Temporal Acoustic Measures of Dysarthria Associated with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

1987 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J. Caruso ◽  
Estelle Klasner Burton
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Physiological Mechanisms ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Intelligible Speech ◽  
Broadband Sound ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

The purpose of this study was to investigate stop-gap duration, voice onset time (VOT), and vowel duration in intelligible speakers with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Broadband sound spectrograms were used to measure 8 normal and 8 ALS speakers' intelligible speech productions of monosyllabic words containing word-initial stop-plosive consonants (/p, t, k, b, d, g/). Significant differences were found between the two groups for both vowel duration and stop-gap duration; moreover, correlational analysis indicated that the ALS speakers, as a group, exhibited a direct relationship between stop-gap and vowel durations associated with productions of /t/ and /k/. No significant differences were found between the two talker groups for VOT. Results will be related to the neuroanatomical and physiological mechanisms involved in dysarthric (ALS) speech.

What Makes Spanish-Accented English Sound Spanish-Accented? Acoustic Measures and Listener Cues

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 187
Author(s):  
Amee P. Shah
Keyword(s):  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Temporal Differences ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Closure Duration ◽  
Accented English ◽  
Temporal Measures

This study aimed to understand which acoustic parameters of Spanish-accented English are correlated with listeners’ perception of Spanish-accentedness. Temporal differences were analyzed in multisyllabic target words spoken in sentences by 22 Spanish speakers of English and five native speakers of American English (AE). Recordings were presented to AE listeners who judged the degree of accentedness on a 9-point scale. Spearman rank order correlation showed that the listeners’ ratings of degree of accentedness in sentences correlated strongly (r= +0.82) with those in words. Listeners’ ratings of accentedness correlated in varying degrees with various temporal measures, namely Overall word durations (+0.04 to +0.56), Stressed/unstressed vowel duration ratios (–0.01 to +0.35), Voice Onset Time of stops (+0.26 to +0.36), and, closure duration (+0.29 to +0.59). Results suggest that Spanish-accented English is characterized by systematic temporal differences from native AE, and that these temporal differences contribute to the perception of accentedness. Implications of findings in improving theoretical understanding and applied practices are discussed.

scholarly journals An exploratory study of an undefined acquired neuromotor speech disorder within the context of the four level framework for speech sensorimotor control

1997 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dunay Schmulian ◽  
Anita Van der Merwe ◽  
Emily Groenewald
Keyword(s):  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Sensorimotor Control ◽  
Speech Disorder ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Vowel Formant ◽  
Intelligible Speech ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Sound Duration

In this study, the speech of a 28-year-old male with acquired brain injury and who presents with an undefined neuromotor speech disorder which cannot be categorised as either apraxia of speech or dysarthria, is described. Voice onset time, vowel duration, utterance duration and vowel formant analyses were done acoustically. A perceptual analysis and intelligibility rating were also executed. The subject was found to present with unique perceptual symptoms, intelligible speech, prolonged sound duration and distorted vowel quality. The results are interpreted within the context of the Four Level Framework of Speech Sensorimotor Control (Van der Merwe, 1997).

Interarticulator Coordination in Dysarthria

2003 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 1247-1261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Weismer ◽  
Yana Yunusova ◽  
John R. Westbury
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Experimental Work ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Global Synchronization ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Acoustic Target ◽  
Temporal Location ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Articulatory discoordination is often said to be an important feature of the speech production disorder in dysarthria, but little experimental work has been done to identify and specify the coordination difficulties. The present study evaluated the coordination of labial and lingual gestures for /u/ production in persons with Parkinson's disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and in control participants. Both tongue backing/raising and reduction of the area enclosed by the lips can produce the characteristic low F2 of /u/. The timing of these articulatory gestures with respect to the acoustic target of a low F2 was inferred from X-ray microbeam data. Pellet motions of the tongue dorsum and lips revealed the timing of the lingual and labial gestures to be strongly linked together (synchronized), predictive of the temporal location of the lowest F2 within the vocalic nucleus, and scaled proportionately to the overall vowel duration in control participants. Somewhat surprisingly, essentially the same findings were obtained in the speakers with dysarthria. These relationships were noisier among the speakers with dysarthria, but the global synchronization patterns applied to all 3 groups. Further analyses revealed the synchronization to be less well defined and more variable across speakers with ALS, as compared to speakers with PD and the controls. Results are discussed relative to concepts of coordination in dysarthria.

Relation between voice‐onset time and vowel duration

1979 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 654-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert F. Port ◽  
Rosemarie Rotunno
Keyword(s):  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Vowel Duration

Characteristics of Speech Production after Tracheoesophageal Puncture

1986 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Robbins ◽  
John Christensen ◽  
Gail Kempster
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Voice Production ◽  
Audio Recordings ◽  
Tracheoesophageal Puncture ◽  
Offset Time

Voice onset time (VOT) and vowel duration characteristics of speakers following the Singer-Blom technique of tracheoesophageal puncture (1980) were compared to those of traditional esophageal and laryngeal speakers. Fifteen subjects in each of the three speaker groups produced the words /pik/, /kup/, and /kup/ in a carrier phrase while audio recordings were obtained. Broadband spectrograms were made of the consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) utterances and vowel duration and VOT were measured. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedures revealed that the tracheoesophageal speakers produced significantly shorter VOTs and longer vowel durations than the laryngeal speakers. However, the longer vowel durations for the traeheoesophageal speakers were not completely accounted for by the shorter VOTs found for that group. Spectrographic examination suggests that delayed voice offset time for the tracheoesophageal speakers also contributes to their longer vowel durations. Overall findings indicate that the physical characteristics and motor control properties of the neoglottis, even when driven by pulmonary air as in tracheoesophageal speakers, exert a major influence on alaryngeal voice production.

Comparative Acoustic Analyses of L2 English: The Search for Systematic Variation

Phonetica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (6) ◽  
pp. 441-479
Author(s):  
Rebecca Laturnus
Keyword(s):  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Accented Speech ◽  
Foreign Accents ◽  
Acoustic Analyses

<b><i>Background/Aims:</i></b> Previous research has shown that exposure to multiple foreign accents facilitates adaptation to an untrained novel accent. One explanation is that L2 speech varies systematically such that there are commonalities in the productions of nonnative speakers, regardless of their language background. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A systematic acoustic comparison was conducted between 3 native English speakers and 6 nonnative accents. Voice onset time, unstressed vowel duration, and formant values of stressed and unstressed vowels were analyzed, comparing each nonnative accent to the native English talkers. A subsequent perception experiment tests what effect training on regionally accented voices has on the participant’s comprehension of nonnative accented speech to investigate the importance of within-speaker variation on attunement and generalization. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Data for each measure show substantial variability across speakers, reflecting phonetic transfer from individual L1s, as well as substantial inconsistency and variability in pronunciation, rather than commonalities in their productions. Training on native English varieties did not improve participants’ accuracy in understanding nonnative speech. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> These findings are more consistent with a hypothesis of accent attune­ment wherein listeners track general patterns of nonnative speech rather than relying on overlapping acoustic signals between speakers.

Acoustic Differences Between Content and Function Words in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

2000 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 769-781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg S. Turner ◽  
Kris Tjaden
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Function Words ◽  
Temporal Properties ◽  
Vowel Space ◽  
The Difference ◽  
And Function ◽  
Impaired Speech ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Studies describing acoustic characteristics of speech produced by individuals with dysarthria may help to explain intelligibility deficits for these speakers. One goal of the current study was to investigate the manner and extent to which nine speakers with mild to moderate dysarthria associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and nine healthy speakers acoustically distinguished /i/, / æ/, /u/, and /α/ in content and function words. A further aim was to evaluate the relationship between impaired speech in ALS and the magnitude of acoustic differences for vowels in content and function words. Speakers read the Farm Passage at a comfortable or habitual rate. F1 and F2 midpoint frequencies were measured, and vowel space areas were calculated. Vowel durations also were measured. The magnitude of F1, F2, vowel space area, and duration differences for vowels in content and function words was not statistically different for speakers with ALS and healthy controls. In addition, with the exception of /i/ produced by some speakers with ALS, vowel duration tended to be shorter in function words. Average F1 and F2 values for function words also tended to be centralized relative to content words. Although vowel space area differences for the two speaker groups were not statistically significant, there was a tendency for the difference in vowel space area for content and function words to be smaller for speakers with ALS than for controls. Regression analyses further indicated that the magnitude of temporal differences for vowels in content and function words was a better predictor of impaired speech than the magnitude of spectral differences for vowels in content and function words. One clinical implication is that individuals with ALS may benefit from therapy techniques targeting temporal properties of the acoustic signal.

Voice Onset Time, Frication, and Aspiration During Stutterers' Fluent Speech

1979 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 649-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale Evan Metz ◽  
Edward G. Conture ◽  
Anthony Caruso
Keyword(s):  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Moderate Degree ◽  
Fluent Speech ◽  
Normal Limits ◽  
Broadband Sound ◽  
Fluent Speakers

The purpose of this study was to investigate voice onset time (VOT) and durations of frication and aspiration in stutterers' fluent speech. Broadband sound spectrograms were used to measure five adult stutterers' and five adult normally fluent controls' VOT, frication and aspiration durations during fluent productions of 18 word-initial sounds or sound clusters. Results indicate that stutterers' mean VOT for six of the 18 sounds/sound clusters (/p b br pr tw bl/) was significantly different from that of normally fluent speakers. VOT values for four of these 18 sounds/sound clusters (/b bl p tw/) could, to a moderate degree, be predicted from knowledge of whether a subject is a stutterer or a normally fluent speaker. With one exception, aspiration duration for /tw/, stutterers were not significantly different from normally fluent speakers in terms of frication and aspiration durations. These results suggest that stutterers' VOT during fluency is within normal limits and as such is of small assistance in distinguishing between stutterers and normally fluent speakers.

scholarly journals Categorization of regional and foreign accent in 5- to 7-year-old British children

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 366-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Floccia ◽  
Joseph Butler ◽  
Frédérique Girard ◽  
Jeremy Goslin
Keyword(s):  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Old French ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Connected Speech ◽  
British English ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Vowel Formants ◽  
Better Than

This study examines children's ability to detect accent-related information in connected speech. British English children aged 5 and 7 years old were asked to discriminate between their home accent from an Irish accent or a French accent in a sentence categorization task. Using a preliminary accent rating task with adult listeners, it was first verified that the level of accentedness was similar across the two unfamiliar accents. Results showed that whereas the younger children group behaved just above chance level in this task, the 7-year-old group could reliably distinguish between these variations of their own language, but were significantly better at detecting the foreign accent than the regional accent. These results extend and replicate a previous study (Girard, Floccia, & Goslin, 2008) in which it was found that 5-year-old French children could detect a foreign accent better than a regional accent. The factors underlying the relative lack of awareness for a regional accent as opposed to a foreign accent in childhood are discussed, especially the amount of exposure, the learnability of both types of accents, and a possible difference in the amount of vowels versus consonants variability, for which acoustic measures of vowel formants and plosives voice onset time are provided.

scholarly journals Automated analysis of natural speech in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis spectrum disorders

Neurology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 95 (12) ◽  
pp. e1629-e1639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Nevler ◽  
Sharon Ash ◽  
Corey McMillan ◽  
Lauren Elman ◽  
Leo McCluskey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽  
Automated Analysis ◽  
Pause Duration ◽  
Motor Impairments ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Cognitive Components ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

ObjectiveWe implemented automated methods to analyze speech and evaluate the hypothesis that cognitive and motor factors impair prosody in partially distinct ways in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).MethodsWe recruited 213 participants, including 67 with ALS (44 with motor ALS, 23 with ALS and frontotemporal degeneration [FTD]), 33 healthy controls, and neurodegenerative reference groups with behavioral variant FTD (n = 90) and nonfluent/agrammatic primary progressive aphasia (n = 23). Digitized, semistructured speech samples obtained from picture descriptions were automatically segmented with a Speech Activity Detector; continuous speech segments were pitch-tracked; and duration measures for speech and silent pause segments were extracted. Acoustic measures were calculated, including fundamental frequency (f0) range, mean speech and pause segment durations, total speech duration, and pause rate (pause count per minute of speech). Group comparisons related performance on acoustic measures to clinical scales of cognitive and motor impairments and explored MRI cortical thinning in ALS and ALS-FTD.ResultsThe f0 range was significantly impaired in ALS spectrum disorders and was related to bulbar motor disease, and regression analyses related this to cortical thickness in primary motor cortex and perisylvian regions. Impaired speech and pause duration measures were related to the degree of cognitive impairment in ALS spectrum disorders, and regressions related duration measures to bilateral frontal opercula and left anterior insula.ConclusionAutomated analyses of acoustic speech properties dissociate motor and cognitive components of speech deficits in ALS spectrum disorders.

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