An Acoustic Comparison of Normal and Right-Hemisphere-Damaged Speech Prosody

Abstract

A group of 19 male right-brain-damaged (RBD) and 9 male control subjects were recorded repeating the same 5 non-emotional sentences after the same investigator. These recordings then underwent acoustic analysis for extraction of the fundamental frequency of phonation (FO) and duration. The resulting pitch plots were analyzed for (a) average FO, (b) range of FO, (c) adjusted FO range, (d) slope of FO declination, (e) overall sentence duration. Statistical comparisons were then conducted comparing these acoustic characteristics for (1) right-hemisphere-damaged (RBD) subjects versus normals; (2) anteriorly lesioned RBD subjects versus those with posterior lesions; and (3) early post-onset patients (less than 100 days) versus late post-onset patients (100 days or more). In no case, were differences found to reach statistical significance. The results are discussed in regard to recent hypotheses for a privileged role of the right hemisphere in the organization of speech prosody.