DOCK6 Mutations Are Responsible for a Distinct Autosomal-Recessive Variant of Adams-Oliver Syndrome Associated with Brain and Eye Anomalies

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Analysis of speech production real-time MRI

Recent advances in real-time magnetic resonance imaging (RT-MRI) have made it possible to study the anatomy and dynamic motion of the vocal tract during speech production with great detail. The abundance of rich data on speech articulation provided by medical imaging techniques affords new opportunities for speech science, linguistics, clinical and technological research and application development, but also presents new challenges in audio–video data analysis and data modeling. We review techniques used in analysis of articulatory data acquired using RT-MRI, and assess the utility of different approaches for different types of data and research goals

A multimodal spectral approach to characterize rhythm in natural speech

Human utterances demonstrate temporal patterning, also referred to as rhythm. While simple oromotor behaviors (e.g., chewing) feature a salient periodical structure, conversational speech displays a time-varying quasi-rhythmic pattern. Quantification of periodicity in speech is challenging. Unimodal spectral approaches have highlighted rhythmic aspects of speech. However, speech is a complex multimodal phenomenon that arises from the interplay of articulatory, respiratory, and vocal systems. The present study addressed the question of whether a multimodal spectral approach, in the form of coherence analysis between electromyographic (EMG) and acoustic signals, would allow one to characterize rhythm in natural speech more efficiently than a unimodal analysis. The main experimental task consisted of speech production at three speaking rates; a simple oromotor task served as control. The EMG-acoustic coherence emerged as a sensitive means of tracking speech rhythm, whereas spectral analysis of either EMG or acoustic amplitude envelope alone was less informative. Coherence metrics seem to distinguish and highlight rhythmic structure in natural speech.Peer reviewe