which are associated with cognitive decline in the elderly.

Conclusion:

Study protocols in the acoustic analysis could be a good tool to support the differential clinical diagnosis of cognitive deterioration in late adulthood and a good opportunity to identify the risk in preclinical stages of dementia.

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