Acoustic measures of paraspeech in speakers with multiple sclerosis: A study of neuropsychological status and its role in diadochokinesis

Abstract

Paraspeech tasks are frequently incorporated in motor speech disorder assessments and include syllable diadochokinesis (DDK), the rapid repetition of alternating movements (Kent, 2015). DDK measures indicate movements of the oral articulators and may detect problems before specific functions such as speech are affected in neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Although there is growing appreciation from studies of various clinical populations that cognitive and speech motor processes influence or interact with one another (Kent, 2004), the impact of cognitive limitations of speakers with dysarthria on DDK performance is not well understood. Toward this end, the current study explored cognitive status as a factor in DDK performance for 48 speakers with MS and 12 healthy adults. All speakers were recorded as they repeated various syllables as quickly and steadily as possible. Standard acoustic criteria were used to obtain global and segmental temporal measures of DDK using speech analysis software. In addition, all speakers underwent rigorous cognitive testing (e.g., information processing efficiency). Because controversy continues over the use of DDK, this study sought to provide evidence for the clinical value of paraspeech in the assessment of motor speech disorders as well as cognitive status. [Work supported by the ASH Foundation and the University at Buffalo MDRF.]