Emily Mower Provost delivers keynote at ISBD 2024

Emily Mower Provost, professor and senior associate chair in computer science and engineering, delivered the keynote address at the 2024 International Conference of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD), which took place in Reykjavik, Iceland from September 29 to October 1. A prominent international venue for new research related to bipolar disorders, hundreds of researchers and mental health professionals gathered to learn about emerging innovations, clinical data, and treatments in this area.

Mower Provost’s keynote, titled “From Speech to Emotion to Mood: Mental Health Modeling in Natural Environments,” provided an enlightening discourse on the potential of speech emotion recognition systems in the context of mental health, particularly bipolar disorder. Her talk highlighted the significance of emotions as key indicators of health and wellbeing, noting that changes in emotion can help indicate the severity of symptoms in bipolar disorder. 

To address these challenges, Mower Provost’s research has turned toward automated speech emotion recognition systems, which could offer an innovative alternative by deriving quantitative measures of emotion through acoustic data passively collected from a consenting individual’s environment. Such an approach could significantly reduce the burden on participants while providing valuable insights into their emotional states.

Mower Provost shared insights from her journey in speech-centric modeling for individuals with bipolar disorder, detailing the intricate process of adapting emotion recognition technology to function reliably outside of controlled settings. Through a series of case studies and experimental results, she demonstrated the potential and limitations of these cutting-edge technologies in emotion recognition and symptom measurement in bipolar disorder.

Mower Provost’s talk not only underscored the importance of continuing to refine speech emotion recognition systems but also emphasized the need for further research and collaboration in this domain. In all, her keynote was a vital component of the ISBD conference, sparking discussions about how technological advancements can be leveraged to enhance mental health monitoring and treatment.