Acoustic and Perceptual Effects of Articulation Exercises in Transgender Women.

Purpose: This study measured the impact of articulation exercises using a cork and articulation exercises for lip spreading on the formant frequencies of vowels and listener perceptions of femininity in transgender women.

Methods: Thirteen transgender women were recorded before and after the cork exercise and before and after the lip spreading exercise. Speech samples included continuous speech during reading and were analyzed using Praat software.

The Lidcombe Program for Early Stuttering in Non-English-Speaking Countries: A Systematic Review.

Background: The Lidcombe Program is a stuttering treatment approach for children between the ages of 3 and 6 years. Most papers about the Lidcombe Program, however, are based on studies conducted in native English-speaking countries. The aim of this paper is to systematically review the delivery and implementation of the Lidcombe Program in non-native English-speaking countries.

Thyroplasty Type III to Lower the Vocal Pitch in Trans Men.

About 20% of trans men do not achieve cisgender male frequencies (F≤131 Hz) after gender-affirming hormone treatment (GAHT) with testosterone. The surgical procedure Isshiki thyroplasty type III (TPIII) is described to lower F, but data on this technique in trans men are lacking. In this study, 8 trans men, unsatisfied with their voice after a minimum of 12 months of GAHT, underwent TPIII to lower F at the Department of Head and Neck Surgery at Ghent University Hospital.

Category specific recall in acute stroke: a case with letter speech.

Category selective recall in spontaneous speech after stroke has been reported only rarely. We recently described three cases demonstrating transient number speech in the acute stage of left hemispheric stroke and hypothesized a link with multilingualism and mathematical proficiency. In this report, we describe a similar case with a transient episode of utterances of randomly selected letters.

Measuring Articulation Rate: A Comparison of Two Methods.

Purpose: Mean articulatory rate (MAR) is an alternative approach to measure articulation rate and is defined as the mean of 5 rate measures in minimally 10 to maximally 20 consecutive syllables in perceptually fluent speech without pauses. This study examined the validity of this approach.

Method: Reading and spontaneous speech samples were collected from 80 typically fluent adults ranging in age between 20 and 59 years.

Nasality in Homosexual Men: A Comparison with Heterosexual Men and Women.

Several studies reported that pitch and articulation may vary according to a person's sexual orientation. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether homosexual males also demonstrate differences in nasal resonance compared to heterosexual males. Speech samples of 30 self-identified homosexual males, 35 heterosexual males, and 34 heterosexual females were compared both instrumentally and perceptually.

Public awareness and knowledge of stuttering in Japan.

Purpose: To determine laypeople's knowledge and awareness of stuttering in Japan.

Methods: A total of 303 respondents, recruited by street sampling, completed a questionnaire assessing the prevalence, onset, gender distribution, occurrence in different races, cause, treatment, association with intelligence, and hereditariness of stuttering. The questionnaire used was a Japanese version of that devised by Van Borsel, Verniers, and Bouvry (1999) for use in Belgium.

The Effectiveness of Pitch-raising Surgery in Male-to-Female Transsexuals: A Systematic Review.

Objectives: This study aimed to review the evidence of the effectiveness of pitch-raising surgery performed in male-to-female transsexuals.

Methods: A search for studies was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, and the references in retrieved manuscripts, using as keywords "transsexual" or "transgender" combined with terms related to voice surgery. We included eight studies using cricothyroid approximation, six studies using anterior glottal web formation, and six studies using other surgery types or a combination of surgical techniques, leading to 20 studies in total.

When will a stuttering moment occur? The determining role of speech motor preparation.

The present study aimed to evaluate whether increased activity related to speech motor preparation preceding fluently produced words reflects a successful compensation strategy in stuttering. For this purpose, a contingent negative variation (CNV) was evoked during a picture naming task and measured by use of electro-encephalography. A CNV is a slow, negative event-related potential known to reflect motor preparation generated by the basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical (BGTC) - loop.

Factors involved in the identification of stuttering severity in a foreign language.

Speech-language pathologists nowadays are more and more confronted with clients who speak a language different from their own mother tongue. The assessment of persons who speak a foreign language poses particular challenges. The present study investigated the possible role and interplay of factors involved in the identification of stuttering severity in a foreign language.

Increased motor preparation activity during fluent single word production in DS: A correlate for stuttering frequency and severity.

Abnormal speech motor preparation is suggested to be a neural characteristic of stuttering. One of the neurophysiological substrates of motor preparation is the contingent negative variation (CNV). The CNV is an event-related, slow negative potential that occurs between two defined stimuli.

Translation and preliminary evaluation of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Transgender Voice Questionnaire for male-to-female transsexuals.

Purpose: To contribute to the development of a Brazilian Portuguese language version of the vocal self-assessment questionnaire, Transsexual Voice Questionnaire: Male-to-Female (TVQ:MtF), and to evaluate the questionnaire for use in Brazil.

Methods: The research was divided into two parts: (1) translation and adaptation of the questionnaire (TVQ:MtF) and demographic form and (2) preliminary study of the psychometric properties (internal consistency and test-retest reliability) of the adapted version of the questionnaire. For the translation and adaptation, the following steps were taken: translation, reconciliation, back-translation, harmonization, and pilot test.

CNV amplitude as a neural correlate for stuttering frequency: A case report of acquired stuttering.

A neural hallmark of developmental stuttering is abnormal articulatory programming. One of the neurophysiological substrates of articulatory preparation is the contingent negative variation (CNV). Unfortunately, CNV tasks are rarely performed in persons who stutter and mainly focus on the effect of task variation rather than on interindividual variation in stutter related variables.

Cross-cultural adaptation of the Western Aphasia Battery - Revised screening test to Brazilian Portuguese: a preliminary study.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the Western Aphasia Battery - Revised (WAB-R) screening test, thus contributing to future applications of the instrument with Brazilian adults.

Methods: The adaptation was based on a universalist perspective. The steps for conceptual, item, semantic and operational equivalence were strictly followed, resulting in a short version used in the pretest.

Lisping and male homosexuality.

The present study examined the popular stereotype that gay men lisp by evaluating to what extent listeners associated dental or frontal articulation/lisping with gayness. Fifteen heterosexual males and 15 heterosexual females listened to 275 samples of read speech and judged the sexual orientation of the speakers. A total of 175 of the samples were of homosexual men, 74 (42.

Conversational topics in transsexual persons.

Abstract In general, speech language therapy for transsexual persons focuses on pitch and pitch variation and more recently also on resonance. Other communicative aspects are dealt with far less often, especially language. This study investigated to what extent conversational topics might need attention in therapy for transsexual persons.

The effectiveness of facial exercises for facial rejuvenation: a systematic review.

Background: Although aesthetic correction of facial aging had long been the exclusive domain of plastic surgeons and dermatologists, alternative nonmedical approaches to facial rejuvenation are becoming more popular, such as facial acupuncture, facial acupressure, and facial exercises. However, the effectiveness of these alternative approaches is still a topic of debate.

Objectives: The authors review the evidence of the effectiveness of facial exercises for facial rejuvenation.

Facial exercises for facial rejuvenation: a control group study.

Objective: Facial exercises are a noninvasive alternative to medical approaches to facial rejuvenation. Logopedists could be involved in providing these exercises. Little research has been conducted, however, on the effectiveness of exercises for facial rejuvenation.

Voice in female-to-male transsexual persons after long-term androgen therapy.

Objectives/hypothesis: The aim of the present study was to 1) document voice in a large sample of female-to-male transsexual persons (FMT), 2) compare their vocal characteristics with those of heterosexual biological males, and 3) determine hormonal factors with impact on their fundamental frequency.

Study Design: This was a controlled cross-sectional study. It is the largest study to date on voice and voice change in FMT, and the first to include a control group and FMT who were under long-term androgen administration.

Pitch and pitch variation in lesbian women.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent lesbian women demonstrate pitch and pitch variation that is different from that of heterosexual women.

Study Design: Static group comparison.

Methods: The average pitch and pitch variation of a group of 34 self-identified lesbian women and an age-matched group of 68 heterosexual women were compared.

Accent attribution in speakers with Foreign Accent Syndrome.

Purpose: The main aim of this experiment was to investigate the perception of Foreign Accent Syndrome in comparison to speakers with an authentic foreign accent.

Method: Three groups of listeners attributed accents to conversational speech samples of 5 FAS speakers which were embedded amongst those of 5 speakers with a real foreign accent and 5 native speaker controls. The listening panels differed in their familiarity with foreign accented speech and speech pathology.

Phonological acquisition of Brazilian Portuguese in children from Rio de Janeiro.

Purpose: To describe the typical course of phonological acquisition in Brazilian Portuguese, in view of clinical usage.

Methods: A picture naming test was used to collect speech samples from 480 children (240 female and 240 male) enrolled in public and private schools in the city of Rio de Janeiro, who were divided into five age groups between 3 and 8 years. Three types of analyses were conducted, and results were compared for age, gender, and socio-economic level: (1) phonological inventory analysis looking at how many and which consonants were acquired, (2) assessment of the percentage of consonants correct, and (3) phonological processes analysis.

Quantitative analysis of language production in Parkinson's disease using a cued sentence generation task.

The present study examined language production skills in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. A unique cued sentence generation task was created in order to reduce demands on memory and attention. Differences in sentence production abilities according to disease severity and cognitive impairments were assessed.

Articulation in schoolchildren and adults with neurofibromatosis type 1.

Unlabelled: Several authors mentioned the occurrence of articulation problems in the neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) population. However, few studies have undertaken a detailed analysis of the articulation skills of NF1 patients, especially in schoolchildren and adults. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine in depth the articulation skills of NF1 schoolchildren and adults, both phonetically and phonologically.