Characterizing intonation deficit in motor speech disorders : an autosegmental-metrical analysis of spontaneous speech in hypokinetic dysarthria, ataxic dysarthria and foreign accent syndrome

The autosegmental-metrical (AM) framework represents an established methodology for intonational analysis in unimpaired speaker populations but has found little application in describing intonation in motor speech disorders (MSDs). This study compared the intonation patterns of unimpaired participants (CON) and those with Parkinson's disease (PD), ataxic dysarthria (AT), and foreign accent syndrome (FAS) to evaluate the approach's potential for distinguishing types of MSDs from each other and from unimpaired speech. Spontaneous speech from 8 PD, 8 AT, 4 FAS, and 10 CON speakers were analyzed in relation to inventory and prevalence of pitch patterns, accentuation, and phrasing. Acoustic-phonetic baseline measures (maximum-phonation-duration, speech rate, and F0-variability) were also performed. Results: The analyses yielded differences between MSD and CON groups and between the clinical groups in regard to prevalence, accentuation, and phrasing. AT and FAS speakers used more rising and high pitch accents than PD and CON speakers. The AT group used the highest number of pitch accents per phrase, and all 3 MSD groups produced significantly shorter phrases than the CON group. The study succeeded in differentiating MSDs on the basis of intonational performances by using the AM approach, thus, demonstrating its potential for charting intonational profiles in clinical populations

Intonation in neurogenic foreign accent syndrome

Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) is a motor speech disorder in which changes to segmental as well as suprasegmental aspects lead to the perception of a foreign accent in speech. This paper focuses on one suprasegmental aspect, namely that of intonation. It provides an in-depth analysis of the intonation system of four speakers with FAS with the aim of establishing the intonational changes that have taken place as well as their underlying origin. Using the autosegmental-metrical framework of intonational analysis, four different levels of intonation, i.e. inventory, distribution, realisation and function, were examined. Results revealed that the speakers with FAS had the same structural inventory at their disposal as the control speakers, but that they differed from the latter in relation to the distribution, implementation and functional use of their inventory. In contrast to previous findings, the current results suggest that these intonational changes cannot be entirely attributed to an underlying intonation deficit but also reflect secondary manifestations of physiological constraints affecting speech support systems and compensatory strategies. These findings have implications for the debate surrounding intonational deficits in FAS, advocating a reconsideration of current assumptions regarding the underlying nature of intonation impairment in FAS

Phonological and phonetic marking of information status in Foreign Accent Syndrome

This study investigated the phonological and phonetic markers of information status (givenness) in speakers with foreign accent syndrome (FAS) and healthy controls (CON). A speech production experiment explored the ability of 4 speakers with FAS (2 male, 2 female; M=56 years) and 4 CON participants (2 male, 2 female; M=55 years) to signal new and given information within a set of short sentences. The data were examined in relation to the use of the phonetic parameters F0, intensity and duration as well as phonological categories, i.e. pitch accents and de-accentuation, using the autosegmental-metrical (AM) framework of intonational analysis. Both speaker groups employed all 3 phonetic parameters to differentiate between new and given information although the FAS group used these markers to a smaller extent. Groups also differed regarding the use of phonological markers, with speakers with FAS placing pitch accents on given information instead of de-accenting these elements. The fact that speakers with FAS marked givenness similarly to control speakers at the phonetic level, but failed to do so using phonological categories highlights the importance of assessing both phonetic as well as phonological features to gain information about the functional use of intonation in clinical populations

Pausing and sentence stress in children with dysarthria due to cerebral palsy

Introduction: Children with dysarthria due to cerebral palsy (CP) can experience problems manipulating intensity, fundamental frequency and duration to signal sentence stress in an utterance. Pauses have been identified as a potential additional cue for stress marking, which could compensate for this deficit. Objective: This study aimed to determine whether children use pauses to signal stress placement, and whether this differs between typically-developing children and those with CP. Methods: Six children with CP and eight typically developing children produced utterances with stress on target words in two different positions. Pauses before and after the stressed target words were analyzed in terms of number, location and duration. Results: Results showed that both groups inserted pauses into their utterances. However, neither group used pause location or duration in a systematic manner to signal the position of stressed words. Conclusions: The results suggest that pausing was not used strategically by either group to signal sentence stress. Further research is necessary to explore the value of pausing as a cue to stress marking in general and as a potential compensatory strategy for speakers with dysarthria

Developmental dysarthria in a young adult with cerebral palsy : a speech subsystems analysis

The speech of children with cerebral palsy (CP) and dysarthria is associated with limited breath control, voice quality changes and imprecise articulation. These problems can reduce speech intelligibility, which can act as a barrier to successful interactions. Whilst the impact of the speech problems is well recognised, research on the nature of the speech impairment is relatively limited. This study aims to provide a detailed description of the speech production abilities of a 16-year old boy with CP using a speech subsystems approach. It will examine which subsystems might be affected that could impact upon intelligibility in this speaker. To achieve this, various speech samples were analysed regarding a range of acoustic and linguistic parameters and subsequently compared to the performances of his typically developing twin brother. Results showed that changes in respiration, phonation and articulation may contribute to the intelligibility issues experienced by the speaker with CP

Recent developments in characterising and classifying dysarthria in children

Historically, dysarthria research predominantly focused on the characterisation and classification of dysarthria in adults, with considerably less research effort being devoted to determining speech features in children with dysarthria. This is not surprising, given the complexities that come with describing and classifying atypical speech in a group whose motor system is yet to fully develop and mature. More recently though, research in this field has gained momentum and the papers by Schoelderle et al.1 and Veenhuis et al.2 augment our growing knowledge of the classification and assessment of dysarthria in children

Dysarthrie bei infantiler Cerebralparese : Eine Einzelfallstudie

This paper discusses a single case study of a child with cerebral palsy

Intonation patterns in older children with cerebral palsy before and after speech intervention

Purpose: This paper examined the production of intonation patterns in children with developmental dysarthria associated with cerebral palsy (CP) prior to and after speech intervention focussing on respiration and phonation. The study further sought to establish whether intonation performance might be related to changes in speech intelligibility. Method: Intonation patterns were examined using connected speech samples of 15 older children with moderate to severe developmental dysarthria due to CP (9 females; age range: 11-18). Recordings were made prior to and after speech intervention based on a systems approach. Analyses focused on use of intonation patterns, pitch accentuation and phrasing. Result: Group analyses showed a significant increase in the use of rising intonation patterns after intervention. There were also some indications that this increase might have been related to gains in speech intelligibility for some of the children. No changes were observed regarding pitch accentuation and phrasing following intervention. Conclusion: The findings highlight that changes can occur in the use of intonation patterns in children with dysarthria and CP following speech systems intervention. It is hypothesised that the emergence of the rising pattern in some of the children’s intonational inventories possibly reflected improved breath support and control of laryngeal muscles

Dysarthrie bei ICP : eine Einzelfallstudie

This chapter discusses a single case study of a child with cerebral palsy

Rhythmic performance in hypokinetic dysarthria : relationship between reading, spontaneous speech and diadochokinetic tasks

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate whether rhythm metrics are sensitive to change in speakers with mild hypokinetic dysarthria, whether such changes can be detected in reading and spontaneous speech, and whether diadochokinetic (DDK) performance relates to rhythmic properties of speech tasks. Method: Ten people with Parkinson’s Disease (PwPD) with mild hypokinetic dysarthria and ten healthy control speakers produced DDK repetitions, a reading passage and a spontaneous monologue. Articulation rate, as well as ten rhythm metrics were applied to the speech data. DDK performance was captured by mean, standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CoV) of syllable duration. Results: Group differences were apparent across both speech tasks, but mainly in spontaneous speech. The control speakers changed their rhythm performance between the two tasks, whereas the PwPD displayed a more constant behaviour. The correlation analysis of speech and DDK tasks resulted in few meaningful relationships. Conclusions: Rhythm metrics appeared to be sensitive to mild levels of impairment in PwPD. They are thus suitable for use as diagnostic or outcome measures. In addition, we demonstrated that conversational data can be used in the investigation of rhythm. Finally, the value of DDK tasks in predicting the rhythm performance during speech could not be demonstrated successfully