Impairment of Vowel Articulation as a Possible Marker of Disease Progression in Parkinson's Disease

Purpose: The aim of the current study was to survey if vowel articulation in speakers with Parkinson’s disease (PD) shows specific changes in the course of the disease. Method: 67 patients with PD (42 male) and 40 healthy speakers (20 male) were tested and retested after an average time interval of 34 months. Participants had to read a given text as source for subsequent calculation of the triangular vowel space area (tVSA) and vowel articulation index (VAI). Measurement of tVSA and VAI were based upon analysis of the first and second formant of the vowels /a/, /i/and /u / extracted from defined words within the text. Results: At first visit, VAI values were reduced in male and female PD patients as compared to the control group, and showed a further decrease at the second visit. Only in female Parkinsonian speakers, VAI was correlated to overall speech impairment based upon perceptual impression. VAI and tVSA were correlated to gait impairment, but no correlations were seen between VAI and global motor impairment or overall disease duration. tVSA showed a similar reduction in the PD as compared to the control group and was also found to further decline between first and second examination in female, but not in male speakers with PD. Conclusions: Measurement of VAI seems to be superior to tVSA in the description of impaired vowel articulation and its further decline in the course of the disease in PD. Since impairment of vowel articulation was found to be independent fro

Effect of Deep Brain Stimulation on Speech Performance in Parkinson's Disease

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been reported to be successful in relieving the core motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) and motor fluctuations in the more advanced stages of the disease. However, data on the effects of DBS on speech performance are inconsistent. While there are some series of patients documenting that speech function was relatively unaffected by DBS of the nucleus subthalamicus (STN), other investigators reported on improvements of distinct parameters of oral control and voice. Though, these ameliorations of single speech modalities were not always accompanied by an improvement of overall speech intelligibility. On the other hand, there are also indications for an induction of dysarthria as an adverse effect of STN-DBS occurring at least in some patients with PD. Since a deterioration of speech function has more often been observed under high stimulation amplitudes, this phenomenon has been ascribed to a spread of current-to-adjacent pathways which might also be the reason for the sporadic observation of an onset of dysarthria under DBS of other basal ganglia targets (e.g., globus pallidus internus/GPi or thalamus/Vim). The aim of this paper is to review and evaluate reports in the literature on the effects of DBS on speech function in PD

On the Harmonic-to-Noise Ratio as a Cue for Automatic Classification of Parkinson's Disease

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Acoustic and Perceptual Analysis of Vocal Tremor

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Acoustic analysis of vocal tremor in Parkinson speakers

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Acceleration of syllable repetition in Parkinson's disease is more prominent in the left-side dominant patients

Background In Parkinson's disease (PD), abnormalities of speech rate have been observed in spontaneous speech, reading tasks and syllable repetition tasks. Impaired temporal speech patterns have been contributed to dysfunctional basal ganglia circuits, but little is known about a possible differential role of right and left basal ganglia concerning speech production, although neurodegeneration in PD typically follows an asymmetrical pattern. The aim of our study was to reveal a possible influence of lateralized basal ganglia dysfunction on speech timing in PD. Patients and methods 60 patients with PD (30 with predominant symptoms on the left-side PD_L and 30 with predominant symptoms on the right side PD_R) and 40 healthy controls were tested. Participants had to repeat a single syllable in a self chosen steady pace. Additionally, the participants performed a reading task in order to measure speaking rate related to connected speech. Results Syllable repetition showed a significant instability in both PD groups as compared to controls. However, the PD_L group performed in a much higher pace with further significant pace acceleration in the course of the syllable repetition task. This pattern showed a further correlation to axial motor symptoms. No correlations were seen between parameters of syllable repetition and the reading task. Conclusions Lateralization of basal ganglia dysfunction in PD seems to differentially impact the stability of spontaneous syllable repetition pace. Our data suggest a crucial role of the right basal ganglia in the maintenance of isochronous speech rhythms at least in patients with additional axial motor symptoms

Female participants' characteristics and results.

<p>n.s. = not significant; S.D. = standard deviation; Hz = hertz.</p><p>UPDRS III = Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale/Motor Score.</p><p>VAI = vowel articulation index; tVSA = triangular vowel space area.</p

Exemplified triangular vowel space area (tVSA) of a healthy speaker and a patient with PD (dotted triangle).

<p>Exemplified triangular vowel space area (tVSA) of a healthy speaker and a patient with PD (dotted triangle).</p

Phonatory dysfunction as a preclinical symptom of Huntington disease.

PurposeAlthough dysphonia has been shown to be a common sign of Huntington disease (HD), the extent of phonatory dysfunction in gene positive premanifest HD individuals remains unknown. The aim of the current study was to explore the possible occurrence of phonatory abnormalities in prodromal HD.MethodSustained vowel phonations were acquired from 28 premanifest HD individuals and 28 healthy controls of comparable age. Data were analysed acoustically for measures of several phonatory dimensions including airflow insufficiency, aperiodicity, irregular vibration of vocal folds, signal perturbations, increased noise, vocal tremor and articulation deficiency. A predictive model was built to find the best combination of acoustic features and estimate sensitivity/specificity for differentiation between premanifest HD subjects and controls. The extent of voice deficits according to a specific phonatory dimension was determined using statistical decision making theory. The results were correlated to global motor function, cognitive score, disease burden score and estimated years to disease onset.ResultsMeasures of aperiodicity and increased noise were able to significantly differentiate between premanifest HD individuals and controls (pConclusionsPhonatory abnormalities are detectable even the in premotor stages of HD. Speech investigation may have the potential to provide functional biomarkers of HD and could be included in future clinical trials and therapeutic interventions

Comparison of triangular vowel space area (tVSA) at first (tVSA_t0) and second (tVSA_t1) examination.

<p>PD = Parkinson's disease; contr = control group; m = male; f = female. * = p<0.05; ** = p<0.01.</p