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@INPROCEEDINGS{Kuhles:1022031,
author = {Kuhles, Gianna and Camilleri, Julia and Hamdan, Sami and
Heim, Stefan and Eickhoff, Simon and Patil, Kaustubh and
Weis, Susanne},
title = {{P}itfalls in using {ML} to predict executive function
performance by linguistic variables},
school = {Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf},
reportid = {FZJ-2024-01168},
year = {2024},
abstract = {Introduction: A connection between executive function (EF)
performance and prosody was previously found in numerous
mental disorders (Filipe et al., 2018; Le et al., 2011;
Nevler et al., 2017). However, it is so far unresolved how
different subdomains of EF and prosody are related to each
other. Thus, the present study strived to explore the
relationships of EF and prosody using a machine learning
(ML) regression approach aiming to predict EF performance
from various prosodic features.Methods: Healthy participants
(n = 231) performed several spontaneous speech tasks, as
well as commonly used EF tests, spanning different EF
subdomains. Prosodic features were extracted automatically
from the speech samples. We then used a standard ML approach
to predict EF performance from prosody. As is common, we
controlled for confounding effects of age, sex, and
education Subsequently, the most predictive features for
each of the successfully predicted EF variables were
identified.Results: Results indicated that spectral prosodic
parameters were particularly important for successful
prediction, which is in line with previous literature (Le et
al., 2011). However, a thorough assessment of the analysis
pipeline revealed a leakage of the effects of sex, age, and
education into the prediction, basically indicating the
prediction performance – at least for some of the
variables – was mainly driven by sex, age, and education
confounds, rather than our prosody features. While results
of ML analyses might appear to fit with previous results,
present findings strongly underline the importance of
educated control of any ML pipeline. Thus, we suggest
running sanity checks for predicting cognitive performance
as well as caution with the interpretation of ML prediction
results.Discussion:Taking these methodological
considerations into account, the outcome of the present
study provides insights into the specific relationships
between prosody and executive function performance,
concurrently warning about possible pitfalls with the use of
ML. While our findings are in line with previous studies
(Filipe et al., 2018; Le et al., 2011; Nevler et al., 2017),
further research should investigate whether the predictive
power of prosody can serve as a biomarker of executive
dysfunction in the future.},
month = {Jan},
date = {2024-01-22},
organization = {European Workshop on Cognitive
Neuropsychology, Bressanone/Brixen
(Italy), 22 Jan 2024 - 26 Jan 2024},
subtyp = {After Call},
cin = {INM-7 / INM-1},
cid = {I:(DE-Juel1)INM-7-20090406 / I:(DE-Juel1)INM-1-20090406},
pnm = {5254 - Neuroscientific Data Analytics and AI (POF4-525) /
JL SMHB - Joint Lab Supercomputing and Modeling for the
Human Brain (JL SMHB-2021-2027)},
pid = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-5254 / G:(DE-Juel1)JL SMHB-2021-2027},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)24},
doi = {10.34734/FZJ-2024-01168},
url = {https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1022031},
}