Objective automated analysis of natural language: The Fluency Profiling System as a measure of the efficiency of dynamic language networks.

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Objective automated analysis of natural language: The Fluency Profiling System as a measure of the efficiency of dynamic language networks. Kathryn M. Hird1, 2*, Kim Kirsner1, 2, Daniel Little3, Raoul Oehmen1, 2 and John Dunn4 1 University of Notre Dame, Australia 2 University of Western Australia, Australia 3 University of Melbourne, Australia 4 University of Adelaide, Australia Recent advances in neuro-imaging have provided biological confirmation of the presence of large-scale networks underpinning language processing (Thompson & den Ouden, 2008). Fluent effortless speech production is thought to reflect optimum network function. Hird and Kirsner (2010) demonstrated in three diverse aphasic speakers that the Fluency Profiling System (Little, Oehmen, Dunn, Hird & Kirsner (2012) provides a powerful, objective and sensitive profile of fluency in natural speech samples. Discourse samples from the Cinderella story were selected from the AphasiaBank repository (McWhinney et al., 2011) if they met an empirically defined Signal: Noise ratio. To date a total of 28 cases have been analysed: 18 with a diagnosis of Broca’s aphasia and 10 controls. Dependent measures of long pauses, short pauses and speech segment durations (ln) for each aphasic were converted to z scores by comparison with the control group. All of the Broca’s aphasics showed shorter mean speech segment durations than the control group. Nine cases produced significantly longer mean short pause durations. The results demonstrate that the FPS is a sensitive tool for characterisation of cognitive and motor processes associated with the impact of brain impairment on spontaneous speaking. It provides inferential statistics that quantify function across cognitive and motor domains beyond those provided by traditional categorical or model based diagnostic tools. References Hird K, Kirsner K (2010) Objective measurement of fluency in natural language production: A dynamic systems approach. Journal of Neurolinguistics. 23 (5): Special Issue: 518-530. Little, D., Oehmen, R., Dunn, J, Hird, K & Kirsner, K. (2012) Fluency Profiling System: An automated system for analyzing the temporal properties of speech. Behavioural Research. DOI 10.3758/s13428-012-0222-0 MacWhinney, B., Fromm, D., Forbes, M & Holland, A. (2011). AphasiaBank: Methods for studying discourse. Aphasiology, 25, 1286-1307 Thompson, C. K., & den Ouden, D. B. (2008). Neuroimaging and recovery of language in aphasia. Current Neurology and Neuroscience, 8(6), 475–483. Keywords: language measurement, fluency, Aphasia, speech science, validation of methods, natural language Conference: ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 29 Nov - 2 Dec, 2012. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Language Citation: Hird KM, Kirsner K, Little D, Oehmen R and Dunn J (2012). Objective automated analysis of natural language: The Fluency Profiling System as a measure of the efficiency of dynamic language networks.. Conference Abstract: ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2012.208.00045 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 25 Oct 2012; Published Online: 07 Nov 2012. * Correspondence: Prof. Kathryn M Hird, University of Notre Dame, Fremantle, WA, Australia, Kathryn.Hird@nd.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Kathryn M Hird Kim Kirsner Daniel Little Raoul Oehmen John Dunn Google Kathryn M Hird Kim Kirsner Daniel Little Raoul Oehmen John Dunn Google Scholar Kathryn M Hird Kim Kirsner Daniel Little Raoul Oehmen John Dunn PubMed Kathryn M Hird Kim Kirsner Daniel Little Raoul Oehmen John Dunn Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.