Speech Parameters Research Articles

Correlation of the Chinese velopharyngeal insufficiency-related quality of life instrument and speech in subjects with cleft palate.

ObjectiveAssessment of the hypothesized correlation between the Chinese Velopharyngeal Insufficiency (VPI) Effects on Life Outcomes (VELO) instrument and measured speech parameters.MethodsA cross‐sectional study was conducted in the Oral Clefts Center of West China Hospital of Stomatology between January 2019 and December 2019. Speech parameters including speech intelligibility deficit, VPI severity, VP gap, and need for speech therapy were evaluated by speech‐language pathologists. All patients and their parents completed the VELO instrument. The correlation between aforementioned speech parameters and VELO scores was examined utilizing Spearman correlation coefficients. The reliability of VELO test–retest and parent proxy assessment was estimated utilizing intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). A receiver operating characteristic curve was used to calculate the cutoff VELO score.ResultsOne hundred and forty patients with their parents were enrolled. The mean age was 12.58 ± 3.72 years. Both parent and youth VELO total and domain scores recorded moderate to strong correlations with all speech parameters (r > −.40, P ˂ .001) except the swallowing domain. Most VELO domain items have shown significant correlations with at least one speech parameter. Moreover, the scales of all speech parameters showed different VELO scores (P ˂ .001). The ICC reported test–retest correlation >.73 in all domains, and parent proxy correlation >.63 in most domains except the emotional and perception domains. The cutoff VELO score was 79.04 in parent version and 85.77 in youth version.ConclusionsThe correlations between VELO scores and measured speech parameters have provided evidence for test–retest and parent proxy reliability and criterion and construct validity of the Chinese version of the VELO instrument. A VELO score ≥79.04 (in parent version) or ≥85.77 (in youth version) mostly reflects proper speech‐related quality of life. Hence, this instrument could serve as a simple tool to help clinicians understand the social, emotional, and physical influences of VPI.

Clinical use of deep speech parameters derived from the semantic verbal fluency task

AbstractBackgroundPrevious research showed that semantic memory is a good indicator for cognitive decline in early phases of Alzheimer’s disease. Automatically derived deep speech parameters from the semantic verbal fluency (SVF) can potentially have an additional value to differentiate SCI, MCI and dementia, compared to the total fluency score. However, the added diagnostic value of (specific) deep speech parameters to the commonly clinically used SVF raw score remains unknown. In the Deepspa project, we investigated the (additional) value of automatically derived speech parameters in clinical practice. We also investigated the relation between automatically derived speech parameters of the SVF and other cognitive tasks, as well as disease severity and functioning in daily living.MethodIn the DeepSPA project, 140 participants were recruited from the memory clinic of the MUMC+ (SCI, MCI, ADD). All subjects underwent a cognitive assessment including the SVF. The SVF (animals, 60 seconds) was administered by use of the Delta application (ki elements). Disease severity and functioning in daily life were administered by the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR) and Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD) respectively. The agreement between the automatic and clinical raw score of the SVF was assessed by the interclass correlation coefficient. The relation between the deep speech parameters, such as mean word frequency, temporal and semantic clusters, transition time between words etc., and syndrome diagnosis, DAD and CDR were investigated using stepwise regression analyses, corrected for age, education level and gender.ResultPreliminary results showed that deep speech parameters have an additional value in the classification of clinical diagnosis, and disease severity. More specifically, mean word frequency and the mean time between temporal clusters had an added value. The reliability between word count by the application and the clinician was good (ICC=.882, 95% CI = .820‐.923). Results about the relation between deep speech parameters and other cognitive performances will be available at the conference.ConclusionFirst results suggest that deep speech parameters have an additional value in the early diagnostics of cognitive impairments. More information about the value of these non‐invasive automatically derived deep speech parameters could improve diagnostic accuracy in clinical practice.

Differentiating memory clinic patients and healthy volunteers using machine‐learning analysis of speech and eye movements during a reading task

AbstractBackgroundClinical trials investigating novel disease‐modifying therapies for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are increasingly targeting participants with preclinical or early‐stage neurodegeneration. Artificial intelligence may improve ascertainment of these individuals and thus enrich clinical trial cohorts. We examined classification accuracy of machine learning analysis of speech and gaze data to distinguish memory clinic patients from controls.MethodWe recruited individuals with a clinical diagnosis of AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and subjective memory complaints (SMC) from a subspecialty memory clinic, and controls from the community. Clinical diagnosis was ascertained by trained Behavioural Neurologists aided by cognitive tests and neuroimaging. Participants read a paragraph from the International Reading Speed Texts (IReST). Speech was recorded, automatically transcribed, and manually verified. Eye movements were recorded with an infrared eye‐tracker. Features extracted included lexical and acoustic parameters for speech, fixation and saccade‐related features from gaze, and novel multimodal features leveraging speech and gaze signals in combination. We explored predictive models combining using logistic regression, Gaussian Naïve Bayes classifiers, and Random Forests.ResultHere we report baseline IReST task data from 60 clinic patients (12% SMC, 30% MCI, 58% AD, mean age 73 ± 9, 52% female) and 66 controls (mean age 65 ± 9, 68% female). Best speech‐based models distinguished patients from controls with an Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC) of 0.75 (95% CI 0.72‐0.78). Best gaze models yielded an AUC of 0.73 (0.71‐0.75). Models integrating speech and gaze data yielded best results with AUC 0.78 (0.76‐0.80). We have previously reported data from a separate task where participants describe the Cookie Theft photo from the Boston Aphasia Battery while undergoing infrared eye‐tracking; the best AUC model combining speech and gaze was 0.80 (0.78 ‐ 0.92).ConclusionMachine‐learning based analysis of speech and gaze data demonstrates promising classification accuracy in distinguishing memory clinic patients from healthy controls, particularly when leveraging speech and gaze data in combination. We will explore the additional classification accuracy of combining data from multiple tasks.

Comparative Evaluation of Palatal Length, Speech Outcome, and Surgical Complications With Use of Von Langenbeck and Bardach 2 Flap Technique for the Repair of Cleft Palate: A Prospective Randomized Study

Purpose: Successful closure of cleft palate is no more the sole criteria for determining the success of palatoplasty. Approximating soft palate musculature plays an equally important role. A continuous palate with muscular sling, speech and unhampered maxillary growth are 3 important goals of palatoplasty. The current study compared 2 popular palatoplasty techniques and also focused on other vital secondary parameters which would alter the final outcome of palatoplasty. Methods: Thirty-two primary cleft palate patients with repaired cleft lip ranging from 4 to 30 years were randomly and equally divided into 2 groups. Group A underwent Langenbeck and Group B underwent Bardach palatoplasty. Sommerlad’s Intra-Velar Veloplasty was performed in all patients. The patients were evaluated for certain palatal and cleft measurements, speech, and surgical complications. The study also compared impact of cleft severity on speech and complications. Results: All the patients showed improvement in palatal length and speech. Significant palatal lengthening was achieved by Bardach as compared to Langenbeck palatoplasty ( P = .002). Amongst the various speech parameters so compared Bardach group showed better speech articulation post-operatively ( P = .020). No significant difference was found between the 2 groups in relation to other speech parameters. Total 4 complications were encountered 2 belonging to each group. Conclusion: Hard palate cleft repair technique plays little role as far as speech outcomes are concerned. It was Intravelar Veloplasty which reestablished the velopharyngeal sphincter and improved the quality of speech. Hence restoring the muscular sling of soft palate using radical dissection should be stressed upon by the surgeons besides the closure of cleft. The current study found few confounding factors such as age, cleft width, and Veau’s class which altered the speech outcomes and/or complications of palatoplasty.

Identification of the main components of spontaneous speech in primary progressive aphasia and their neural underpinnings using multimodal MRI and FDG-PET imaging

BackgroundPrimary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a clinical syndrome characterized by gradual loss of language skills. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic capacity of a connected speech task for the diagnosis of PPA and its variants, to determine the main components of spontaneous speech, and to examine their neural correlates. MethodsA total of 118 participants (31 patients with nfvPPA, 11 with svPPA, 45 with lvPPA, and 31 healthy controls) were evaluated with the Cookie Theft picture description task and a comprehensive language assessment protocol. Patients also underwent 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging studies. Principal component analysis and machine learning were used to evaluate the main components of connected speech and the accuracy of connected speech parameters for diagnosing PPA. Voxel-based analyses were conducted to evaluate the correlation between spontaneous speech components and brain metabolism, brain volumes, and white matter microstructure. ResultsDiscrimination between patients with PPA and controls was 91.67%, with 77.78% discrimination between PPA variants. Parameters related to speech rate and lexical variables were the most discriminative for classification. Three main components were identified: lexical features, fluency, and syntax. The lexical component was associated with ventrolateral frontal regions, while the fluency component was associated with the medial superior prefrontal cortex. Number of pauses was more related with the left parietotemporal region, while pauses duration with the bilateral frontal lobe. The lexical component was correlated with several tracts in the language network (left frontal aslant tract, left superior longitudinal fasciculus I, II, and III, left arcuate fasciculus, and left uncinate fasciculus), and fluency was linked to the frontal aslant tract. ConclusionSpontaneous speech assessment is a useful, brief approach for the diagnosis of PPA and its variants. Neuroimaging correlates suggested a subspecialization within the left frontal lobe, with ventrolateral regions being more associated with lexical production and the medial superior prefrontal cortex with speech rate.

Разработка ритмико-слогового тренинга как инструмента овладения интонационной выразительностью иноязычной речи

The article introduces an authorial educational product aimed to develop students’ foreign language prosodic skills. The study is conducted within the framework of modern linguodidactics focused on finding efficient tools to optimize foreign language teaching process taking into account learners’ needs and their level of language proficiency. The authors analyze the role of phonetic competence and its prosodic component in ensuring successful intercultural communication, justify the efficiency of training as an active form of foreign language teaching. Scientific originality of the paper involves developing authorial educational product, rhythmic-syllabic training, aimed to develop students’ French language prosodic skills. The conclusion is made that syllable as a basic suprasegmental unit and rhythm as a basic speech stream parameter determine French language sound.

Number of ideas in spontaneous speech predicts cognitive impairment and frailty in community-dwelling older adults nine years later

Objective To investigate the associations between linguistic parameters in spontaneous speech at baseline and cognitive impairment and frailty nine years later. Methods A prospective analysis was carried out on data of the Frailty in Brazilian Older People Study (FIBRA) Study, a population-based study on frailty. From a probabilistic sample of 384 individuals aged 65 and older at baseline (2008–2009), 124 aged 73 years and older at follow-up were selected, as they had scored above the cutoff values of cognitive screening for dementia adjusted by years of schooling at baseline and had answered to the question What is healthy aging and had no frailty at baseline. Verbal responses were submitted to content analysis and had its ideas and words counted. Number of ideas corresponded to the frequency of meaning categories and number of words to all identified significant textual elements in the text constituted by the sample answers to that question. Results Multivariate logistic regression analyses, controlling for the effects of age, sex, and education, showed that individuals with a high number of ideas at baseline had lower chance of having cognitive impairment (OR = 0.39; 95% CI 0.22 − 0.69) and frailty (OR 0.66; 95% CI 0.44 − 0.99) nine years later than those with low number of ideas. Conclusions Higher number of ideas, but not number of words, in spontaneous speech seems to be associated to a more positive prognosis in mental and physical health nine years later. Linguistic markers may be used to predict cognitive impairment and frailty in older individuals.

Multi-Dimensional Variation in Adult Speech as a Function of Age

We present a multidimensional acoustic report describing variation in speech productions on data collected from 500 francophone adult speakers (20 to 93 y.o.a.) as a function of age. In this cross-sectional study, chronological age is considered as a continuous variable while oral productions, in reading and speech-like tasks, are characterized via 22 descriptors related to voice quality, pitch, vowel articulation and vocalic system organization, time-related measures and temporal organization, as well as maximal performances in speech-like tasks. In a first analysis, we detail how each descriptor varies according to the age of the speaker, for male and female speakers separately. In a second analysis, we explore how chronological age is, in turn, predicted by the combination of all descriptors. Overall, results confirm that with increasing age, speakers show more voice instability, sex-dependent pitch changes, slower speech and articulation rates, slower repetition rates and less complexity effects in maximal performance tasks. A notable finding of this study is that some of these changes are continuous throughout adulthood while other appear either at old age or in early adulthood. Chronological age appears only moderately indexed in speech, mainly through speech rate parameters. We discuss these results in relation with the notion of attrition and with other possible factors at play, in an attempt to better capture the multidimensional nature of the notion of “age”.

Forensic phonetic investigation of regional variation and accommodation in West Yorkshire

This thesis presents an examination of regional variation and speech accommodation in two socially salient features of West Yorkshire English. The first aim of this research is to consider the extent to which local level variation exists across the West Yorkshire boroughs of Bradford, Kirklees and Wakefield. The second aim is to evaluate the effects of speech accommodation, the process whereby speakers adapt their speech production according to whom to they are talking (Giles, 1973; Giles & Powesland, 1975; Trudgill, 1981), in forensically-relevant contexts. The findings from these examinations inform how generalisable population data is for West Yorkshire across the three boroughs and also demonstrate to what extent accommodation could impact forensic speaker comparison (FSC) casework.
 
 The specific features examined in this thesis are the West Yorkshire face vowel and word-medial, intervocalic /t/. The motivations for examining these variables are twofold. Firstly, previous investigations of West Yorkshire English have suggested that these variables may be realised in different ways across the region and secondly, both variables appear to be socially salient in the speech community under investigation. As speech accommodation has been found to occur more often and to a stronger degree with respect to features that are socially salient (Cao, 2018; Smith & Holmes-Elliott, 2015; Trudgill, 1986), it was expected that the participants in this investigation would accommodate in respect of these speech parameters. However, the main focus of this investigation is to examine the magnitude and direction of any accommodation behaviour, and to evaluate the potential consequences this may have for FSC outcomes.
 
 This study is one of the first to make use of the newly published West Yorkshire Regional English Database (WYRED; Gold, Ross, & Earnshaw, 2018). The study analyses the speech of 30 males from West Yorkshire recorded completing three semi-spontaneous speaking tasks that utilise different interlocutors. Participants are equally split across the boroughs of Bradford, Kirklees and Wakefield and form a homogenous population in terms of age, gender and language background, enabling a systematic evaluation of regional variation. For the analysis of face, measurements are taken of the first three formants at 25%, 50% and 75% across the total vowel duration. Using these measurements, a series of statistical analyses are conducted in order to establish levels of variability across boroughs and across tasks. Additionally, realisations of intervocalic /t/ are analysed auditorily and assessments of variability between boroughs are carried out as well as an examination of changes in T-glottaling rates across tasks. For both speech parameters, accommodation is evaluated using an acoustic-phonetic approach whereby the participants’ realisations are considered in relation to those of their respective interlocutors.
 
 The findings of the investigations presented in this thesis reveal that face productions vary at the local borough level, specifically in terms of midpoint F2 values, whereas /t/ productions are not regionally stratified across West Yorkshire. Based on these results, recommendations are outlined for delimiting the relevant population for FSC casework involving West Yorkshire speakers. With regards to speech accommodation in face and /t/, results show that accommodation behaviour is highly variable across participants, both in terms of the direction and amount of accommodation present. All participants were considered to accommodate in at least one speech parameter, and a small number of participants displayed very high levels of within-speaker variability across tasks, highlighting the level of potential impact that speech accommodation can have on socially salient speech parameters. The consequences of these findings are addressed from both a FSC casework perspective and also in terms of sociolinguistic research practices more generally.

Robustness and sensitivity metrics-based tuning of the augmented Kalman filter for single-channel speech enhancement

The inaccurate estimates of the speech and noise linear prediction coefficients (LPCs) introduce bias in augmented Kalman filter (AKF) gain, which impacts the quality and intelligibility of enhanced speech. Although current tuning methods offset the bias in AKF gain, particularly in colored noise conditions, they do not adequately address nonstationary noise conditions. This paper introduces a new tuning algorithm of the AKF gain for speech enhancement in real-life noise conditions. Due to this purpose, a speech presence probability (SPP) method first estimates the noise power spectral density (PSD) from each noisy speech frame to compute the noise LPC parameters. A whitening filter is constructed with the noise LPCs to pre-whiten each noisy speech frame prior to computing the speech LPC parameters. The AKF is then constructed with the estimated speech and noise LPC parameters. To achieve better noise reduction, the robustness metric is employed to dynamically offset the bias in AKF gain during speech absence of the noisy speech to that of the sensitivity metric during speech presence. The speech activity is obtained through adopting the speech and noise production model parameters. It is shown that the reduced-biased AKF gain achieved by the proposed tuning algorithm addresses speech enhancement in real-life noise conditions. Objective and subjective scores on the NOIZEUS corpus demonstrate that the proposed method produces enhanced speech with higher quality and intelligibility than the competing methods in real-life noise conditions for a wide range of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) levels.

Does the wearing of masks change voice and speech parameters?

PurposeThe authors aim to review available reports on the potential effects of masks on voice and speech parameters. MethodsA literature search was conducted using MEDLINE and Google Scholar databases through July 2021. Several targeted populations, mask scenarios and methodologies were approached. The assessed voice parameters were divided into self-reported, acoustic and aerodynamic.ResultsIt was observed that the wearing of a face mask has been shown to induce several changes in voice parameters: (1) self-reported—significantly increased vocal effort and fatigue, increased vocal tract discomfort and increased values of voice handicap index (VHI) were observed; (2) acoustics—increased voice intensity, altered formants frequency (F2 and F3) with no changes in fundamental frequency, increased harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) and increased mean spectral values in high-frequency levels (1000–8000 Hz), especially with KN95 mask; (3) aerodynamics—maximum phonatory time was assessed in only two reports, and showed no alterations.ConclusionDespite the different populations, mask-type scenarios and methodologies described by each study, the results of this review outline the significant changes in voice characteristics with the use of face masks. Wearing a mask shows to increase the perception of vocal effort and an alteration of the vocal tract length and speech articulatory movements, leading to spectral sound changes, impaired communication and perception. Studies analyzing the effect of masks on voice aerodynamics are lacking. Further research is required to study the long-term effects of face masks on the potential development of voice pathology.

Diagnostyka parametrów sylaborytmicznej struktury mowy u dzieci przedszkolnych z zaburzeniami kompleksowymi

A child’s language development is one of the main factors of the personal formation. The level of personal development determines the formation of social and cognitive skills in children. Speech development disorders, in particular mastering of syntagmatic constructions with different structural complexity, complicates children’s communication with peers and adults and impedes written language development. The purpose of this study is to examine the basic parameters of the compositional rhythmic speech structure (movement, rhythm and space) and to determine its development level in preschool children with multiple disabilities (disabilities in sensory, motor and speech systems). In order to examine these parameters a special technique consisting of four diagnostic units (“rhythmic movement”, “rhythmic space”, “rhythmic pronunciation” and “complex rhythm of speech”) was developed. First, an empirical study for each diagnostic unit was conducted, and the findings suggested that majority of preschool children with sensory, motor and speech disorders have underveloped compositional structure of speech, which requires further targeted interventions. The study found that preschool children with multiple disabilities have a reduced ability to pronounce words with different structural complexity, impaired perception of lexical units and a disturbed ability to perform dynamic and rhythmic serial movements, which indicates an insufficient level of motor, rhythmic and spatial skills development. Then, a correlation analysis was performed, the results of which indicate that the diagnostic units – “rhythmic movement”, “rhythmic space”, “rhythmic pronunciation” – are inextricably linked. When the skills assessed by the above-mentioned diagnostic units are developed, the skills, assessed by the “Complex rhythm of speech” diagnostic unit can begin their development as well. Determination of the child’s functioning level in each diagnostic unit will allow describing the effective strategies to influence parameters of compositional rhythmic speech in children with multiple disabilities based on potential capabilities and their maximal implementation in the speech therapy process.

Speech Characteristics of Patients with Parkinson's Disease-Does Dopaminergic Medications Have a Role?

Objective The present study aimed to investigate the effects of dopaminergic medication on voice, speech motor functions, and motor impairment in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Materials and Methods Twenty-five individuals (16 males and 9 females) with PD underwent comprehensive assessment of voice, speech, and motor functions in levodopa medication ON and medication OFF conditions. Age- and gender-matched healthy controls were recruited to compare speech and acoustic parameters. Multi-Dimensional Voice Program (MDVP) from Computerized Speech Laboratory (Model: 4500) was utilized for acoustic analysis of voice and the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) for the self-assessment of vocal function. Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment (FDA-2) and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale-III (UPDRS III) were used to evaluate speech motor and motor functions, respectively. Statistical Analysis The mean and standard deviation were used as descriptive statistics measures. Raw scores were obtained for FDA-2, DRS, VHI, MDVP parameters, and UPDRS-III in either medication condition. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was performed to determine the statistical significance of the above measures in both genders across the medication conditions. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between motor speech function and motor impairment and between VHI and MDVP parameters across both medication conditions. The interrater reliability rating was established using Cohen's kappa. Results An improvement in lip and laryngeal functioning was found in the medication ON over medication OFF state in both males and females with PD. A few frequency and amplitude-related measures improved in the medication-ON state over the medication-OFF state. UPDRS-III scores reduced from the OFF state to the ON state, and no change in dysarthria severity or VHI was found in either gender or medication condition. No correlation was found between speech motor function and motor function or between VHI and acoustic parameters of voice in either medication condition. Conclusions Improvement in motor symptoms with levodopa was predominantly observed when compared with the minor improvements in a few aspects of speech motor function and vocal parameters. The results of this study suggest the need for speech therapy as a nonpharmacological treatment method for speech impairments in PD.

Эмпирические подходы к измерению уровня владения фонологической компетенцией на английском языке как лингва франка

The research objective is to describe the existing empirical approaches to assessing the components of phonological competence, such as intelligibility, comprehensibility and accentedness. The article examines international approaches to assessing English-language phonological competence. In particular, the author analyzes the methods of quantitative assessment of foreign-language speech parameters: intelligibility, comprehensibility and accentedness. In accordance with the research objective and relying on the existing empirical studies, the author identifies advantages and shortcomings of the assessment methods under discussion, reveals the conditions of their usage, evaluates reasonability of their application in linguo-didactic studies on foreign-language phonological competence development in higher education. Scientific originality of the paper lies in the fact that the researcher analyzes international standards to assess English-language phonological competence according to the Common European Framework of Reference (2020). The research findings are as follows: the author identifies the basic advantages and shortcomings of the assessment methods under discussion, evaluates reasonability of their application in linguo-didactic studies on foreign-language phonological competence development in higher education students.

The Challenges of Forensic Linguistic Analysis of False Testimony

The present paper arises from wider research which focused on various manifestations of destructive and malicious speech behavior in spontaneous oral or written dialogs, related to the processes of information concealment and falsification in police interviews and court testimonies. A number of analytical methods were used to generate this paper: a retrospective analysis of scientific literature, comparative legal and logical analysis, extrapolation methods, and content analysis. Despite numerous experimental researches devoted to acoustic-phonetic or psycholinguistic features of lies, their results are not sufficiently reliable for forensic purposes as the expert report should not rely on assumptions. The author disputes the evidence admissibility of experts’ conclusions about utterances implying speech parameters correlating with lies detected via psycholinguistic examination in oral speech audio or video recording of a police interview or a court testimony. Forensic psycholinguistic methods and comprehensive algorithms used in some forensic experts’ reports to detect speech signs of lying demonstrate a great variety that contradicts with the principals of evidence admissibility. The insufficient development of the currently used expert approach and the lack of a unified methodology for solving expert tasks on a strictly scientific basis creates a demand for developing comprehensive methods for studying lies on the basis of forensic speech science and cognitive theory.

Furlow Palatoplasty for Velopharyngeal Dysfunction Management: Auditing and Predicting Outcomes.

The Furlow palatoplasty is a proven procedure in the management of secondary velopharyngeal dysfunction in patients with cleft palate. But the selection of cases, the degree of clinical success, and the preoperative predictors of the same are less established. This study is an effort to retrospectively look at outcomes, in a large series of velopharyngeal dysfunction cases treated with the Furlow palatoplasty alone. Retrospective analysis of preoperative and postoperative speech and videofluoroscopic data. Tertiary care center. Ninety-two patients who were diagnosed with velopharyngeal dysfunction post primary cleft palate repair. Furlow palatoplasty for velopharyngeal dysfunction post primary cleft palate repair. Variables analyzed were perceptual speech parameters and, closure ratios obtained from lateral video-fluoroscopic images. Overall, 81.5% had postoperative improvements in their lateral video-fluoroscopic parameters, 63% improved their nasality scores, and 65.2% had improved speech intelligibility. A simple linear regression was done to predict the postoperative closure ratio. Preoperative closure ratio, hypernasality (moderate and severe), and audible nasal air emission are predictors for postoperative closure ratio. The Furlow palatoplasty alone led to complete resolution, or significant improvement of velopharyngeal dysfunction in a majority of patients, despite the cohort having a wide range of severity in terms of degree of dysfunction. The predictive formula will be validated in a further study.

Speech as an indicator for psychosocial stress: A network analytic approach

Recently, the possibilities of detecting psychosocial stress from speech have been discussed. Yet, there are mixed effects and a current lack of clarity in relations and directions for parameters derived from stressed speech. The aim of the current study is – in a controlled psychosocial stress induction experiment – to apply network modeling to (1) look into the unique associations between specific speech parameters, comparing speech networks containing fundamental frequency (F0), jitter, mean voiced segment length, and Harmonics-to-Noise Ratio (HNR) pre- and post-stress induction, and (2) examine how changes pre- versus post-stress induction (i.e., change network) in each of the parameters are related to changes in self-reported negative affect. Results show that the network of speech parameters is similar after versus before the stress induction, with a central role of HNR, which shows that the complex interplay and unique associations between each of the used speech parameters is not impacted by psychosocial stress (aim 1). Moreover, we found a change network (consisting of pre-post stress difference values) with changes in jitter being positively related to changes in self-reported negative affect (aim 2). These findings illustrate – for the first time in a well-controlled but ecologically valid setting – the complex relations between different speech parameters in the context of psychosocial stress. Longitudinal and experimental studies are required to further investigate these relationships and to test whether the identified paths in the networks are indicative of causal relationships.

Acoustic speech markers for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: a diagnostic and symptom-recognition tool.

Clinicians routinely use impressions of speech as an element of mental status examination. In schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, descriptions of speech are used to assess the severity of psychotic symptoms. In the current study, we assessed the diagnostic value of acoustic speech parameters in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, as well as its value in recognizing positive and negative symptoms. Speech was obtained from 142 patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and 142 matched controls during a semi-structured interview on neutral topics. Patients were categorized as having predominantly positive or negative symptoms using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Acoustic parameters were extracted with OpenSMILE, employing the extended Geneva Acoustic Minimalistic Parameter Set, which includes standardized analyses of pitch (F0), speech quality and pauses. Speech parameters were fed into a random forest algorithm with leave-ten-out cross-validation to assess their value for a schizophrenia-spectrum diagnosis, and PANSS subtype recognition. The machine-learning speech classifier attained an accuracy of 86.2% in classifying patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and controls on speech parameters alone. Patients with predominantly positive v. negative symptoms could be classified with an accuracy of 74.2%. Our results show that automatically extracted speech parameters can be used to accurately classify patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and healthy controls, as well as differentiate between patients with predominantly positive v. negatives symptoms. Thus, the field of speech technology has provided a standardized, powerful tool that has high potential for clinical applications in diagnosis and differentiation, given its ease of comparison and replication across samples.

The impact of singing on the language abilities of people with moderate to severe-stage Alzheimer's disease

While singing in music therapy with people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is vastly documented, scarce research deals with the impact of singing on their language abilities. This study addressed the issue of language decline in AD and explored the impact of group singing on the language abilities of people with moderate to severe-stage AD. Participants were randomized to experimental (n=16) or wait-list control (n=14) groups. The experimental group received eight music therapy group sessions, which focused on singing, while both groups received the standard treatment. The data analysis included pre-post picture description tests and examination of speech parameters throughout the group sessions. A significant difference was demonstrated between the groups in the proportion of non-coherent speech in relation to total speech used by participants. The experimental group did not exhibit a deterioration in coherent speech, while the control group exhibited an increase in non-coherent speech in proportion to the total speech used by participants. The findings also indicated that participants in the experimental group showed an improvement in speech parameters as well as in their ability to sing. Singing in music therapy with people with AD can play a significant role in preserving speech and encouraging conversation abilities. Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, music therapy, group singing, language abilities, speech

Altered speech patterns in subjects with post-traumatic headache due to mild traumatic brain injury

Background/objectiveChanges in speech can be detected objectively before and during migraine attacks. The goal of this study was to interrogate whether speech changes can be detected in subjects with post-traumatic headache (PTH) attributed to mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and whether there are within-subject changes in speech during headaches compared to the headache-free state.MethodsUsing a series of speech elicitation tasks uploaded via a mobile application, PTH subjects and healthy controls (HC) provided speech samples once every 3 days, over a period of 12 weeks. The following speech parameters were assessed: vowel space area, vowel articulation precision, consonant articulation precision, average pitch, pitch variance, speaking rate and pause rate. Speech samples of subjects with PTH were compared to HC. To assess speech changes associated with PTH, speech samples of subjects during headache were compared to speech samples when subjects were headache-free. All analyses were conducted using a mixed-effect model design.ResultsLongitudinal speech samples were collected from nineteen subjects with PTH (mean age = 42.5, SD = 13.7) who were an average of 14 days (SD = 32.2) from their mTBI at the time of enrollment and thirty-one HC (mean age = 38.7, SD = 12.5). Regardless of headache presence or absence, PTH subjects had longer pause rates and reductions in vowel and consonant articulation precision relative to HC. On days when speech was collected during a headache, there were longer pause rates, slower sentence speaking rates and less precise consonant articulation compared to the speech production of HC. During headache, PTH subjects had slower speaking rates yet more precise vowel articulation compared to when they were headache-free.ConclusionsCompared to HC, subjects with acute PTH demonstrate altered speech as measured by objective features of speech production. For individuals with PTH, speech production may have been more effortful resulting in slower speaking rates and more precise vowel articulation during headache vs. when they were headache-free, suggesting that speech alterations were related to PTH and not solely due to the underlying mTBI.