Speech intelligibility loss due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: the effect of tongue movement reduction on vowel and consonant acoustic features

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Panying Rong ◽  
Evan Usler ◽  
Linda M. Rowe ◽  
Kristen Allison ◽  
Jonghye Woo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Acoustic Features ◽  
Tongue Movement ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Articulatory Kinematic Characteristics Across the Dysarthria Severity Spectrum in Individuals With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 258-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jimin Lee ◽  
Michael Bell ◽  
Zachary Simmons
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Speaking Rate ◽  
Tongue Movement ◽  
Jaw Movement ◽  
Movement Trajectories ◽  
Electromagnetic Articulography ◽  
Kinematic Characteristics ◽  
Temporal Measures ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Purpose The current study investigated whether articulatory kinematic patterns can be extrapolated across the spectrum of dysarthria severity in individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Method Temporal and spatial articulatory kinematic data were collected using electromagnetic articulography from 14 individuals with dysarthria secondary to ALS and 6 typically aging speakers. Speech intelligibility and speaking rate were used as indices of severity. Results Temporal measures (duration, speed of articulators) were significantly correlated with both indices of severity. In speakers with dysarthria, spatial measures were not correlated with severity except in 3 measures: tongue movement displacement was more reduced in the anterior–posterior dimension; jaw movement distance was greater in the inferior–superior dimension; jaw convex hull area was larger in speakers with slower speaking rates. Visual inspection of movement trajectories revealed that overall spatial kinematic characteristics in speakers with severe dysarthria differed qualitatively from those in speakers with mild or moderate dysarthria. Unlike speakers with dysarthria, typically aging speakers displayed variable tongue movement and minimal jaw movement. Conclusions The current study revealed that spatial articulatory characteristics, unlike temporal characteristics, showed a complicated pattern across the severity spectrum. The findings suggest that articulatory characteristics in speakers with severe dysarthria cannot simply be extrapolated from those in speakers with mild-to-moderate dysarthria secondary to ALS.

Automated Acoustic Analysis of Oral Diadochokinesis to Assess Bulbar Motor Involvement in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panying Rong
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Speaking Rate ◽  
Disease Stage ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Tongue Movement ◽  
Major Barrier ◽  
Syllable Repetition ◽  
Oral Diadochokinesis ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Purpose The purpose of this article was to validate a novel acoustic analysis of oral diadochokinesis (DDK) in assessing bulbar motor involvement in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Method An automated acoustic DDK analysis was developed, which filtered out the voice features and extracted the envelope of the acoustic waveform reflecting the temporal pattern of syllable repetitions during an oral DDK task (i.e., repetitions of /tɑ/ at the maximum rate on 1 breath). Cycle-to-cycle temporal variability (cTV) of envelope fluctuations and syllable repetition rate (sylRate) were derived from the envelope and validated against 2 kinematic measures, which are tongue movement jitter (movJitter) and alternating tongue movement rate (AMR) during the DDK task, in 16 individuals with bulbar ALS and 18 healthy controls. After the validation, cTV, sylRate, movJitter, and AMR, along with an established clinical speech measure, that is, speaking rate (SR), were compared in their ability to (a) differentiate individuals with ALS from healthy controls and (b) detect early-stage bulbar declines in ALS. Results cTV and sylRate were significantly correlated with movJitter and AMR, respectively, across individuals with ALS and healthy controls, confirming the validity of the acoustic DDK analysis in extracting the temporal DDK pattern. Among all the acoustic and kinematic DDK measures, cTV showed the highest diagnostic accuracy (i.e., 0.87) with 80% sensitivity and 94% specificity in differentiating individuals with ALS from healthy controls, which outperformed the SR measure. Moreover, cTV showed a large increase during the early disease stage, which preceded the decline of SR. Conclusions This study provided preliminary validation of a novel automated acoustic DDK analysis in extracting a useful measure, namely, cTV, for early detection of bulbar ALS. This analysis overcame a major barrier in the existing acoustic DDK analysis, which is continuous voicing between syllables that interferes with syllable structures. This approach has potential clinical applications as a novel bulbar assessment.

scholarly journals A Phonetic Complexity-Based Approach for Intelligibility and Articulatory Precision Testing: A Preliminary Study on Talkers With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (9) ◽  
pp. 2205-2214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mili Kuruvilla-Dugdale ◽  
Claire Custer ◽  
Lindsey Heidrick ◽  
Richard Barohn ◽  
Raghav Govindarajan
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Speech Impairments ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Perceived Impact ◽  
Complex Words ◽  
Level Analysis ◽  
Precision Testing ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Purpose This study describes a phonetic complexity-based approach for speech intelligibility and articulatory precision testing using preliminary data from talkers with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Method Eight talkers with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and 8 healthy controls produced a list of 16 low and high complexity words. Sixty-four listeners judged the samples for intelligibility, and 2 trained listeners completed phoneme-level analysis to determine articulatory precision. To estimate percent intelligibility, listeners orthographically transcribed each word, and the transcriptions were scored as being either accurate or inaccurate. Percent articulatory precision was calculated based on the experienced listeners' judgments of phoneme distortions, deletions, additions, and/or substitutions for each word. Articulation errors were weighted based on the perceived impact on intelligibility to determine word-level precision. Results Between-groups differences in word intelligibility and articulatory precision were significant at lower levels of phonetic complexity as dysarthria severity increased. Specifically, more severely impaired talkers showed significant reductions in word intelligibility and precision at both complexity levels, whereas those with milder speech impairments displayed intelligibility reductions only for more complex words. Articulatory precision was less sensitive to mild dysarthria compared to speech intelligibility for the proposed complexity-based approach. Conclusions Considering phonetic complexity for dysarthria tests could result in more sensitive assessments for detecting and monitoring dysarthria progression.

Spatiotemporal Control of Articulation During Speech and Speechlike Tasks in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Panying Rong ◽  
Lindsey Heidrick
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Speaking Rate ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Tongue Movement ◽  
Characteristic Analysis ◽  
Jaw Movements ◽  
Acceleration Time ◽  
Speech Task ◽  
Articulatory Features ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Purpose This study examined the articulatory control of speech and speechlike tasks in individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and neurologically healthy individuals with the aim to identify the most useful set of articulatory features and tasks for assessing bulbar motor involvement in ALS. Method Tongue and jaw kinematics were recorded in 12 individuals with bulbar ALS and 10 healthy controls during a speech task and two speechlike tasks (i.e., alternating motion rate [AMR], sequential motion rate [SMR]). Eight articulatory features were derived for each participant per task, including the range, maximum speed, and acceleration time of tongue and jaw movements as well as the coupling and timing between tongue and jaw movements. The effects of task (i.e., AMR, SMR, speech) and group (i.e., ALS, control) on these articulatory features were evaluated. For each feature, the task that yielded the largest difference between the ALS and control groups was identified. The diagnostic efficacy of these task-specific features was assessed using the receiver operating characteristic analysis; the relation of these task-specific features to a well-established bulbar severity index—speaking rate—was determined using Spearman's rank correlation. Results Seven task-specific articulatory features were identified, including (a) tongue and jaw acceleration time during the AMR task, (b) tongue–jaw coupling during the SMR task, and (c) range of tongue movement, maximum tongue and jaw speed, and temporal lag between tongue and jaw movements during the speech task. Among these features, tongue and jaw acceleration time and their temporal lag showed relatively high accuracy (i.e., 0.83–0.95) in differentiating individuals with ALS from healthy controls. Range of tongue movement and maximum tongue and jaw speed showed significant correlations with speaking rate. Conclusion Findings provided preliminary evidence for the utility of task-specific articulatory measurements as a novel quantitative assessment to detect and predict bulbar motor involvement in ALS.

scholarly journals Predicting Early Bulbar Decline in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Speech Subsystem Approach

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panying Rong ◽  
Yana Yunusova ◽  
Jun Wang ◽  
Jordan R. Green
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Disease Onset ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Speaking Rate ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Data Mining Approach ◽  
Kaplan Meier ◽  
Bulbar Dysfunction ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Purpose. To develop a predictive model of speech loss in persons with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) based on measures of respiratory, phonatory, articulatory, and resonatory functions that were selected using a data-mining approach.Method. Physiologic speech subsystem (respiratory, phonatory, articulatory, and resonatory) functions were evaluated longitudinally in 66 individuals with ALS using multiple instrumentation approaches including acoustic, aerodynamic, nasometeric, and kinematic. The instrumental measures of the subsystem functions were subjected to a principal component analysis and linear mixed effects models to derive a set of comprehensive predictors of bulbar dysfunction. These subsystem predictors were subjected to a Kaplan-Meier analysis to estimate the time until speech loss.Results. For a majority of participants, speech subsystem decline was detectible prior to declines in speech intelligibility and speaking rate. Among all subsystems, the articulatory and phonatory predictors were most responsive to early bulbar deterioration; and the resonatory and respiratory predictors were as responsive to bulbar decline as was speaking rate.Conclusions. The articulatory and phonatory predictors are sensitive indicators of early bulbar decline due to ALS, which has implications for predicting disease onset and progression and clinical management of ALS.

Quantitative Description of the Dysarthria in Women With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

1992 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 723-733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Finley Kent ◽  
Raymond D. Kent ◽  
John C. Rosenbek ◽  
Gary Weismer ◽  
Ruth Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Word Identification ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Quantitative Description ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Phonetic Features ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Speech intelligibility and its phonetic and acoustic correlates were studied in a group of 10 women with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Intelligibility assessment with a word-identification test indicated that the most disrupted phonetic features pertained to velopharyngeal valving, lingual function for consonant contrasts of place and manner, and syllable shape. An acoustic signature analysis based on trajectories of the first and second formants in selected monosyllabic test words revealed that the mean slope of the second formant (F 2 ) was reduced compared with that of a normal geriatric control group. This F 2 slope reduction is interpreted to reflect loss of lingual motoneurons. Acoustic measures of phonatory function for sustained vowel prolongation demonstrated abnormalities in fundamental frequency, perturbations of frequency (jitter) and amplitude (shimmer), and signal-to-noise ratio. The data for women with ALS are compared with data for a normal geriatric control group of women and with data for a group of 25 men with ALS (Kent et al., 1990). Although the overall ranking of errors was similar for males and females with ALS, men were more likely to have impairments of voicing in syllable-initial position.

Speech Deterioration in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

1991 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1269-1275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond D. Kent ◽  
Robert L. Sufit ◽  
John C. Rosenbek ◽  
Jane F. Kent ◽  
Gary Weismer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Pulmonary Function ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Word Identification ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Observation Interval ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
Phonetic Features ◽  
Second Formant ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Few detailed reports have been published on the nature of speech and voice changes during the course of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The subject of this case study is a woman who was diagnosed as having ALS with bulbar signs at the age of 53. Speech intelligibility, pulmonary function, and selected speech and voice functions were tested during an approximately 2-year course of her disease. Over this period, her speech intelligibility, as measured by a multiplechoice word identification test, declined from 98% to 48%. Phonetic features that were most affected during the intelligibility decline included voicing contrast for syllable-initial and syllablefinal consonants, place of articulation contrasts for lingual consonants, manner of articulation for lingual consonants, stop versus nasal manner of production, features related to the liquid consonants, and various features related to syllable shape. An acoustic measure, average slope of the second-formant frequency, declined in association with the intelligibility reduction and is thought to reflect the loss of lingual motoneurons. Her pulmonary function also declined over the observation interval, with particularly severe reduction in measures of air flow. Oral diadochokinesis and measures of vocal function (including jitter, shimmer, and signal-to-noise ratio) were highly variable across test sessions. These results are discussed in terms of the challenges they present to sensitive assessment of change and to management of the communication disability in ALS.

scholarly journals Predicting Speech Intelligibility Decline in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Based on the Deterioration of Individual Speech Subsystems

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. e0154971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panying Rong ◽  
Yana Yunusova ◽  
Jun Wang ◽  
Lorne Zinman ◽  
Gary L. Pattee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

scholarly journals Shorter Sentence Length Maximizes Intelligibility and Speech Motor Performance in Persons With Dysarthria Due to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen M. Allison ◽  
Yana Yunusova ◽  
Jordan R. Green
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Pause Duration ◽  
Sentence Length ◽  
Speaking Rate ◽  
Event Duration ◽  
Severity Levels ◽  
Speech Motor ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of sentence length on intelligibility and measures of speech motor performance in persons with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and to determine how these effects were influenced by dysarthria severity levels. Method One hundred thirty-one persons with ALS were included in this study, stratified into 4 dysarthria severity groups. All participants produced sentences from 5 to 15 words in length. Intelligibility, speaking rate, and measures of speech pausing behavior (i.e., total speech duration, total pause duration, and mean speech event duration) were measured for each sentence. Linear mixed-effects models were used to determine the effect of sentence length on speech measures for speakers at different dysarthria severity levels. Results Results showed that speech intelligibility significantly declined at longer sentence lengths only for the speakers with ALS who had more advanced dysarthria symptoms; however, speakers with mild-to-severe dysarthria showed significant declines in speaking rate and speech pausing behavior at longer sentence lengths. Conclusions Findings suggest that producing shorter sentences may help maximize intelligibility for speakers with moderate-to-severe dysarthria secondary to ALS and may be a beneficial compensatory strategy for preserving motor effort for all speakers with dysarthria secondary to ALS.

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