Acoustic Analysis Research Articles

Classification of schizophrenic traits in transcriptions of audio spectra from patient literature: artificial intelligence models enhanced by geometric properties

Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that affects approximately 1% of the global population and presents significant challenges for patients, families, and healthcare professionals. Characterized by symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech or behavior, and cognitive impairment, this condition has an early onset and chronic trajectory, making it a debilitating challenge. Schizophrenia also imposes a substantial burden on society, exacerbated by the stigma associated with mental disorders. Technological advancements, such as computerized semantic, linguistic, and acoustic analyses, are revolutionizing the understanding and assessment of communication alterations, a significant aspect in various severe mental illnesses. Early and accurate diagnosis is crucial for improving prognosis and implementing appropriate treatments. In this context, the advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has provided new perspectives for the treatment of schizophrenia, with machine learning techniques and natural language processing allowing a more detailed analysis of clinical, neurological, and behavioral data sets. The present article aims to present a proposal for computational models for the identification of schizophrenic traits in texts. The database used in this article was created with 139 excerpts of patients' speeches reported in the book “Memories of My Nervous Disease” by German judge Daniel Paul Schreber, classifying them into three categories: 1 - schizophrenic, 2 - with schizophrenic traits and 3 - without any relation to the disorder. Of these speeches, 104 were used for training the models and the others 35 for validation.Three classification models were implemented using features based on geometric properties of graphs (number of vertices, number of cycles, girth, vertex of maximum degree, maximum clique size) and text entropy. Promising results were observed in the classification, with the Decision Tree-based model [1] achieving 100% accuracy, the KNN- k-Nearest Neighbor model observed with 62.8% accuracy, and the 'centrality-based' model with 59% precision. The high precision rates, observed when geometric properties are incorporated into Artificial Intelligence Models, suggest that the models can be improved to the point of capturing the language deviation traits that are indicative of schizophrenic disorders. In summary, this study paves the way for significant advances in the use of geometric properties in the field of psychiatry, offering a new data-based approach to the understanding and therapy of schizophrenia.

Vocal fold electromyography in patients with endoscopic features of unilateral laryngeal paralysis.

<b><br>Introduction:</b> Electromyography (EMG) of the larynx provides information on the electrophysiological condition of laryngeal muscles and innervation. Integration of information obtained from the EMG exams with the clinical parameters as obtained by other methods for laryngeal assessment (endoscopy, perceptual and acoustic analysis, voice self-assessment) provides a multidimensional picture of dysphonia, which is of particular importance in patients with vocal fold (VF) mobility disorders accompanied by glottic insufficiency.</br> <b><br>Aim:</b> The aim of this study was to evaluate laryngeal EMG records acquired in subjects with unilateral vocal fold immobilization with signs of atrophy and glottic insufficiency.</br> <b><br>Material and methods:</b> From the available material of 74 EMG records of patients referred for the exam due to unilateral laryngeal paralysis, records of 17 patients with endoscopic features suggestive of complete laryngeal muscle denervation were selected. The EMG study of thyroarytenoid muscles of mobile and immobile VFs was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively at rest and during volitional activity involving free phonation of vowel /e/ [ε].</br> <b><br>Results:</b> In all patients, the EMG records from mobile VFs were significantly different from those from immobile VFs. Despite endoscopic features of paralysis, no VF activity whatsoever was observed in as few as 2 patients so as to meet the neurophysiological definition of paralysis. In 88% of cases, electromyographic activity of the thyroarytenoid muscle was observed despite immobilization and atrophy of the vocal fold. In these patients, neurogenic type of record was observed with numerous high- -amplitude mobility units. On the basis of the results, quantitative features of EMG records indicative of paralysis and residual activity of the thyroarytenoid muscle were determined.</br> <b><br>Conclusions:</b> Qualitative and quantitative analysis of laryngeal EMG records provides detailed information on the condition of vocal fold muscles and innervation. EMG records of mobile vs immobile VFs differ significantly from each other. Endoscopic evaluation does not provide sufficient basis for the diagnosis of complete laryngeal muscle denervation.</br&gt.

Short-term effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on motor speech in Parkinson’s disease: a pilot study

Introduction: Hypokinetic dysarthria (HD) is a common motor speech symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD) which does not respond well to PD treatments. We investigated short-term effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on HD in PD using acoustic analysis of speech. Based on our previous studies we focused on stimulation of the right superior temporal gyrus (STG) - an auditory feedback area. Methods: In 14 PD patients with HD, we applied anodal, cathodal and sham tDCS to the right STG using a cross-over design. A protocol consisting of speech tasks was performed prior to and immediately after each stimulation session. Linear mixed models were used for the evaluation of the effects of each stimulation condition on the relative change of acoustic parameters. We also performed a simulation of the mean electric field induced by tDCS. Results: Linear mixed model showed a statistically significant effect of the stimulation condition on the relative change of median duration of silences longer than 50 ms (p = 0.015). The relative change after the anodal stimulation (mean = -5.9) was significantly lower as compared to the relative change after the sham stimulation (mean = 12.8), p = 0.014. We also found a correlation between the mean electric field magnitude in the right STG and improvement of articulation precision after anodal tDCS (R = 0.637; p = 0.019). Conclusions: The exploratory study showed that anodal tDCS applied over the auditory feedback area may lead to shorter pauses in a speech of PD patients.

Focus of attention in musical learning and music performance: a systematic review and discussion of focus instructions and outcome measures.

The topic of attentional focus (focus of attention, FOA) in musical learning and performance has recently received increasing interest, as the growing number of empirical studies inspired by the established FOA paradigm in sports by Wulf and colleagues in 1998. The current systematical review aims at collecting, abstracting, and categorizing relevant data to show which kinds of FOA instructions were applied in experimental designs and what kinds of dependent variables were used to measure the effects of FOA instruction on musical performance. The three main inclusion criteria in the selection process were experimental design, detailed descriptions of FOA instructions, and outcome measures (OMs). A systematic search was conducted with a complex search term in four scientific databases in March 2023. For presenting and synthesizing results, we used data collection and an inductive-deductive data categorization. Fifteen studies with a total sample size of 401 participants were included out of 387 records initially identified. We collected 53 different FOA instruction citations from the 15 studies and classified them into 9 FOA subcategories, of which the most applied were bodily focus (21%), sound focus (15%), and visual focus (14%). Selected studies used 63 OMs that were abstracted to 10 different OM categories with expert ratings (27%) and acoustical analysis (22%) as the most applied dependent variables. Data categorization and abstraction of additional study information show multiple combinations of FOA instructions, OMs, participants' instruments and expertise, and musical tasks. Finally, studies show no consistent results of superiority of either external or internal or otherwise different FOA considering positive effects on musical performance. Limitations of the review lie in the small study sample, possible criticism of applied eligibility criteria, and subjectivity of data categorization. We propose a research agenda with a more exploratory approach that comprehensively and qualitatively examines the dimensions of musical goals to create a database that could provide a foundation for developing a music-specific FOA model.

Dropping a bombshell: Acoustic characterization of blast fishing in Todos os Santos Bay, Brazil, and its implication for marine conservation

Blast fishing is an illegal fishing method that not only affects fish populations and the marine ecosystem, but also local food security and local economy. Despite its effects, blast fishing continues to persist in many coastal regions around the world, including Todos os Santos Bay (BTS - Baia de Todos os Santos) in Northeastern Brazil. This study provides the first acoustic record of underwater explosions along this region. The acoustic data were collected between 2016 and 2018, from a boat-survey platform, using a portable system consisting of an HTI-90 min hydrophone (sensitivity of about −165 dB re 1 V/μPa) connected to a TASCAM DR-40 digital recorder (combined frequency response up to 30 kHz), recording at 7 m depth. The acoustic analysis was performed using both RAVEN 1.6 and MATLAB 2021a softwares. The results revealed a distinctive underwater explosion signal detected in the BTS, indicating evidence of blast fishing activities. The acoustic characterization of blast fishing in BTS provides crucial information on its occurrence and extent of this destructive practice worldwide.

Effects of Speech Cues on Acoustics and Intelligibility of Korean-Speaking Children With Cerebral Palsy.

Reduced speech intelligibility is often a hallmark of children with dysarthria secondary to cerebral palsy (CP), but effects of speech strategies for increasing intelligibility are understudied, especially in children who speak languages other than English. This study examined the effects of (the Korean translation of) two cues, "speak with your big mouth" and "speak with your strong voice," on speech acoustics and intelligibility of Korean-speaking children with CP. Fifteen Korean-speaking children with CP repeated words and sentences in habitual, big mouth, and strong voice conditions. Acoustic analyses were performed and intelligibility was assessed by means of 90 blinded listeners' ease-of-understanding (EoU) ratings and percentage of words correctly transcribed (PWC). In response to both cues, children's vocal intensity and utterance duration increased significantly and differentially, whereas their vowel space area gains did not reach statistical significance. EoU increased significantly in the big mouth condition at word, but not sentence, level, whereas in the strong voice condition, EoU increased significantly at both levels. PWC increases were not statistically significant. Considerable variability in children's responses to cues was noted overall. Korean-speaking children with CP modify their speech styles differentially when provided with cues aimed to increase their articulatory working space and vocal intensity. The results provide preliminary support for the use of the strong voice cue, in particular, to increase EoU. While the findings do not offer conclusive evidence of the intelligibility benefits of these cues, investigation with a larger sample size should provide further insight into optimal cueing strategies for increasing intelligibility in this population. Implications for language-specific versus language-independent treatment approaches are discussed. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25521052.

Acoustic vibration analysis of high-temperature thin-walled structures

Advanced aerospace structures are subjected to extremely harsh working environment, including of mechanical, acoustic, thermal, and aerodynamic loads. These combined loads can make the structures exhibit complex response, which has already attracted increasing concern in the design of advanced aerospace structures. To tackle the problem, a finite element model (FEM) by discretizing the theoretical differential equation is established to calculate the dynamic response of thin-walled structures under combined thermal and acoustic loads. The numerical analysis indicates that three types of nonlinear responses of the thin plate under combined thermal-acoustic loads are obtained, and the mechanism of snap-through is revealed through two ways: thermal buckling analysis and thermal modal analysis. which can be used to explain the nonlinear response characteristics.

Auditory-perceptual and acoustic analysis of patients undergoing palatoplasty

The most common phonation changes in patients with cleft lip and palate are: hypernasality, compensatory articulation, weak intraoral pressure and nasal air leak. The literature refers to the use of auditory-perceptual assessment in phonation analysis as the most used method by speech therapists, being considered gold standard. However, it depends on the experience of the hearing evaluators who must be highly trained. Therefore, complementary tests are supposed to extend the range of diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities. So, there is a need for a simple, objective and non-invasive test to be used in the routine care of this individual. The objective of this study is to characterize, using auditory-perceptual analysis, the speech and voice profile of a group of patients who underwent palatoplasty in the state of Rio de Janeiro, comparing these findings to the parameters found in acoustic analysis and in the literature. An interview was carried out based on the orofacial myofunctional assessment protocol for individuals with cleft lip and palate. The entire process was recorded on a video camera and directly in the acoustic analysis program using Voxmetria version 2.7, from CTS Informática, with the aid of a noise-reducing microphone. It was concluded that the auditory-perceptual and acoustic characterization of the speech and voice profile of patients who underwent palatoplasty is consistent with data obtained in the literature in other reference centers around the world. Furthermore, acoustic analysis showed statistical significance when compared to auditory-perceptual analysis, extending the range of diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities.

Study of the Roman theatre of Volterra: Acoustic effects based on the presence of different architectural construction elements

Roman theatres have always been the subject of research studies, from an architectural perspective and archaeology. The border lines between these and other disciplines is always difficult to be established since the interrelation of various expertise is required to achieve a complete knowledge of ancient buildings, especially when documentations and archaeological sources are limited. The present work deals with the acoustic analysis of the Roman theatre of Volterra, located in northern Italy, which has already been the subject of archaeological and architectural studies since its discovery in 1950. Acoustic measurements have been carried out in line with the standard requirements outlined in ISO 3382. After model calibration, the acoustic simulations have been carried out using four specific scenarios, highlighting the contribution that different construction elements can have on the acoustic response of this open-air theatre in comparison with the existing conditions. The results were evaluated assuming that light music (classical quartets, unamplified) and prose are the main functions of the space, as this case was in the past. The simulated results show that the values for the main acoustic parameters are better than the measured values, to be closer to the optimal ranges of the criteria borrowed from studies on enclosed spaces, since there are no criteria for Roman theatres. The good acoustic response of the Roman theatre of Volterra raises new doubts about the function of the vessels that were located under the steps of the cavea, as mentioned by Vitruvius.

Cepstral Analysis of Voice in School-Aged Children

Dysphonia in school-aged children is attributed primarily to hyperfunctional use of voice. These can be identified through effective protocols using both acoustic and auditory-perceptual analyses. The current study aimed to investigate voice characteristics in school children aged 4-17years using auditory-perceptual rating and cepstral measures of voice. This is a descriptive cross-sectional observational study. Four hundred and fifty-seven recordings of sustained phonation of /a/ in children and adolescents obtained in a quiet room using Zoom h1 voice recorder were analyzed using auditory-perceptual evaluation by three speech-language pathologists using Grade of overall dysphonia, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, and Strain(GRBAS) rating scale. The samples were classified based on age into five groups: 1) 4 to 6; 11 years 2) 7-8; 11 years, 3) 9-11; 11years 4) 12-13; 11years and 5) 14-16; 11 years. PRAAT software was used to extract Cepstral Peak Prominence (CPP) and Cepstral Peak Prominence Smoothed (CPPS). Inter-rater reliability was assessed for both auditory-perceptual and acoustic analysis. Auditory-perceptual analysis revealed dysphonia in 7.8% of samples with higher rate in males than females. Inter-rater reliability for auditory-perceptual rating was found to be good (Intraclass Corelation Coefficient-0.83). Independent t test revealed statistically significant difference (P<0.001) in both cepstral measures and mean values were lower in dysphonic than normal group. Gender effect was present for CPP in group 5(14-16;11 years) and CPPS in group 4 (12-13; 11years). One-way analysis of variance within groups in males (P<0.005) revealed statistical difference in both cepstral measures but not in females. Statistically significant difference was not found between ratings of both speech language pathologists for both CPP (P=0.929) and CPPS (P=0.965) values indicating the ratings to be reliable. Pediatric dysphonia has received less attention when compared to adults. Assessing school-aged children for dysphonia using both auditory-perceptual and acoustic measures would aid in identifying those at risk to make appropriate referrals and plan further intervention.

Comparative Performance Analysis of Metaheuristic Feature Selection Methods for Speech Emotion Recognition

Abstract Emotion recognition systems from speech signals are realized with the help of acoustic or spectral features. Acoustic analysis is the extraction of digital features from speech files using digital signal processing methods. Another method is the analysis of time-frequency images of speech using image processing. The size of the features obtained by acoustic analysis is in the thousands. Therefore, classification complexity increases and causes variation in classification accuracy. In feature selection, features unrelated to emotions are extracted from the feature space and are expected to contribute to the classifier performance. Traditional feature selection methods are mostly based on statistical analysis. Another feature selection method is the use of metaheuristic algorithms to detect and remove irrelevant features from the feature set. In this study, we compare the performance of metaheuristic feature selection algorithms for speech emotion recognition. For this purpose, a comparative analysis was performed on four different datasets, eight metaheuristics and three different classifiers. The results of the analysis show that the classification accuracy increases when the feature size is reduced. For all datasets, the highest accuracy was achieved with the support vector machine. The highest accuracy for the EMO-DB, EMOVA, eNTERFACE’05 and SAVEE datasets is 88.1%, 73.8%, 73.3% and 75.7%, respectively.

Conducting high-quality and reliable acoustic analysis: A tutorial focused on training research assistants.

Open science practices have led to an increase in available speech datasets for researchers interested in acoustic analysis. Accurate evaluation of these databases frequently requires manual or semi-automated analysis. The time-intensive nature of these analyses makes them ideally suited for research assistants in laboratories focused on speech and voice production. However, the completion of high-quality, consistent, and reliable analyses requires clear rules and guidelines for all research assistants to follow. This tutorial will provide information on training and mentoring research assistants to complete these analyses, covering areas including RA training, ongoing data analysis monitoring, and documentation needed for reliable and re-creatable findings.

Linguistic modulation of the neural encoding of phonemes.

Speech comprehension entails the neural mapping of the acoustic speech signal onto learned linguistic units. This acousto-linguistic transformation is bi-directional, whereby higher-level linguistic processes (e.g. semantics) modulate the acoustic analysis of individual linguistic units. Here, we investigated the cortical topography and linguistic modulation of the most fundamental linguistic unit, the phoneme. We presented natural speech and "phoneme quilts" (pseudo-randomly shuffled phonemes) in either a familiar (English) or unfamiliar (Korean) language to native English speakers while recording functional magnetic resonance imaging. This allowed us to dissociate the contribution of acoustic vs. linguistic processes toward phoneme analysis. We show that (i) the acoustic analysis of phonemes is modulated by linguistic analysis and (ii) that for this modulation, both of acoustic and phonetic information need to be incorporated. These results suggest that the linguistic modulation of cortical sensitivity to phoneme classes minimizes prediction error during natural speech perception, thereby aiding speech comprehension in challenging listening situations.

Acoustic, phonetic, and phonological features of Drehu vowels.

This study presents an acoustic investigation of the vowel inventory of Drehu (Southern Oceanic Linkage), spoken in New Caledonia. Reportedly, Drehu has a 14 vowel system distinguishing seven vowel qualities and an additional length distinction. Previous phonological descriptions were based on impressionistic accounts showing divergent proposals for two out of seven reported vowel qualities. This study presents the first phonetic investigation of Drehu vowels based on acoustic data from eight speakers. To examine the phonetic correlates of the proposed phonological vowel inventory, multi-point acoustic analyses were used, and vowel inherent spectral change (VISC) was investigated (F1, F2, and F3). Additionally, vowel duration was measured. Contrary to reports from other studies on VISC in monophthongs, we find that monophthongs in Drehu are mostly steady state. We propose a revised vowel inventory and focus on the acoustic description of open-mid /ɛ/ and the central vowel /ə/, whose status was previously unclear. Additionally, we find that vowel quality stands orthogonal to vowel quantity by demonstrating that the phonological vowel length distinction is primarily based on a duration cue rather than formant structure. Finally, we report the acoustic properties of the seven vowel qualities that were identified.

Electrophysiological Changes on Laryngeal Motor Neuropathways Cause Voice Disorders for Postradiotherapy Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

ObjectiveThis study explored electrophysiological changes in the laryngeal motor neuropathway and determined whether lesions in the laryngeal motor cortex (LMC) and its descending tract contribute to voice deterioration and peripheral nerve palsy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) post-radiotherapy (RT). Study DesignsProspective cohort study MethodsTwenty-two patients with NPC at 2 to 4 years post-RT (8 female and 14 male), 22 patients with NPC at 8 to 10 years post-RT (8 female and 14 male), and 22 healthy individuals (9 female and 13 male) were selected to test their magnetic evoked potentials (MEP), motor nerve conduction (MNC), and voice quality using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), laryngeal electromyography (LEMG), and the XION DiVAS acoustic analysis software. Three groups were matched according to approximate age. Multiple comparisons were performed among the three groups. ResultsThe voice quality of post-RT patients with NPC deteriorated compared to that of healthy individuals. Bilateral LMC and their corticonuclear tracts to the bilateral ambiguous nuclei of post-RT patients with NPC were impaired according to multi-group comparisons of MEP amplitudes, latencies, and resting motor thresholds (RMT). The vagus and recurrent laryngeal nerves (RLN) of post-RT patients with NPC were impaired according to multi-group comparisons of the amplitude and latencies of the compound muscle action potential (CMAP) and latencies of f-waves. ConclusionsThe voice quality of patients with NPC deteriorated after RT. The pathogenesis of post-RT voice deterioration may involve radiation-induced injuries to the vagus, RLN, and bilateral LMC. Furthermore, radiation-induced injuries to the bilateral LMC may contribute to vagus and RLN palsies. These findings support the use of transcranial approaches to treating voice disorders and peripheral nerve palsies in post-RT patients with NPC.

A Comparison of Countertenor Singing at Various Professional Levels Using Acoustic, Electroglottographic, and Videofluoroscopic Methods

IntroductionThe vocal characteristics of countertenors (CTTs) are poorly understood due to a lack of studies in this field. This study aims to explore differences among CTTs at various professional levels, examining both disparities and congruences in singing styles to better understand the countertenor voice. Materials and MethodsFour CTTs (1 student, 1 amateur and 2 professionals) sang "La giustizia ha già sull'arco" from Handel's Giulio Cesare, with concurrent videofluoroscopic, EGG, and acoustic data collection. Auditory-perceptual analysis was employed to rate professional level. Acoustic analysis included LH1-LH2, formant cluster prominence, and vibrato analysis. EGG data was analysed using FonaDyn software, while anatomical modifications were quantified using videofluoroscopic images. ResultsCTTs exhibited CQ values surpassing typical levels for inexperienced falsettos. Their vibrato characteristics aligned with expectations for classical singing, whereas the presence of the singer's formant was not observed. Variations in supraglottic adjustments among CTTs underscored the diversity of techniques employed by CTT singers. ConclusionsCTTs exhibited vocal techniques that highlighted the influence of individual preferences, professional experience, and stylistic choices in shaping their singing characteristics. The data revealed discernible differences between professional and amateur CTTs, providing insights into the impact of varying levels of experience on vocal expression.

An Acoustic Analysis of Vowel Nasalization in Pakistani English

An Acoustic Analysis of Vowel Nasalization in Pakistani English

Интонация и ударение на прости двусъставни изречения

The research deals with the intonational characteristics and the stress in simple sentences taken from Bulgarian classic literature. By using software for acoustic analysis, we observe the intonational contours of simple sentences, aiming at characterizing the specific intonational features of the verb and its outer complement. We also observe the intonational features of the predicate in cases of different word order (SVO, SOV, VSO, etc.) The main goal is to summarize the data on stress and intonation of simple sentences from our corpus and to represent it as models of the prosody of simple predicates in Bulgarian.

Zoom in: factors affecting vocal habits during online meetings, a prospective trial on 40 subjects.

To identify factors that influence vocal habits during online meetings (OMs). A prospective trial of forty participants without any known hearing or vocal cord disorders. Subjects participated in an OM divided into six randomly ordered sections, with alterations in audio/speaking equipment and language: the computer's speaker-microphone, a single earbud, two-earbuds or headphones; with/without video, native-language-speaking (Hebrew) versus second language-speaking (English). Each section included free speech, sustained phonation, and a standardized passage. Participants ranked their vocal-effort for each section. Three blinded raters independently scored the voice using the GRBAS scale, and acoustic analyses were performed. No significant difference in self-reported vocal effort was demonstrated between sections. Second-language speaking resulted in significantly increased intensity (p < 0.0001), frequency (p = 0.015), GRBAS (p = 0.008), and strain (p < 0.0001) scores. Using the computer's speaker/microphone resulted in significantly higher strain (p < 0.0001). Using headphones, single or two earbuds resulted in lower intensity and a lower strain score. No differences were detected between OMs with or without video. Using the computer's microphone/speaker or speaking in a second language during OMs, may result in vocal habits associated with vocal trauma.

Nonlinear Acoustic Behavior Prediction and Analysis of Straight Through Perforated Tube Silencer With Flow

Straight through perforated tube silencers are widely used in intake and exhaust noise control, and their acoustic behaviors are influenced by the gas flow and high amplitude sound remarkably. To investigate the acoustic attenuation performance of straight through perforated tube silencers in the presence of flow and high amplitude sound, an approach based on the three-dimensional (3D) time-domain computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is employed and validated by comparing predictions and measurements. Transmission loss of the straight through perforated tube silencer under pure tone and multi-tone sound excitations is predicted. Results show that, under the pure tone sound excitations, the acoustic attenuations are affected remarkably by the high amplitude sound, and the nonlinear effects turn to weaken as flow velocity increases. With the sound pressure level (SPL) decreasing along the axis of the silencer, the acoustic nonlinearity in the orifice weakens gradually. The shedding vortices are restricted to the region near perforations because of the transport of flow. When the multi-tone sound excitation is enforced on the inlet, transmission loss of the silencer is different from the pure tone excitation at the same SPL of every compositional frequency.