Listener Detection of Objectively Validated Acoustic Features of Speech in Huntington's Disease.

Background: Subtle progressive changes in speech motor function and cognition begin prior to diagnosis of Huntington's disease (HD).

Objective: To determine the nature of listener-rated speech differences in premanifest and early-stage HD (i.e.

Effects of face masks on acoustic analysis and speech perception: Implications for peri-pandemic protocols.

Wearing face masks (alongside physical distancing) provides some protection against infection from COVID-19. Face masks can also change how people communicate and subsequently affect speech signal quality. This study investigated how three common face mask types (N95, surgical, and cloth) affected acoustic analysis of speech and perceived intelligibility in healthy subjects.

Speech in prodromal and symptomatic Huntington's disease as a model of measuring onset and progression in dominantly inherited neurodegenerative diseases.

Subtle motor and cognitive changes can manifest prior to diagnosis in many progressive neurological disorders. Most people with Huntington's disease (HD) develop dysarthria. Yet, how speech evolves, how the brain regulates speech in HD, and the clinical implications of these changes remain unclear.