Sentence Intelligibility Test Research Articles

The Use of the Voice Trainer App for Vocal Control in People with a Degenerative Ataxia: A Pilot Intervention Study.

Dysarthria is disabling in persons with degenerative ataxia. There is limited evidence for speech therapy interventions. In this pilot study, we used the Voice trainer app, which was originally developed for patients with Parkinson's disease, as a feedback tool for vocal control. We hypothesized that patients with ataxic dysarthria would benefit from the Voice trainer app to better control their loudness and pitch, resulting in a lower speaking rate and better intelligibility. This intervention study consisted of five therapy sessions of 30min within 3weeks using the principles of the Pitch Limiting Voice Treatment. Patients received real-time visual feedback on loudness and pitch during the exercises. Besides, they were encouraged to practice at home or to use the Voice trainer in daily life. We used observer-rated and patient-rated outcome measures. The primary outcome measure was intelligibility, as measured by the Dutch sentence intelligibility test. Twenty-one out of 25 included patients with degenerative ataxia completed the therapy. We found no statistically significant improvements in intelligibility (p = .56). However, after the intervention, patients were speaking slower (p = .03) and the pause durations were longer (p < .001). The patients were satisfied about using the app. At the group level, we found no evidence for an effect of the Voice trainer app on intelligibility in degenerative ataxia. Because of the heterogeneity of ataxic dysarthria, a more tailor-made rather than generic intervention seems warranted.

Profiles of Dysarthria and Dysphagia in Individuals With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

While dysarthria and dysphagia are known bulbar manifestations of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the relative prevalence of speech and swallowing impairments and whether these bulbar symptoms emerge at the same time point or progress at similar rates is not yet clear. We, therefore, sought to determine the relative prevalence of speech and swallowing impairments in a cohort of individuals with ALS and to determine the impact of disease duration, severity, and onset type on bulbar impairments. Eighty-eight individuals with a confirmed diagnosis of ALS completed the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R), underwent videofluoroscopy (VF), and completed the Sentence Intelligibility Test (SIT) during a single visit. Demographic variables including disease duration and onset type were also obtained from participants. Duplicate, independent, and blinded ratings were completed using the Dynamic Imaging Grade of Swallowing Toxicity (DIGEST) scale and SIT to index dysphagia (DIGEST ≥ 1) and dysarthria (< 96% intelligible and/or < 150 words per minute) status. Descriptive statistics, Pearson chi-squared tests, independent-samples t tests, and odds ratios were performed. Dysphagia and dysarthria were instrumentally confirmed in 68% and 78% of individuals with ALS, respectively. Dysarthria and dysphagia were associated (p = .01), and bulbar impairment profile distributions in rank order included (a) dysphagia - dysarthria (59%, n = 52), (b) no dysphagia - dysarthria (19%, n = 17), (c) no dysphagia - no dysarthria (13%, n = 11), and (d) dysphagia - no dysarthria (9%, n = 8). Participants with dysphagia or dysarthria demonstrated 4.2 higher odds of exhibiting a bulbar impairment in the other domain than participants with normal speech and swallowing (95% CI [1.5, 12.2]). There were no differences in ALSFRS-R total scores or disease duration across bulbar impairment profiles (p > .05). ALSFRS-R bulbar subscale scores were significantly lower in individuals with dysphagia versus no dysphagia (8.4 vs. 10.4, p < .0001) and dysarthria versus no dysarthria (8.5 vs. 10.9, p < .0001). Dysphagia and onset type (p = .003) and dysarthria and onset type were associated (p < .0001). Over half of the individuals with ALS in this study demonstrated both dysphagia and dysarthria. Of those with only one bulbar impairment, speech was twice as likely to be the first bulbar symptom to degrade. Future studies are needed to confirm these findings and determine the longitudinal progression of bulbar impairments in this patient population.

Properties of Relative Timing and Phonetic Complexity in Adults with Dysarthria Secondary to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Introduction: This study examined the relative timing in individuals with dysarthria secondary to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The aim was to examine whether the relative timing was influenced by severity of dysarthria and phonetic complexity of the speech being produced. Methods: Twenty-one adults with dysarthria secondary to ALS, who presented with a range of dysarthria severity, participated in the study. A group of nonimpaired, age-matched adults served as controls. All participants produced a single phrase, across which four measures of relative timing were calculated, and the phonetic composition (complexity) of each measure was considered. Both participant groups completed the Sentence Intelligibility Test, which provided measures of speech intelligibility and speaking rate. Results: Relative timing did not significantly differ between speaker groups across the four measures, regardless of phonetic complexity. Neither Sentence Intelligibility Test score nor speaking rate were significantly correlated with relative timing. Discussion: Relative timing of phrase-level speech appears to remain intact regardless of the phonetic complexity of speech among individuals with dysarthria secondary to ALS. The potential of an internal phonological system organizing speech gestures is discussed to explain why the consistency in relative timing occurs.

An acoustic study of vowels produced by Cantonese alaryngeal speakers using clear speech

Alaryngeal speech is an alternative method of verbal communication following the removal of the larynx. Common alaryngeal speaking methods include esophageal (ES) speech, tracheoesophageal (TE) speech, and speech produced using an electrolarynx (EL). A recent study [Hui et al., in press, Folia Phoniatr Logop] demonstrated better intelligibility in Cantonese alaryngeal speakers while using clear speech (CS) compared to their everyday ‘habitual speech’ (HS). Yet the correlated change in the acoustics associated with CS is still not clear. The purpose of this study was to assess the acoustic characteristics of vowels produced by Cantonese alaryngeal speakers during HS and CS conditions. Thirty-one alaryngeal speakers (9 EL users, 10 ES speakers, and 12 TE speakers) produced sentences from the Cantonese Sentence Intelligibility Test in HS and CS. Acoustic analyses considered formants (measured by reassigned spectrogram), vowel space area (VSA) and vowel duration across alaryngeal speaking methods and styles. We also examined these acoustic differences in relation to duration of alaryngeal speech use and intelligibility. Results suggest that EL users had larger VSAs and larger increases in vowel duration while using CS compared to ES and TE speakers. Future research will examine the effects of refined CS protocols on improving acoustic and perceptual characteristics of Cantonese alaryngeal speech.

The Effect of Clear Speech on Cantonese Alaryngeal Speakers’ Intelligibility

Background/Aim: The purpose of this study was to provide preliminary data concerning the effect of clear speech (CS) on Cantonese alaryngeal speakers’ intelligibility. Methods: Voice recordings of 11 sentences randomly selected from the Cantonese Sentence Intelligibility Test (CSIT) were obtained from 31 alaryngeal speakers (9 electrolarynx [EL] users, 10 esophageal speakers and 12 tracheoesophageal [TE] speakers) in habitual speech (HS) and CS. Two naïve listeners orthographically transcribed a total of 1,364 sentences. Results: Significant effects of speaking condition on speaking rate and CSIT scores were observed, but no significant effect of alaryngeal communication methods was noted. CS was significantly slower than HS by 0.78 syllables/s. Esophageal speakers demonstrated the slowest speech rate when using CS, while EL users demonstrated the largest decrease in speaking rate when using CS compared to HS. TE speakers had the highest CSIT scores in HS (listener 1 = 81.4%; listener 2 = 81.3%), and esophageal speakers had the highest CSIT scores in CS (listener 1 = 87.5%; listener 2 = 89.7%). EL users experienced the largest increase in intelligibility while using CS compared to HS (9.1%) followed by esophageal speakers (8.9%) and TE speakers (1.4%). Conclusion: Preliminary data indicate that CS may significantly affect Cantonese alaryngeal speakers’ speaking rate and intelligibility. However, intelligibility appeared to vary considerably across speakers. Further research involving larger, heterogeneous groups of speakers and listeners alongside longer and more refined CS training protocols should be conducted to confirm that CS can improve Cantonese alaryngeal speakers’ intelligibility.

Standard versus Accelerated Speaking Valve Placement after Percutaneous Tracheostomy: A Randomized Controlled Feasibility Study.

Rationale: The feasibility of a large, multicenter, randomized controlled trial comparing the risks and benefits of early-use speaking valve after tracheostomy is not clear. Objectives: To investigate the feasibility of accelerated (⩽24 h) versus standard (⩾48 h) one-way speaking valve ("speaking valve") placement after percutaneous tracheostomy. Methods: Twenty awake patients (Glasgow Coma Scale score ⩾9) were randomized to accelerated or standard timing of speaking valve placement. Outcomes included patient identification and recruitment, adherence to protocol-defined time windows for valve placement, experimental separation in time to first speaking valve placement between groups, effectiveness of speech and swallowing (Sentence Intelligibility Test score, patient-reported quality of life), and clinical outcomes (safety events, speaking valve tolerance, decannulation, length of stay, and mortality). Results: Of 161 patients undergoing percutaneous tracheostomy, 20 of 36 meeting eligibility criteria were randomized. The median time to speaking valve placement was 22 (interquartile range [IQR], 21-23) hours in the accelerated arm versus 45.5 (IQR, 43-50) hours for the standard arm. No aspiration, hypoxemia, or other safety events occurred in either arm as a result of the speaking valve. Sentence intelligibility test scores were not different between arms but correlated with quality of life. After three sessions, patients in the accelerated arm tolerated longer speaking valve trials than those in the standard arm [median, 65 (IQR, 45-720) min vs. median, 15 (IQR, 3-20) min]. Seven patients in the accelerated arm were decannulated before hospital discharge versus one patient in the standard arm. Conclusions: Speaking valve placement within 24 hours of percutaneous tracheostomy is feasible. A multicenter randomized controlled trial should be conducted to evaluate the safety of this strategy and compare important clinical outcomes, including time to speech and swallow recovery after tracheostomy.Clinical trial registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03008174).

Effect of Noise on Speech Intelligibility and Perceived Listening Effort in Head and Neck Cancer.

Purpose This study (a) examined the effect of different levels of background noise on speech intelligibility and perceived listening effort in speakers with impaired and intact speech following treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC) and (b) determined the relative contribution of speech intelligibility, speaker group, and background noise to a measure of perceived listening effort. Method Ten speakers diagnosed with nasal, oral, or oropharyngeal HNC provided audio recordings of six sentences from the Sentence Intelligibility Test. All speakers were 100% intelligible in quiet: Five speakers with HNC exhibited mild speech imprecisions (speech impairment group), and five speakers with HNC demonstrated intact speech (HNC control group). Speech recordings were presented to 30 inexperienced listeners, who transcribed the sentences and rated perceived listening effort in quiet and two levels (+7 and +5 dB SNR) of background noise. Results Significant Group × Noise interactions were found for speech intelligibility and perceived listening effort. While no differences in speech intelligibility were found between the speaker groups in quiet, the results showed that, as the signal-to-noise ratio decreased, speakers with intact speech (HNC control) performed significantly better (greater intelligibility, less perceived listening effort) than those with speech imprecisions in the two noise conditions. Perceived listening effort was also shown to be associated with decreased speech intelligibility, imprecise speech, and increased background noise. Conclusions Speakers with HNC who are 100% intelligible in quiet but who exhibit some degree of imprecise speech are particularly vulnerable to the effects of increased background noise in comparison to those with intact speech. Results have implications for speech evaluations, counseling, and rehabilitation.

Short Versus Conventional Pulse-Width Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinson's Disease: A Randomized Crossover Comparison.

Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) is an effective therapy for selected Parkinson's disease patients with motor fluctuations, but can adversely affect speech and axial symptoms. The use of short pulse width (PW) has been shown to expand the therapeutic window acutely, but its utility in reducing side effects in chronic STN-DBS patients has not been evaluated. To compare the effect of short PW settings using 30-μs with conventional 60-μs settings on stimulation-induced dysarthria in Parkinson's disease patients with previously implanted STN-DBS systems. In this single-center, double-blind, randomized crossover trial, we assigned 16 Parkinson's disease patients who had been on STN-DBS for a mean of 6.5 years and exhibited moderate dysarthria to 30-μs or 60-μs settings for 4 weeks followed by the alternative PW setting for a further 4 weeks. The primary outcome was difference in dysarthric speech measured by the Sentence Intelligibility Test between study baseline and the 2 PW conditions. Secondary outcomes included motor, nonmotor, and quality of life measures. There was no difference in the Sentence Intelligibility Test scores between baseline and the 2 treatment conditions (P = 0.25). There were also no differences noted in motor, nonmotor, or quality of life scores. The 30-μs settings were well tolerated, and adverse event rates were similar to those at conventional PW settings. Post hoc analysis indicated that patients with dysarthria and a shorter duration of DBS may be improved by short PW stimulation. Short PW settings using 30 μs did not alter dysarthric speech in chronic STN-DBS patients. A future study should evaluate whether patients with shorter duration of DBS may be helped by short PW settings. © 2019 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

3122 Longitudinal Recovery of Speech Motor Function Following Facial Transplantation

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Using a novel biomechanical-based motor speech assessment alongside commonly used clinically-based motor speech assessments, the goal of this study was to describe longitudinal recovery in speech movements and functional speech in a cohort of 5 patients following facial transplantation. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Five participants who had received either full or partial face transplantation were included in this study. Each participant received a unique facial graft from their donor, which included varied amounts of soft tissue, facial musculature, nerve, and bone. Two participants were early in the recovery period and were assessed from zero to 24 months post-transplantation. Three participants were late in the recovery period and were assessed from 36 to 60 months post-transplantation. Each participant completed two data collection sessions and the average time between sessions was 20.4 months. At each session, orofacial movements were recorded using a 3D motion capture system. A 4-sensor head marker was used to subtract head movement (translation and rotation) from the facial markers. The analyses in this study were restricted to two markers: midline lower lip and a virtually calculated midline jaw marker. A marker at the top of the nose bridge was used as the origin point. The following kinematic variables were obtained from each lip-jaw movement time-series: peak movement speed (mm/s), and displacement (mm). Each patient was instructed to perform 10 repetitions of the phrase “buy bobby a puppy” at his or her typical speaking rate and volume. Sentence-level intelligibility was obtained using the Sentence Intelligibility Test (SIT) and word-level intelligibility was obtained using the Word Intelligibility Test, using standard procedures. Intelligibility, measured in percentage of words correctly transcribed, and speaking rate, measured in words per minute (wpm), was derived from the SIT sentences for each patient. Intelligibility, measured in percentage of words correctly chosen via multiple choice was derived from the Word Intelligibility Test. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Effect sizes (Cohen’s d) across the 10 trials of “buy bobby a puppy” were computed to assess the effects of recovery time on range of motion and speed of the lower lip alone, the jaw alone, and the lower lip and jaw together for both range of motion and for speed. The largest effect sizes were observed for increased range of motion and increased speed of the articulators for participants within 24 months of surgery. Smaller effect sizes were observed for these parameters for the participants in the later stages of recovery, with some participants showing declines in range of motion and speed of some but not all articulators. Descriptive statistics indicate that both speech and word intelligibility improvements are most notable in the first two years following transplantation and appear to plateau during the later stages of recovery. Only two out of five of our participants achieved “normal” speech intelligibility (i.e., &gt;97%) at five years post-transplantation. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Biomechanical assessment revealed that kinematic recovery of articulator range of motion and speed appears most significant in the first two years following surgery, but that improvement continues to some degree as far as five-years post-transplant. Clinically-based assessments suggest that gains in intelligibility appear to plateau by 3-years post-surgery.

Minimally Detectable Change and Minimal Clinically Important Difference of a Decline in Sentence Intelligibility and Speaking Rate for Individuals With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

The purpose of this study was to determine the minimally detectable change (MDC) and minimal clinically important difference (MCID) of a decline in speech sentence intelligibility and speaking rate for individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We also examined how the MDC and MCID vary across severities of dysarthria. One-hundred forty-seven patients with ALS and 49 healthy control subjects were selected from a larger, longitudinal study of bulbar decline in ALS, resulting in a total of 650 observations. Intelligibility and speaking rate in words per minute (WPM) were calculated using the Sentence Intelligibility Test (Yorkston, Beukelman, & Hakel, 2007), and the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (Cedarbaum et al., 1999) was administered to capture patient perception of motor impairment. The MDC at the 95% confidence level was estimated using the following formula: MDC95 = 1.96 × √2 × SEM. For estimation of the MCID, receiver operating characteristic curves were generated, and area under the curve and optimal thresholds to maximize sensitivity and specificity were calculated. The MDC for sentence intelligibility was 12.07%, and the MCID was 1.43%. The MDC for speaking rate was 36.57 WPM, and the MCID was 8.80 WPM. Both MDC and MCID estimates varied with severity of dysarthria. The findings suggest that declines greater than 12% sentence intelligibility and 37 WPM are required to be outside measurement error and that these estimates vary widely across dysarthria severities. The MDC and MCID metrics used in this study to detect real and clinically relevant change should be estimated for other measures of speech outcomes in intervention research.

The Effect of Noise on Relationships Between Speech Intelligibility and Self-Reported Communication Measures in Tracheoesophageal Speakers.

The purpose of this study was to examine how sentence intelligibility relates to self-reported communication in tracheoesophageal speakers when speech intelligibility is measured in quiet and noise. Twenty-four tracheoesophageal speakers who were at least 1 year postlaryngectomy provided audio recordings of 5 sentences from the Sentence Intelligibility Test. Speakers also completed self-reported measures of communication-the Voice Handicap Index-10 and the Communicative Participation Item Bank short form. Speech recordings were presented to 2 groups of inexperienced listeners who heard sentences in quiet or noise. Listeners transcribed the sentences to yield speech intelligibility scores. Very weak relationships were found between intelligibility in quiet and measures of voice handicap and communicative participation. Slightly stronger, but still weak and nonsignificant, relationships were observed between measures of intelligibility in noise and both self-reported measures. However, 12 speakers who were more than 65% intelligible in noise showed strong and statistically significant relationships with both self-reported measures (R2 = .76-.79). Speech intelligibility in quiet is a weak predictor of self-reported communication measures in tracheoesophageal speakers. Speech intelligibility in noise may be a better metric of self-reported communicative function for speakers who demonstrate higher speech intelligibility in noise.

Clear Speech Variants: An Acoustic Study in Parkinson's Disease.

The authors investigated how different variants of clear speech affect segmental and suprasegmental acoustic measures of speech in speakers with Parkinson's disease and a healthy control group. A total of 14 participants with Parkinson's disease and 14 control participants served as speakers. Each speaker produced 18 different sentences selected from the Sentence Intelligibility Test (Yorkston & Beukelman, 1996). All speakers produced stimuli in 4 speaking conditions (habitual, clear, overenunciate, and hearing impaired). Segmental acoustic measures included vowel space area and first moment (M1) coefficient difference measures for consonant pairs. Second formant slope of diphthongs and measures of vowel and fricative durations were also obtained. Suprasegmental measures included fundamental frequency, sound pressure level, and articulation rate. For the majority of adjustments, all variants of clear speech instruction differed from the habitual condition. The overenunciate condition elicited the greatest magnitude of change for segmental measures (vowel space area, vowel durations) and the slowest articulation rates. The hearing impaired condition elicited the greatest fricative durations and suprasegmental adjustments (fundamental frequency, sound pressure level). Findings have implications for a model of speech production for healthy speakers as well as for speakers with dysarthria. Findings also suggest that particular clear speech instructions may target distinct speech subsystems.

The relationship between communicative participation and postlaryngectomy speech outcomes.

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between communicative participation and postlaryngectomy speech outcomes, including listener-rated speech intelligibility and acceptability, and patient-rated speech acceptability and voice handicap. Thirty-six laryngectomized individuals completed the Communicative Participation Item Bank (CPIB) short form and the Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10). They provided recordings from the Sentence Intelligibility Test (SIT) and a reading passage, and rated their own speech acceptability. Forty-eight inexperienced listeners transcribed the SIT sentences to derive intelligibility scores. Eighteen additional listeners judged the speech acceptability using the rating scales. Listeners judged tracheoesophageal speakers as significantly more intelligible and acceptable than electrolaryngeal speakers (p < .05). Speech acceptability was significantly more acceptable to speakers than listeners (p < .05). Weak, nonsignificant relationships were found between communicative participation and listener-rated outcomes. Stronger, significant relationships were found between communicative participation and self-rated speech acceptability and voice handicap (p < .05). Patient-reported communication outcomes are complementary to listener-rated outcomes. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: E1955-E1961, 2016.

The effect of intensive speech rate and intonation therapy on intelligibility in Parkinson's disease

PurposeMost studies on treatment of prosody in individuals with dysarthria due to Parkinson's disease are based on intensive treatment of loudness. The present study investigates the effect of intensive treatment of speech rate and intonation on the intelligibility of individuals with dysarthria due to Parkinson's disease. MethodsA one group pretest–posttest design was used to compare intelligibility, speech rate, and intonation before and after treatment. Participants included eleven Dutch-speaking individuals with predominantly moderate dysarthria due to Parkinson's disease, who received five one-hour treatment sessions per week during three weeks. Treatment focused on lowering speech rate and magnifying the phrase final intonation contrast between statements and questions. Intelligibility was perceptually assessed using a standardized sentence intelligibility test. Speech rate was automatically assessed during the sentence intelligibility test as well as during a passage reading task and a storytelling task. Intonation was perceptually assessed using a sentence reading task and a sentence repetition task, and also acoustically analyzed in terms of maximum fundamental frequency. ResultsAfter treatment, there was a significant improvement of sentence intelligibility (effect size .83), a significant increase of pause frequency during the passage reading task, a significant improvement of correct listener identification of statements and questions, and a significant increase of the maximum fundamental frequency in the final syllable of questions during both intonation tasks. ConclusionThe findings suggest that participants were more intelligible and more able to manipulate pause frequency and statement-question intonation after treatment. However, the relationship between the change in intelligibility on the one hand and the changes in speech rate and intonation on the other hand is not yet fully understood. Results are nuanced in the light of the operated research design.Learning outcomes: The reader will be able to: (1) describe the effect of intensive speech rate and intonation treatment on intelligibility of speakers with dysarthria due to PD, (2) describe the effect of intensive speech rate treatment on rate manipulation by speakers with dysarthria due to PD, and (3) describe the effect of intensive intonation treatment on manipulation of the phrase final intonation contrast between statements and questions by speakers with dysarthria due to PD.

Efficacy in Accent Modification Services: Quantitative and Qualitative Outcomes for Korean Speakers of American English

Instructors of accent modification programs find few long range efficacy studies that they can use to critically examine the effectiveness of their training programs. Fewer still limit the language background variables of the study participants that might yield interesting information about specific instructional strategies and targets. This long term study examines outcomes data from 167 Korean men and women who participated in the MU (University of Missouri) Accent Modification and Pronunciation Program (AMP) from 2006-present. Quantitative data will include pre- and post- measures using the Sentence Intelligibility Test (Yorkston, Beukelman, &amp; Tice, 1996), the POEC Screen Online (Sikorski, 2009), and qualitative data will include information obtained through surveys of individuals who have completed the MU AMP program. The authors discuss multisensory methods used in this program to effect positive change in adult English as a Second Language (ESL) oral skills.

Development and evaluation of a linguistically and audiologically controlled sentence intelligibility test

To allow for a systematic variation of linguistic complexity of sentences while acoustically controlling for intelligibility of sentence fragments, a German corpus, Oldenburg linguistically and audiologically controlled sentences (OLACS), was designed, implemented, and evaluated. Sentences were controlled for plausibility with a questionnaire survey. Verification of the speech material was performed in three listening conditions (quiet, stationary, and fluctuating noise) by collecting speech reception thresholds (SRTs) and response latencies as well as individual cognitive measures for 20 young listeners with normal hearing. Consistent differences in response latencies across sentence types verified the effect of linguistic complexity on processing speed. The addition of noise decreased response latencies, giving evidence for different response strategies for measurements in noise. Linguistic complexity had a significant effect on SRT. In fluctuating noise, this effect was more pronounced, indicating that fluctuating noise correlates with stronger cognitive contributions. SRTs in quiet correlated with hearing thresholds, whereas cognitive measures explained up to 40% of the variance in SRTs in noise. In conclusion, OLACS appears to be a suitable tool for assessing the interaction between aspects of speech understanding (including cognitive processing) and speech intelligibility in German.

Auditory‐Perceptual Speech Outcomes and Quality of Life after Total Laryngectomy

(1) To determine potential relationships between speech intelligibility, acceptability, and self-reported quality of life (QOL) after total laryngectomy and (2) to determine whether relationships are stronger when QOL is measured by a head and neck cancer-specific or discipline-specific QOL scale. Cross-sectional. University-based laboratory and speech clinic. Twenty-five laryngectomized individuals completed disease-specific (University of Washington Quality of Life; UW-QOL) and discipline-specific (Voice Handicap Index-10; VHI-10) QOL scales. They also provided audio recordings that included the Sentence Intelligibility Test (SIT) and a reading passage. Thirty-three listeners transcribed the SIT sentences to yield intelligibility scores. Fifteen additional listeners judged speech acceptability of the reading passage using rating scales. The QOL scores were moderate across the UW-QOL physical (mean = 77.63) and social-emotional (mean = 78.02) subscales and the VHI-10 (mean = 17.91). Speech acceptability and intelligibility varied across the samples, with acceptability only moderately related to intelligibility (r = 0.41, P < .05). Relationships were weak between ratings of intelligibility and self-reported QOL (range, r = 0.00-0.22) and weak to moderate between acceptability with QOL (range, r = 0.01-0.46). The only statistically significant, but moderate, relationship was found between speech acceptability with the UW-QOL speech subscore (r = 0.46, P < .05). Listeners' ratings of speech acceptability and intelligibility were not strongly predictive of disease-specific or voice-related QOL, suggesting that listener-rated and patient-reported outcomes are complementary.

Effect of similarity between target speech and time-reversed masker on speech intelligibility

The similarity between target speech and interfering signal may affect masking. Since time-reversed masker is an unintelligible speech-like signal, the influence of intelligibility can be avoided. This paper describes a sentence intelligibility test with target speech masked by different time-reversed maskers to evaluate the similarity effect. The time-reversed masker is processed by locally time-reversal segments of speech uttered by same-talker, same- and different-sex talker. The results show that the amount of masking is highly dependent on the similarity between target speech and time-reversed masker: time-reversed masker of target speech gives a rise in average speech reception threshold (SRT) of about 3 dB and 9 dB compared to that of another talker with same- and different-sex, respectively. Assuming the energetic masking effect for time-reversed maskers of different talkers to be similar, the amount of similarity with same-sex is larger than 6 dB and the amount of similarity with same-talker is l...

Factors affecting predicted speech intelligibility with cochlear implants in an auditory model for electrical stimulation

A model of the auditory response to stimulation with cochlear implants (CIs) was used to predict speech intelligibility in electric hearing. The model consists of an auditory nerve cell population that generates delta pulses as action potentials in response to temporal and spatial excitation with a simulated CI signal processing strategy. The auditory nerve cells are modeled with a leaky integrate-and-fire model with membrane noise. Refractory behavior is introduced by raising the threshold potential with an exponentially decreasing function. Furthermore, the action potentials are delayed to account for latency and jitter. The action potentials are further processed by a central model stage, which includes spatial and temporal integration, resulting in an internal representation of the sound presented. Multiplicative noise is included in the internal representations to limit resolution. Internal representations of complete word sets for a sentence intelligibility test were computed and classified using a Dynamic-Time-Warping classifier to quantify information content and to estimate speech intelligibility. The number of auditory nerve cells, the spatial spread of the electrodes’ electric field, and the internal noise intensity were found to have a major impact on the modeled speech intelligibility, whereas the influence of refractory behavior, membrane noise, and latency and jitter was minor.

How does linguistic complexity influence intelligibility in a German audiometric sentence intelligibility test?

Objective: We investigated if linguistic complexity contributes to the variation of the speech reception threshold in noise (SRTN) and thus should be employed as an additional design criterion in sentence tests used for audiometry. Design: Three test lists were established with sentences from the Göttingen sentence test (). One list contained linguistically simple sentences, the other two lists contained sentences with two types of linguistic complexity. For each listener the SRTN was determined for each list. Study Sample: Younger and older listeners with normal hearing and older listeners with hearing impairment were tested. Results: Younger listeners with normal hearing showed significantly worse SRTNs on the complex lists than on the simple list. This difference could not be found for either of the older groups. Conclusions: The effect of linguistic complexity on speech recognition seems to depend on age and/or hearing status. Hence, pending further research, linguistic complexity seems less relevant as a sentence test design criterion for clinical-audiological purposes, but we argue that a test with larger variation in linguistic complexity across sentences might show a relation between linguistic complexity and speech recognition even in a clinical population.SumarioObjetivo: Investigamos si la complejidad lingüística contribuye a la variaciones en el umbrales de recepción del lenguaje en ruido (SRTN) y por tanto, si deberían usarse como un criterio adicional de diseño en las pruebas con frases que se usan en audiometría. Diseño: Se establecieron tres listas de pruebas con frases de la Prueba de Frases de Göttingen (Kollmeirer & Wesselkamp, 1997). Una lista contenía frases lingüísticamente simples, las otras dos contenían frases con dos tipos distintos de complejidad lingüística. Se determino el SRTN para cada sujeto en cada lista. Muestra del Estudio: Se evaluaron sujetos jóvenes y viejos con audición normal y sujetos viejos con alteraciones auditivas. Resultados: Los sujetos más jóvenes con audición normal mostraron resultados de SRTN significativamente peores en las listas complejas que en la lista simple. Esta diferencia no fue encontrada en ninguno de los dos grupos de sujetos más viejos. Conclusiones: Por tanto, el efecto de la complejidad lingüística sobre el reconocimiento del lenguaje parece depender de la edad y/o de la condición auditiva. Portanto – pendiente de una investigación ulterior – la complejidad lingüística parece menos relevante como criterio de diseño de pruebas de frases para propósitos clínico-audiológicos. Pero argumentamos que una prueba con una mayor variación en la complejidad lingüística en sus frases podría mostrar una relación entre complejidad lingüística y el reconocimiento del lenguaje, aún en una población clínica.