Early auditory responses to speech sounds in Parkinson\u2019s disease: preliminary data

Fatemeh Mollaei,Shari R Baum,Vincent L Gracco,Douglas M Shiller

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-05128-8

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD), as a manifestation of basal ganglia dysfunction, is associated with a number of speech deficits, including reduced voice modulation and vocal output. Interestingly, previous work has shown that participants with PD show an increased feedback-driven motor response to unexpected fundamental frequency perturbations during speech production, and a heightened ability to detect differences in vocal pitch relative to control participants. Here, we explored one possible contributor to these enhanced responses. We recorded the frequency-following auditory brainstem response (FFR) to repetitions of the speech syllable [da] in PD and control participants. Participants with PD displayed a larger amplitude FFR related to the fundamental frequency of speech stimuli relative to the control group. The current preliminary results suggest the dysfunction of the basal ganglia in PD contributes to the early stage of auditory processing and may reflect one component of a broader sensorimotor processing impairment associated with the disease.

Highlights

Parkinson’s disease (PD), as a manifestation of basal ganglia dysfunction, is associated with a number of speech deficits, including reduced voice modulation and vocal output
Our preliminary results are consistent with an enhanced encoding of vocal pitch, evidenced by increased frequency-following auditory brainstem response (FFR) amplitude in the frequency range of 80–120 Hz, in individuals with PD compared to age- and gender-matched control participants
The increased amplitude of the FFR response is consistent with a selective modulation of the fundamental frequency of the speech stimuli at the level of the brainstem

Summary

Introduction

Parkinson’s disease (PD), as a manifestation of basal ganglia dysfunction, is associated with a number of speech deficits, including reduced voice modulation and vocal output. We demonstrated that the increased response to a change in voice pitch is accompanied by increased sensitivity in detecting pitch alterations during auditory feedback monitoring in participants with P D4.

Results

Conclusion