Acoustic characteristics of voice and speech in Arabic-speaking stuttering children

Background Using different methodologies, several researchers have reported certain acoustical and physiological differences between fluent utterances of stutterers and normally fluent speakers. The aim of this study was to determine acoustic characteristics of voice and speech in Arabic-speaking stuttering children in comparison to normal children and correlate these characteristics with stuttering severity. A sample of 80 Arabic-speaking Egyptian children (including 40 typically developing children and 40 stuttering children) in the age range 5–8 years were subjected to acoustic analysis of voice and speech using the Praat software. Results The stuttering children showed significantly higher values of jitter and shimmer in prolonged /a/ vowel sample, as compared to the normal group. This may reflect the subtle differences in laryngeal functioning or in the complex interaction among the laryngeal, respiratory, and the vocal tract systems in stuttering children. Both jitter and shimmer of prolonged /a/ vowel demonstrated significant positive moderate correlation with stuttering severity as assessed by SSI3. F0 was significantly higher in females than in males, both in normal and stuttering children. Conclusions The present study revealed significant differences in the acoustic parameters of voice and speech between Arabic-speaking stuttering children and normal children. Some of these acoustic parameters were significantly correlated with stuttering severity. Acoustic analysis can be used as simple, quick, and cheap tool for assessment of stuttering in children and might be a valuable addition to the diagnostic set for assessment of stuttering severity.

Listeners' Perceptions of Speaker Personality Traits Based on Speech

Purpose Voice and speech are rich with information about a speaker's personality and other features of identity. This study seeks to determine the extent to which listeners agree about speakers' social, physical, and personality attributes. Method Two experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, listeners rated a group of speakers who were unbalanced for sex and personality traits. The second experiment elaborated on the first by ensuring the speaker set was balanced for sex and personality traits. Both experiments played standard speech samples from speakers who provided personality information via the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire–Brief Form. Groups of listeners rated each speaker on the same personality traits and other features of identity. Responses were analyzed for listener agreement. Results For both experiments, listeners showed consistently high levels of agreement on the personality attributes of a speaker. For certain speakers, listener agreement on some personality traits was as high as 92% and 97% in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Furthermore, a range of agreement across personality subscales was observed across speakers such that some were agreed-upon across all personality ratings and others were agreed-upon only for a few personality traits. Conclusions When it comes to judging personality traits and other features of identity, most listeners might not be “correct” about speakers' traits and attributes, but they broadly agree about how the listener sounds. Some speakers send more salient voice and speech cues that drive agreement about their personality, whereas others speak in a manner that precludes consensus. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16906990

Special Issue on Computational Methods and Engineering Solutions to Voice II

Today, research into voice and speech is not only limited to acoustic, medical, and clinical studies and investigations [...]

Auditory cortical micro-networks show differential connectivity during voice and speech processing in humans

The temporal voice areas (TVAs) in bilateral auditory cortex (AC) appear specialized for voice processing. Previous research assumed a uniform functional profile for the TVAs which are broadly spread along the bilateral AC. Alternatively, the TVAs might comprise separate AC nodes controlling differential neural functions for voice and speech decoding, organized as local micro-circuits. To investigate micro-circuits, we modeled the directional connectivity between TVA nodes during voice processing in humans while acquiring brain activity using neuroimaging. Results show several bilateral AC nodes for general voice decoding (speech and non-speech voices) and for speech decoding in particular. Furthermore, non-hierarchical and differential bilateral AC networks manifest distinct excitatory and inhibitory pathways for voice and speech processing. Finally, while voice and speech processing seem to have distinctive but integrated neural circuits in the left AC, the right AC reveals disintegrated neural circuits for both sounds. Altogether, we demonstrate a functional heterogeneity in the TVAs for voice decoding based on local micro-circuits.

Aerosol-generating behaviours in speech pathology clinical practice: A systematic literature review

Objective To evaluate the evidence of aerosol generation across tasks involved in voice and speech assessment and intervention, to inform better management and to reduce transmission risk of such diseases as COVID-19 in healthcare settings and the wider community. Design Systematic literature review. Data sources and eligibility Medline, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL, PubMed Central and grey literature through ProQuest, The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, COVID-Evidence and speech pathology national bodies were searched up until August 13th, 2020 for articles examining the aerosol-generating activities in clinical voice and speech assessment and intervention within speech pathology. Results Of the 8288 results found, 39 studies were included for data extraction and analysis. Included articles were classified into one of three categories: research studies, review articles or clinical guidelines. Data extraction followed appropriate protocols depending on the classification of each article (e.g. PRISMA for review articles). Articles were assessed for risk of bias and certainty of evidence using the GRADE system. Six behaviours were identified as aerosol generating. These were classified into three categories: vegetative acts (coughing, breathing), verbal communication activities of daily living (speaking, loud voicing), and performance-based tasks (singing, sustained phonation). Certainty of evidence ranged from very low to moderate with variation in research design and variables. Conclusions This body of literature helped to both identify and categorise the aerosol-generating behaviours involved in speech pathology clinical practice and confirm the low level of evidence throughout the speech pathology literature pertaining to aerosol generation. As many aerosol-generating behaviours are common human behaviours, these findings can be applied across healthcare and community settings. Systematic review registration Registration number CRD42020186902 with PROSPERO International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews.

VOICE AND SPEECH FEATURES AS A DIAGNOSTIC SYMPTOM

"The study of the peculiarities of speech of children with atypical development is necessary for the development of educational programs, children’s socialization and adaptation in society. The aim of this study is to determine the acoustic features of voice and speech of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as a possible additional diagnostic criterion. The multiplicity of symptomatology, different age of its manifestation, and the presence of a leading symptom complex individually for each child make it difficult to diagnose ASD. To determine the specificity of speech features of ASD, we analyzed the speech of children with developmental disabilities in which speech disorders accompany the disease - Down syndrome (DS), intellectual disabilities (ID), mixed specific developmental disorders (MDD). The features that reflect the main physiological processes occurring in the speech tract during voice and speech production are selected for analysis. The speech of 300 children aged 4-16 years was analyzed. Speech files are selected from the speech database ""AD_Child.Ru"" (Lyakso et al., 2019). Acoustic features of voice and speech, which are specific for different developmental disorders, were determined. The speech of ASD children is characterized by: high pitch values (high voice); pitch variability; high values for the third formant (emotional) and its intensity causing ""atypical"" spectrogram of the speech signal; high values of vowel articulation index (VAI). The speech of children with DS is characterized by the maximal duration of vowels in words; low pitch values (low voice); a wide range of values of the VAI depending on the difficulty of speech material; low values of the third formant; unformed most of consonant phonemes. The characteristics of speech of children with ID are: high values of vowel’s duration in words, the pitch, and the third formant, low values of the VAI; of MDD - low pitch values and high values of the VAI. Based on the identified peculiarities specific to each disease, the set of acoustic features specific to ASD can be considered as a biomarker of autism and used as an additional diagnostic criterion. This will allow a timely diagnose, appoint treatment and develop individual programs for children. Speech characteristics of children with ID, DS, and MDD can be considered to a greater extent in the training and socialization of children and used in the development of training programs taking into account individual peculiarities of children."