Prosody variations to improve cognitive processing in Alzheimer’s patients

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most widespread diseases in our society. Social interaction and communication with caregivers represent a challenge (Lowery, 2013). Few studies have taken a communication perspective on this problem. These studies show the importance of a satisfactory communicative exchange to improve the relationship between caregivers and Alzheimer patients (AP) (McGilton et al., 2017;Small et al., 2009). However, the variable prosody has yet to be deeply explored, yet it may be highly relevant to the quality of communication (Small et al., 2009). The main objective of this project was to analyze what prosody strategies improve communication between AP and their caregivers.MethodAn experiment was designed with a corpus of informative instructions related to AP’s routines. Different audio versions were produced with prosody variations: pitch (high or low), intensity (high or low), speed (fast and slow), intonation (monotonous, soft, or marked), emphasis/stress (soft or marked), and attitude (paternalistic style or loving style). The experiment was conducted with two groups of participants over 65 years old (77 on average): the experimental group, 30 subjects in a soft state AD, and the control group, 30 subjects without AD. The dependent variables (likeability, comprehension) were evaluated with yes/no (green/red buttons) questions after listening to the voice instruction with different prosody variations. Recognition was assessed with a specific test.ResultResults showed that the most effective strategies were the intonation variations (soft or marked), the use of emphasis (soft or strong), the loving style when talking, the middle pitch, and the paused or slow speed. The least effective ones were speaking with high intensity (volume), fast speech rate, paternalistic style, and monotonous intonationConclusionIn light of the findings, the prosody variations strategies can significantly improve the communication exchanges between AP and their family members and/or caregivers.