PURPOSE: Although articulatory impairment represents distinct speech characteristics in most neurological diseases affecting movement, methods allowing automated assessments of articulation deficits from the connected speech are scarce. This study aimed to design a fully automated method for analyzing dysarthria-related vowel articulation impairment and estimate its sensitivity in a broad range of neurological diseases and various types and severities of dysarthria. METHOD: Unconstrained monologue and reading passages were acquired from 459 speakers, including 306 healthy controls and 153 neurological patients. The algorithm utilized a formant tracker in combination with a phoneme recognizer and subsequent signal processing analysis. RESULTS: Articulatory undershoot of vowels was presented in a broad spectrum of progressive neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, multiple-system atrophy, Huntington's disease, essential tremor, cerebellar ataxia, multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, as well as in related dysarthria subtypes including hypokinetic, hyperkinetic, ataxic, spastic, flaccid, and their mixed variants. Formant ratios showed a higher sensitivity to vowel deficits than vowel space area. First formants of corner vowels were significantly lower for multiple-system atrophy than cerebellar ataxia. Second formants of vowels /a/ and /i/ were lower in ataxic compared to spastic dysarthria. Discriminant analysis showed a classification score of up to 41.0% for disease type, 39.3% for dysarthria type, and 49.2% for dysarthria severity. Algorithm accuracy reached an F-score of 0.77. CONCLUSIONS: Distinctive vowel articulation alterations reflect underlying pathophysiology in neurological diseases. Objective acoustic analysis of vowel articulation has the potential to provide a universal method to screen motor speech disorders. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.23681529.

• MeSH
• akustika řeči MeSH
• atrofie MeSH
• cerebelární ataxie * MeSH
• dysartrie etiologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• Parkinsonova nemoc * komplikace   MeSH
• poruchy artikulace MeSH
• řeč fyziologie   MeSH
• srozumitelnost řeči MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

Neurodegenerative pathologies as Parkinson's Disease (PD) show important distortions in speech, affecting fluency, prosody, articulation and phonation. Classically, measurements based on articulation gestures altering formant positions, as the Vocal Space Area (VSA) or the Formant Centralization Ratio (FCR) have been proposed to measure speech distortion, but these markers are based mainly on static positions of sustained vowels. The present study introduces a measurement based on the mutual information distance among probability density functions of kinematic correlates derived from formant dynamics. An absolute kinematic velocity associated to the position of the jaw and tongue articulation gestures is estimated and modeled statistically. The distribution of this feature may differentiate PD patients from normative speakers during sustained vowel emission. The study is based on a limited database of 53 male PD patients, contrasted to a very selected and stable set of eight normative speakers. In this sense, distances based on Kullback-Leibler divergence seem to be sensitive to PD articulation instability. Correlation studies show statistically relevant relationship between information contents based on articulation instability to certain motor and nonmotor clinical scores, such as freezing of gait, or sleep disorders. Remarkably, one of the statistically relevant correlations point out to the time interval passed since the first diagnostic. These results stress the need of defining scoring scales specifically designed for speech disability estimation and monitoring methodologies in degenerative diseases of neuromotor origin.

• Klíčová slova
• Neurodegenerative disorder, Parkinson’s Disease, aging voice, hypokinetic dysarthria, speech neuromotor activity,
• MeSH
• biomechanika fyziologie   MeSH
• čelisti patofyziologie   MeSH
• datové soubory jako téma MeSH
• dysartrie etiologie   patofyziologie   MeSH
• jazyk patofyziologie   MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• Parkinsonova nemoc komplikace   diagnóza   MeSH
• poruchy artikulace etiologie   patofyziologie   MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• stupeň závažnosti nemoci MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

For generations, the evaluation of speech abnormalities in neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD) has been limited to perceptual tests or user-controlled laboratory analysis based upon rather small samples of human vocalizations. Our study introduces a fully automated method that yields significant features related to respiratory deficits, dysphonia, imprecise articulation and dysrhythmia from acoustic microphone data of natural connected speech for predicting early and distinctive patterns of neurodegeneration. We compared speech recordings of 50 subjects with rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD), 30 newly diagnosed, untreated PD patients and 50 healthy controls, and showed that subliminal parkinsonian speech deficits can be reliably captured even in RBD patients, which are at high risk of developing PD or other synucleinopathies. Thus, automated vocal analysis should soon be able to contribute to screening and diagnostic procedures for prodromal parkinsonian neurodegeneration in natural environments.

• MeSH
• biologické markery MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• dýchání MeSH
• dysfonie patofyziologie   MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• Parkinsonova nemoc diagnóza   patofyziologie   MeSH
• porucha chování v REM spánku patofyziologie   MeSH
• poruchy artikulace patofyziologie   MeSH
• rozpoznávání automatizované metody   MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• biologické markery MeSH

OBJECTIVE: Patients with idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) are at substantial risk for developing Parkinson's disease (PD) or related neurodegenerative disorders. Speech is an important indicator of motor function and movement coordination, and therefore may be an extremely sensitive early marker of changes due to prodromal neurodegeneration. METHODS: Speech data were acquired from 16 RBD subjects and 16 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects. Objective acoustic assessment of 15 speech dimensions representing various phonatory, articulatory, and prosodic deviations was performed. Statistical models were applied to characterise speech disorders in RBD and to estimate sensitivity and specificity in differentiating between RBD and control subjects. RESULTS: Some form of speech impairment was revealed in 88% of RBD subjects. Articulatory deficits were the most prominent findings in RBD. In comparison to controls, the RBD group showed significant alterations in irregular alternating motion rates (p = 0.009) and articulatory decay (p = 0.01). The combination of four distinctive speech dimensions, including aperiodicity, irregular alternating motion rates, articulatory decay, and dysfluency, led to 96% sensitivity and 79% specificity in discriminating between RBD and control subjects. Speech impairment was significantly more pronounced in RBD subjects with the motor score of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale greater than 4 points when compared to other RBD individuals. CONCLUSION: Simple quantitative speech motor measures may be suitable for the reliable detection of prodromal neurodegeneration in subjects with RBD, and therefore may provide important outcomes for future therapy trials.

• Klíčová slova
• Acoustic analyses, Dysarthria, Parkinson's disease, Parkinsonism, Speech and voice disorders,
• MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• Parkinsonova nemoc diagnóza   patofyziologie   MeSH
• porucha chování v REM spánku patofyziologie   MeSH
• poruchy artikulace patofyziologie   MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• stupeň závažnosti nemoci MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

The purpose of this study was to analyze vowel articulation across various speaking tasks in a group of 20 early Parkinson's disease (PD) individuals prior to pharmacotherapy. Vowels were extracted from sustained phonation, sentence repetition, reading passage, and monologue. Acoustic analysis was based upon measures of the first (F1) and second (F2) formant of the vowels /a/, /i/, and /u/, vowel space area (VSA), F2i/F2u and vowel articulation index (VAI). Parkinsonian speakers manifested abnormalities in vowel articulation across F2u, VSA, F2i/F2u, and VAI in all speaking tasks except sustained phonation, compared to 15 age-matched healthy control participants. Findings suggest that sustained phonation is an inappropriate task to investigate vowel articulation in early PD. In contrast, monologue was the most sensitive in differentiating between controls and PD patients, with classification accuracy up to 80%. Measurements of vowel articulation were able to capture even minor abnormalities in speech of PD patients with no perceptible dysarthria. In conclusion, impaired vowel articulation may be considered as a possible early marker of PD. A certain type of speaking task can exert significant influence on vowel articulation. Specifically, complex tasks such as monologue are more likely to elicit articulatory deficits in parkinsonian speech, compared to other speaking tasks.

• MeSH
• akustika řeči * MeSH
• akustika MeSH
• časná diagnóza MeSH
• časové faktory MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• fonace * MeSH
• fonetika * MeSH
• kvalita hlasu * MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• měření tvorby řeči MeSH
• Parkinsonova nemoc komplikace   diagnóza   patofyziologie   MeSH
• percepce řeči MeSH
• poruchy artikulace diagnóza   etiologie   patofyziologie   MeSH
• prediktivní hodnota testů MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• srozumitelnost řeči * MeSH
• studie případů a kontrol MeSH
• zvuková spektrografie MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• srovnávací studie MeSH

An assessment of vocal impairment is presented for separating healthy people from persons with early untreated Parkinson's disease (PD). This study's main purpose was to (a) determine whether voice and speech disorder are present from early stages of PD before starting dopaminergic pharmacotherapy, (b) ascertain the specific characteristics of the PD-related vocal impairment, (c) identify PD-related acoustic signatures for the major part of traditional clinically used measurement methods with respect to their automatic assessment, and (d) design new automatic measurement methods of articulation. The varied speech data were collected from 46 Czech native speakers, 23 with PD. Subsequently, 19 representative measurements were pre-selected, and Wald sequential analysis was then applied to assess the efficiency of each measure and the extent of vocal impairment of each subject. It was found that measurement of the fundamental frequency variations applied to two selected tasks was the best method for separating healthy from PD subjects. On the basis of objective acoustic measures, statistical decision-making theory, and validation from practicing speech therapists, it has been demonstrated that 78% of early untreated PD subjects indicate some form of vocal impairment. The speech defects thus uncovered differ individually in various characteristics including phonation, articulation, and prosody.

• MeSH
• biomechanika MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• fonace * MeSH
• kvalita hlasu * MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• měření tvorby řeči * MeSH
• Parkinsonova nemoc komplikace   diagnóza   patofyziologie   MeSH
• periodicita MeSH
• poruchy artikulace diagnóza   etiologie   patofyziologie   MeSH
• poruchy hlasu diagnóza   etiologie   patofyziologie   MeSH
• poruchy řeči diagnóza   etiologie   patofyziologie   MeSH
• posuzování pracovní neschopnosti MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• statistické modely MeSH
• studie případů a kontrol MeSH
• stupeň závažnosti nemoci MeSH
• vibrace MeSH
• zvuková spektrografie MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH

At present, more and more researchers are applying tested mathematical-engineering methods into different domains of life. One of these areas is helping people with different forms of disabilities. Research in this area is focused on searching for the relation between clinical and electrophysiological symptoms of children with developmental dysphasia. Sleep EEG and speech analyses are the primary areas under discussion, while the finding of methods acceptable for improvement of the diagnosis and determination of therapeutic procedures is the research topic. It is possible to reduce fundamentally, or to cure optimally these disorders in advanced diagnosis. Therefore it is important to search for new methods and to combine what has been used separately till now.

• MeSH
• algoritmy MeSH
• databáze jako téma MeSH
• diagnóza počítačová přístrojové vybavení   metody   MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• elektroencefalografie MeSH
• epilepsie komplikace   diagnóza   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• neuronové sítě * MeSH
• neuropsychologické testy MeSH
• počítačová simulace MeSH
• polysomnografie MeSH
• předškolní dítě MeSH
• referenční hodnoty MeSH
• shluková analýza MeSH
• studie případů a kontrol MeSH
• testy artikulace přístrojové vybavení   metody   MeSH
• výpočetní biologie MeSH
• vývojové poruchy řeči komplikace   diagnóza   patofyziologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• předškolní dítě MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• hodnotící studie MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

• MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• malokluze komplikace   terapie   MeSH
• ortodoncie korekční MeSH
• poruchy artikulace diagnóza   etiologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Defective pronunciation of one or more mother language phones, i.e. dyslalia, represents the most frequent speech impairment both in children and adult people. Cases of persisting speech disorder need professional approach and help. The aim of the study was to obtain a model of physiological articulation of the sibilant "s" in children. The method of FFT spectral analysis was made use of. Results will serve for further use in evaluation of speech impairment.

• MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• poruchy artikulace diagnóza   MeSH
• testy artikulace MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

Changes in the oral cavity resulting from the loss of teeth and the ensuing reconstruction of a set of teeth by dentures (partial or complete) may cause changes in the speech and voice of the patient. The aim of the present investigation was to study the changes in speech and voice in patients suffering from teeth loss and the degree of speech improvement using dentures. Voice and speech parameters of a set of tested syllables were analysed in 10 patients at the 2nd Clinic of Stomatology. The analysis was carried out by means of an FFT, SoundForge 5.0 programme. Differently expressed acoustic changes in both consonants and vowels were ascertained in a percentage of the patients under examination. These concerned especially the sibilant ("s", "(see text)"), labiodental ("f", "v") and vibrating ("r", "(see text)") consonants. Changes in the FFT spectrum and air leakage in constrictive consonants were also found. In some patients the vowels, especially the closed ones ("i", "u"), may change their fundamental frequency and show noise admixture manifested as a blurred delimitation of the formants. A denture should, inter alia, render it possible for the patient to produce the same articulation to which he/she had been accustomed before the loss of teeth. For the construction of dentures the most important factors from a phonetic point of view appear to be the following: overbite, overjet, the height of the plate, the thickness of the palatal material, the incisor position, and the modelling of the ruga palatina on the hard palate. In case of wrong denture construction the acoustic changes may continue, resulting in the patient's stress load dependent upon sex, age, psychic condition and seriousness of the problem.

• MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• testy artikulace * MeSH
• zubní náhrady * MeSH
• zvuková spektrografie * MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH