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<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: Alzheimer's Dementia Recognition through Spontaneous Speech</span><br>
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<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important"> The ADReSSo Challenge, at INTERSPEECH 2021,</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important"> Brno, Czechia, 30 Aug - 03 Sep, 2021</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
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<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">Dementia is a category of neurodegenerative diseases that entails a</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">long-term and usually gradual decrease of cognitive functioning. There</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">is a need for cost-effective and scalable methods for detection of</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">dementia from its most subtle forms, such as the preclinical stage of</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">Subjective Memory Loss (SML), to more severe conditions like Mild</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's Dementia (AD) itself.</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">The ADReSSo (ADReSS, speech only) targets difficult automatic prediction</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">problems of societal and medical relevance, namely, the detection of AD</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">and prediction of cognitive decline. The ADReSSo Challenge will provide</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">a forum for those different research groups to test their existing</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">methods (or develop novel approaches) on a shared standardized</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">dataset. The approaches that performed best in last year's ADReSS</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">challenge employed features extracted from manual transcripts, which</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">were provided to the participants. The ADReSSo challenge provides a more</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">challenging and improved spontaneous speech dataset, and requires the</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">creation of models straight from speech, without manual</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">transcription. In keeping with the objectives of AD prediction</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">evaluation, the ADReSSo challenge's dataset is statistically balanced so</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">as to mitigate common biases often overlooked in evaluations of AD</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">detection methods, including repeated occurrences of speech from the</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">same participant (common in longitudinal datasets), variations in audio</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">quality, and imbalances of gender and age distribution.</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">This task focuses AD recognition using spontaneous speech, which marks a</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">departure from neuropsychological and clinical evaluation</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">approaches. Spontaneous speech analysis has the potential to enable</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">novel applications for speech technology in longitudinal, unobtrusive</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">monitoring of cognitive health, in line with the theme of this year's</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">INTERSPEECH, "Speech Everywhere!".</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
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<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">In order to participate, please follow the instructions in the ADReSSo</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">Challenge's web site (<span> </span></span><a href="https://edin.ac/3p1cyaI" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin:0px; font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">https://edin.ac/3p1cyaI</a><span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important"><span> </span>).
You will also be expected</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">to submit a paper to INTERSPEECH 2021 describing your approach and</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">results.</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
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<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">Important Dates</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
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<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important"> January 18, 2021: ADReSSo Challenged announced.</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important"> March 20, 2021: Model submission deadline.</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important"> March 26, 2021: Paper submission deadline.</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important"> April 2, 2021: Paper update deadline.</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important"> June 2, 2021: Paper acceptance/rejection notification.</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important"> August 31 - September 3, 2021: INTERSPEECH 2021.</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
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<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">URL</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
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<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important"> <span> </span></span><a href="https://edin.ac/3p1cyaI" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin:0px; font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">https://edin.ac/3p1cyaI</a><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
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<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important">Organizers</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
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<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important"> Saturnino Luz, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important"> Fasih Haider, University of Edinburgh</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important"> Sofia de la Fuente, University of Edinburgh</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important"> Davida Fromm, Carnegie Mellon University</span><br style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span style="color:rgb(32,31,30); font-size:14.6667px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); display:inline!important"> Brian MacWhinney, Carnegie Mellon University</span><br>
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The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.
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