Acoustic Analysis of PD Speech

According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, approximately 500,000 Americans have Parkinson's disease (PD), with roughly another 50,000 receiving new diagnoses each year. 70%–90% of these people also have the hypokinetic dysarthria associated with PD. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) subst...

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Main Authors: Karen Chenausky, Joel MacAuslan, Richard Goldhor
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2011-01-01
Series:Parkinson's Disease
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.4061/2011/435232
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author Karen Chenausky
Joel MacAuslan
Richard Goldhor
author_facet Karen Chenausky
Joel MacAuslan
Richard Goldhor
author_sort Karen Chenausky
collection DOAJ
description According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, approximately 500,000 Americans have Parkinson's disease (PD), with roughly another 50,000 receiving new diagnoses each year. 70%–90% of these people also have the hypokinetic dysarthria associated with PD. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) substantially relieves motor symptoms in advanced-stage patients for whom medication produces disabling dyskinesias. This study investigated speech changes as a result of DBS settings chosen to maximize motor performance. The speech of 10 PD patients and 12 normal controls was analyzed for syllable rate and variability, syllable length patterning, vowel fraction, voice-onset time variability, and spirantization. These were normalized by the controls' standard deviation to represent distance from normal and combined into a composite measure. Results show that DBS settings relieving motor symptoms can improve speech, making it up to three standard deviations closer to normal. However, the clinically motivated settings evaluated here show greater capacity to impair, rather than improve, speech. A feedback device developed from these findings could be useful to clinicians adjusting DBS parameters, as a means for ensuring they do not unwittingly choose DBS settings which impair patients' communication.
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spelling doaj-art-329daf4dd4ce4ffcb988a1062ee324452025-02-03T06:01:29ZengWileyParkinson's Disease2042-00802011-01-01201110.4061/2011/435232435232Acoustic Analysis of PD SpeechKaren Chenausky0Joel MacAuslan1Richard Goldhor2Speech Technology and Applied Research Corporation, Bedford, MA 01730-1417, USASpeech Technology and Applied Research Corporation, Bedford, MA 01730-1417, USASpeech Technology and Applied Research Corporation, Bedford, MA 01730-1417, USAAccording to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, approximately 500,000 Americans have Parkinson's disease (PD), with roughly another 50,000 receiving new diagnoses each year. 70%–90% of these people also have the hypokinetic dysarthria associated with PD. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) substantially relieves motor symptoms in advanced-stage patients for whom medication produces disabling dyskinesias. This study investigated speech changes as a result of DBS settings chosen to maximize motor performance. The speech of 10 PD patients and 12 normal controls was analyzed for syllable rate and variability, syllable length patterning, vowel fraction, voice-onset time variability, and spirantization. These were normalized by the controls' standard deviation to represent distance from normal and combined into a composite measure. Results show that DBS settings relieving motor symptoms can improve speech, making it up to three standard deviations closer to normal. However, the clinically motivated settings evaluated here show greater capacity to impair, rather than improve, speech. A feedback device developed from these findings could be useful to clinicians adjusting DBS parameters, as a means for ensuring they do not unwittingly choose DBS settings which impair patients' communication.http://dx.doi.org/10.4061/2011/435232
spellingShingle Karen Chenausky
Joel MacAuslan
Richard Goldhor
Acoustic Analysis of PD Speech
Parkinson's Disease
title Acoustic Analysis of PD Speech
title_full Acoustic Analysis of PD Speech
title_fullStr Acoustic Analysis of PD Speech
title_full_unstemmed Acoustic Analysis of PD Speech
title_short Acoustic Analysis of PD Speech
title_sort acoustic analysis of pd speech
url http://dx.doi.org/10.4061/2011/435232
work_keys_str_mv AT karenchenausky acousticanalysisofpdspeech
AT joelmacauslan acousticanalysisofpdspeech
AT richardgoldhor acousticanalysisofpdspeech