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ForwardNovember 5, 2026: Donald C. Goff, M.D., Lecture in Schizophrenia - Computational Phenotyping of Language and Behavior in Schizophrenia and Its Clinical Risk States
Computational Phenotyping of Language and Behavior in Schizophrenia and Its Clinical Risk States
Description:
Unlike many other fields of medicine, psychiatry lacks routinely used objective biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment monitoring. Psychiatry depends heavily on the assessment of language and behavior for diagnosis and treatment, but these features are commonly assessed using clinical rating scales, which may provide limited information and are subject to bias and rater variability. Computational phenotyping provides a way to directly operationalize and quantify aspects of language and behavior, including facial expression; this lecture will describe work in this area as it applies to schizophrenia and its risk states.
Despite the central role of language and behavior in the assessment of schizophrenia, quantitative approaches to measuring these features have not yet been widely incorporated into clinical practice. Language disturbances occur across multiple linguistic domains in schizophrenia, and computational approaches to speech and language may help quantify clinically relevant features that can be difficult to capture using traditional assessment alone (Ehlen et al., 2023; Naeim et al., 2026). Similarly, computer vision approaches can quantify facial behavior and expression in schizophrenia, although methods and clinical applications remain under development (Jiang et al., 2022). This lecture will address this gap by increasing clinician familiarity with computational approaches to quantifying language and facial expression, as well as the technical and ethical considerations involved in collecting and analyzing audiovisual data.
Target Audience
This program is intended for:
- Nurses
- Psychiatrists
- Psychologists
- Physicians
- Social Workers
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of the activity, participants will be able to:
- Describe language disturbances in schizophrenia and its risk states.
- Identify facial expression disturbances in schizophrenia and its risk states.
- Apply standard procedures for recording and analyzing audiovisual data while considering relevant ethical and technical issues.
SPEAKER(S)
Cheryl Mary Corcoran, MD
Professor of Psychiatry
Program Leader in Psychosis Risk
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY
Course summary
- 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of IHP and Massachusetts General Hospital. IHP is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
IHP designates this Enduring activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
- 1.00 Nursing Contact Hours
Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 13, sections 13, 14, 14A, 15 and 15D and Chapter 112, sections 74 through 81C authorize the Board of Registration in Nursing to regulate nursing practice and education.
This program meets the requirements of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing (244 CMR 5.00) for 1.00 contact hours of nursing continuing education credit. Advance practice nurses, please note: Educational activities which meet the requirements of the ACCME (such as this activity) count towards 50% of the nursing requirement for ANCC accreditation.
- 1.00 Social Workers
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, the MGH Institute of Health Professions is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. MGH Institute of Health Professions maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive 1.00 clock hours for continuing education credits.
- 1.00 Participation
This course allows other providers to claim a Participation Certificate upon successful completion of this course.
Participation Certificates will specify the title, location, type of activity, date of activity, and number of AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ associated with the activity. Providers should check with their regulatory agencies to determine ways in which AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ may or may not fulfill continuing education requirements. Providers should also consider saving copies of brochures, agenda, and other supporting documents.
- 1.00 Psychologists CE Credit
Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs. MGH Institute of Health Professions designates this activity for 1.00 CE credit.
Cheryl Mary Corcoran, MD
Dr. Corcoran is an expert in the clinical high-risk (CHR) state for schizophrenia and has founded and led prospective CHR cohort studies at Columbia and Mount Sinai. Her research spans biomarkers and mechanisms of psychosis risk, nosology, ethics and stigma, and therapeutics. In collaboration with computer scientists and engineers, she has used artificial intelligence and natural language processing to operationalize and quantify clinically relevant aspects of language and behavior, identifying features associated with psychosis risk such as reductions in semantic coherence and syntactic complexity and investigating their neural correlates. Identified predictors of psychosis include reductions in complexity and coherence in natural spoken language, hippocampal hypermetabolism, disrupted thalamocortical connectivity, and abnormal sensory processing.
Her current work extends computational phenotyping to multimodal analyses of spoken language, facial expression, and interpersonal behavior. She is Principal Investigator of an R01 on computational phenotyping of facial expression in early psychosis; Multiple Principal Investigator of an IMPACT-MH U01, “Phenotypes REImagined to Define Clinical Treatment and Outcome Research” (PREDiCTOR), focused on AI-based modeling of language and behavior; and Multiple Principal Investigator of a BRAIN Initiative Brain Behavior, Quantification and Synchronization R34 examining interpersonal behavioral synchrony in virtual and in-person dyadic conversation. She is also Multiple Principal Investigator of a VA MERIT award studying natural language processing and neurophysiologic markers of suicide risk and resilience in Veterans.
Disclosures:
Available Credit
- 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of IHP and Massachusetts General Hospital. IHP is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
IHP designates this Enduring activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
- 1.00 Nursing Contact Hours
Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 13, sections 13, 14, 14A, 15 and 15D and Chapter 112, sections 74 through 81C authorize the Board of Registration in Nursing to regulate nursing practice and education.
This program meets the requirements of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing (244 CMR 5.00) for 1.00 contact hours of nursing continuing education credit. Advance practice nurses, please note: Educational activities which meet the requirements of the ACCME (such as this activity) count towards 50% of the nursing requirement for ANCC accreditation.
- 1.00 Social Workers
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, the MGH Institute of Health Professions is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. MGH Institute of Health Professions maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive 1.00 clock hours for continuing education credits.
- 1.00 Participation
This course allows other providers to claim a Participation Certificate upon successful completion of this course.
Participation Certificates will specify the title, location, type of activity, date of activity, and number of AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ associated with the activity. Providers should check with their regulatory agencies to determine ways in which AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ may or may not fulfill continuing education requirements. Providers should also consider saving copies of brochures, agenda, and other supporting documents.
- 1.00 Psychologists CE Credit
Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs. MGH Institute of Health Professions designates this activity for 1.00 CE credit.
Accreditation
In support of improving patient care, MGH Institute of Health Professions is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
1.0 Physicians
MGH Institute of Health Professions designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits ™. Physicians should claim only credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in this activity.
1.0 Physician Associates/Assistants
AAPA Credit Designation Statement – Live
MGH Institute of Health Professions has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 1.0 AAPA Category 1 CME credits. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.
AAPA Credit Designation Statement – Enduring Materials
MGH Institute of Health Professions has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 1.0 AAPA Category 1 CME credits. Approval is valid until {Expiration Date). PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.
1.0 Nursing
MGH Institute of Health Professions designates this activity for 1.0 contact hours for nurses. The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME and ANCC.
1.0 Pharmacists
This activity provides 1.0 contact hours of continuing education credit.
NOTE FOR PHARMACISTS: Upon closing of the electronic evaluation, IHP will upload the pharmacy-related continuing education information to the CPE Monitor within 60 days. Per ACPE rules, IHP does not have access nor the ability to upload credits requested after the evaluation closes. It is the responsibility of the pharmacist or pharmacy technician to provide the correct information [NABP ePID and DOB (in MMDD format)] in order to receive credit for participating in a CE activity.
1.0 Psychologists:
Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs. MGH Institute of Health Professions designates this activity for 1.0 CE credit.
1.0 Social Workers
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, MGH Institute of Health Professions is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. MGH Institute of Health Professions maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive 1.0 clock hours for continuing education credits.
1.0 IPCE Credit
This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive 1.0 Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credit for learning and change.