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As one of the researchers involved in the 70-year-long Framingham Heart Study, Rhoda Au is in a unique position to investigate whether changes in speech patterns in middle-aged people could prefigure the onset of Alzheimer’s disease later in life, and whether early detection might give patients more time to take preventative measures. She’s been part of the Framingham study since 1990, and she’s applying voice analysis software to 9,000 digital audio recordings of neuropsychological exams of Framingham patients to see whether there were telltale biomarkers in the speech of patients who went on to develop dementia. Au is a professor of anatomy and neurobiology at Boston University, a professor of epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health, a senior fellow at the Institute for Health Systems Innovation and Policy at BU’s Questrom School of Business, and the Framingham study’s director of neuropsychology. How to rate MoneyBall Medicine on iTunes with an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch: • Launch the “Podcasts” app on your device. If you can’t find this app, swipe all the way to the left on your home screen until you’re on the Search page. Tap the search field at the top and type in “Podcasts.” Apple’s Podcasts app should show up in the search results. • Tap the Podcasts app icon, and after it opens, tap the Search field at the top, or the little magnifying glass icon in the lower right corner. • Type MoneyBall Medicine into the search field and press the Search button. • In the search results, click on the MoneyBall Medicine logo. • On the next page, scroll down until you see the Ratings a Reviews section. Below that you’ll see five purple stars. • Tap the stars to rate the show. • Scroll down a little farther. You’ll see a purple link saying “Write a Review.” • On the next screen, you’ll see the stars again. You can tap them to leave a rating, if you haven’t already. • In the Title field, type a summary for your review. • In the Review field, type your review. • When you’re finished, click Send. • That’s it, you’re done. Thanks!