AI voice coach shows promise in depression, anxiety treatment

Date:
May 17, 2023
Source:
University of Illinois Chicago
Summary:
A study found changes in patients' brain activity along with
improved depression and anxiety symptoms after using Lumen.


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FULL STORY ========================================================================== Artificial intelligence could be a useful tool in mental health treatment, according to the results of a new pilot study led by University of
Illinois Chicago researchers.

The study, which was the first to test an AI voice-based virtual coach
for behavioral therapy, found changes in patients' brain activity along
with improved depression and anxiety symptoms after using Lumen, an AI
voice assistant that delivered a form of psychotherapy.

The UIC team says the results, which are published in the journal
Translational Psychiatry, offer encouraging evidence that virtual therapy
can play a role in filling the gaps in mental health care, where waitlists
and disparities in access are often hurdles that patients, particularly
from vulnerable communities, must overcome to receive treatment.

"We've had an incredible explosion of need, especially in the wake
of COVID, with soaring rates of anxiety and depression and not enough practitioners," said Dr. Olusola A. Ajilore, UIC professor of psychiatry
and co-first author of the paper. "This kind of technology may serve as
a bridge. It's not meant to be a replacement for traditional therapy,
but it may be an important stop-gap before somebody can seek treatment."
Lumen, which operates as a skill in the Amazon Alexa application, was
developed by Ajilore and study senior author Dr.Jun Ma, the Beth and
George Vitoux Professor of Medicine at UIC, along with collaborators at Washington University in St. Louis and Pennsylvania State University,
with the support of a $2 million grant from the National Institute of
Mental Health.

The UIC researchers recruited over 60 patients for the clinical study
exploring the application's effect on mild-to-moderate depression and
anxiety symptoms, and activity in brain areas previously shown to be
associated with the benefits of problem-solving therapy.

Two-thirds of the patients used Lumen on a study-provided iPad for eight problem-solving therapy sessions, with the rest serving as a "waitlist"
control receiving no intervention.

After the intervention, study participants using the Lumen app showed
decreased scores for depression, anxiety and psychological distress
compared with the control group. The Lumen group also showed improvements
in problem-solving skills that correlated with increased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a brain area associated with cognitive
control. Promising results for women and underrepresented populations
also were found.

"It's about changing the way people think about problems and how to
address them, and not being emotionally overwhelmed," Ma said. "It's a pragmatic and patient-driven behavior therapy that's well established,
which makes it a good fit for delivery using voice-based technology."
A larger trial comparing the use of Lumen with both a control group on a waitlist, and patients receiving human-coached problem-solving therapy
is currently being conducted by the researcher. They stress that the
virtual coach doesn't need to perform better than a human therapist to
fill a desperate need in the mental health system.

"The way we should think about digital mental health service is not for
these apps to replace humans, but rather to recognize what a gap we have between supply and demand, and then find novel, effective and safe ways
to deliver treatments to individuals who otherwise do not have access,
to fill that gap," Ma said.

Co-first author of the study is Thomas Kannampallil at Washington
University in St. Louis.

Other co-investigators include Aifeng Zhang, Nan Lv, Nancy E. Wittels,
Corina R. Ronneberg, Vikas Kumar, Susanth Dosala, Amruta Barve, Kevin
C. Tan, Kevin K.

Cao, Charmi R. Patel and Emily A. Kringle, all of UIC; Joshua Smyth and
Jillian A. Johnson at Pennsylvania State University; and Lan Xiao at
Stanford University.

* RELATED_TOPICS
o Health_&_Medicine
# Mental_Health_Research # Diseases_and_Conditions #
Psychology_Research
o Mind_&_Brain
# Mental_Health # Behavior # Depression
o Computers_&_Math
# Neural_Interfaces # Virtual_Reality #
Educational_Technology
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========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Illinois_Chicago. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Thomas Kannampallil, Olusola A. Ajilore, Nan Lv, Joshua M. Smyth,
Nancy
E. Wittels, Corina R. Ronneberg, Vikas Kumar, Lan Xiao, Susanth
Dosala, Amruta Barve, Aifeng Zhang, Kevin C. Tan, Kevin K. Cao,
Charmi R. Patel, Ben S. Gerber, Jillian A. Johnson, Emily
A. Kringle, Jun Ma. Effects of a virtual voice-based coach
delivering problem-solving treatment on emotional distress and
brain function: a pilot RCT in depression and anxiety. Translational
Psychiatry, 2023; 13 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023- 02462-x ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230517122117.htm

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