Automated Scoring of the Speech Intelligibility Test Using Autoscore.

Purpose: The purpose of the current study was to develop and test extensions to Autoscore, an automated approach for scoring listener transcriptions against target stimuli, for scoring the Speech Intelligibility Test (SIT), a widely used test for quantifying intelligibility in individuals with dysarthria.

Method: Three main extensions to Autoscore were created including a compound rule, a contractions rule, and a numbers rule. We used two sets of previously collected listener SIT transcripts ( = 4,642) from databases of dysarthric speakers to evaluate the accuracy of the Autoscore SIT extensions.

No differential effects of subthalamic nucleus vs. globus pallidus deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease: Speech acoustic and perceptual findings.

Background: Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in the Subthalamic Nucleus (STN) or the Globus Pallidus Interna (GPI) is well-established as a surgical technique for improving global motor function in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's Disease (PD). Previous research has indicated speech deterioration in more than 30% of patients after STN-DBS implantation, whilst speech outcomes following GPI-DBS have received far less attention. Research comparing speech outcomes for patients with PD receiving STN-DBS and GPI-DBS can inform pre-surgical counseling and assist with clinician and patient decision-making when considering the neural targets selected for DBS-implantation.

Premotor cortex is hypoactive during sustained vowel production in individuals with Parkinson's disease and hypophonia.

Introduction: Hypophonia is a common feature of Parkinson's disease (PD); however, the contribution of motor cortical activity to reduced phonatory scaling in PD is still not clear.

Methods: In this study, we employed a sustained vowel production task during functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare brain activity between individuals with PD and hypophonia and an older healthy control (OHC) group.

Results: When comparing vowel production versus rest, the PD group showed fewer regions with significant BOLD activity compared to OHCs.

Effects of Speaking Rate on Variability of Second Formant Frequency Transitions in Dysarthria.

Introduction: This study examined the utility of multiple second formant (F2) slope metrics to capture differences in speech production for individuals with dysarthria and healthy controls as a function of speaking rate. In addition, the utility of F2 slope metrics for predicting severity of intelligibility impairment in dysarthria was examined.

Methods: Twenty three speakers with Parkinson's disease and mild to moderate hypokinetic dysarthria (HD), 9 speakers with various neurological diseases and mild to severe ataxic or ataxic-spastic dysarthria (AD), and 26 age-matched healthy control speakers (CON) participated in a sentence repetition task.

Lexical Characteristics of the Speech Intelligibility Test: Effects on Transcription Intelligibility for Speakers With Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's Disease.

Purpose: Lexical characteristics of speech stimuli can significantly impact intelligibility. However, lexical characteristics of the widely used Speech Intelligibility Test (SIT) are unknown. We aimed to (a) define variation in neighborhood density, word frequency, grammatical word class, and type-token ratio across a large corpus of SIT sentences and tests and (b) determine the relationship of lexical characteristics to speech intelligibility in speakers with multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease (PD), and neurologically healthy controls.

Human subthalamic nucleus neurons differentially encode speech and limb movement.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN), which consistently improves limb motor functions, shows mixed effects on speech functions in Parkinson's disease (PD). One possible explanation for this discrepancy is that STN neurons may differentially encode speech and limb movement. However, this hypothesis has not yet been tested.

Clear Speech Variants: An Investigation of Intelligibility and Speaker Effort in Speakers With Parkinson's Disease.

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of three clear speech variants on sentence intelligibility and speaking effort for speakers with Parkinson's disease (PD) and age- and sex-matched neurologically healthy controls.

Method: Fourteen speakers with PD and 14 neurologically healthy speakers participated. Each speaker was recorded reading 18 sentences from the Speech Intelligibility Test in their habitual speaking style and for three clear speech variants: clear (SC; given instructions to speak clearly), hearing impaired (HI; given instructions to speak with someone with a hearing impairment), and overenunciate (OE; given instructions to overenunciate each word).

Dysarthria Subgroups in Talkers with Huntington's Disease: Comparison of Two Data-Driven Classification Approaches.

Although researchers have recognized the need to better account for the heterogeneous perceptual speech characteristics among talkers with the same disease, guidance on how to best establish such dysarthria subgroups is currently lacking. Therefore, we compared subgroup decisions of two data-driven approaches based on a cohort of talkers with Huntington's disease (HD): (1) a statistical clustering approach (STATCLUSTER) based on perceptual speech characteristic profiles and (2) an auditory free classification approach (FREECLASS) based on listeners' similarity judgments. We determined the amount of overlap across the two subgrouping decisions and the perceptual speech characteristics driving the subgrouping decisions of each approach.

Minimally Detectable Change of Speech Intelligibility in Speakers With Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's Disease.

Purpose: This study sought to determine the minimally detectable change (MDC) of sentence intelligibility for speakers with multiple sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson's disease (PD).

Method: Speakers included 78 participants consisting of 32 neurologically healthy control speakers, 30 speakers with MS, and 16 speakers with PD. All speakers were recorded reading 11 sentences comprising the Speech Intelligibility Test (SIT), which were subsequently transcribed by inexperienced listeners.

Speech dysfunction, cognition, and Parkinson's disease.

Communication difficulties are a ubiquitous symptom of Parkinson's disease and include changes to both motor speech and language systems. Communication challenges are a significant driver of lower quality of life. They are associated with decreased communication participation, social withdrawal, and increased risks for social isolation and stigmatization in persons with Parkinson's disease.

Voice handicap Index in Parkinson's patients: Subthalamic versus globus pallidus deep brain stimulation.

Purpose: Subthalamic nucleus (STN) and globus pallidus interna (GPI) are the two most common sites for deep brain stimulation (DBS) in people with Parkinson's disease (PWP). Voice impairments are a common symptom of Parkinson's disease and information about voice outcomes with DBS is limited. Most studies in speech-language pathology have focused on STN-DBS and few have examined the effects of GPI-DBS.

Intelligibility Across a Reading Passage: The Effect of Dysarthria and Cued Speaking Styles.

Objective: Reading a passage out loud is a commonly used task in the perceptual assessment of dysarthria. The extent to which perceptual characteristics remain unchanged or stable over the time course of a passage is largely unknown. This study investigated crowdsourced visual analogue scale (VAS) judgments of intelligibility across a reading passage as a function of cued speaking styles commonly used in treatment to maximize intelligibility.

The effects of a simulated fMRI environment on voice intensity in individuals with Parkinson's disease hypophonia and older healthy adults.

Purpose: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has promise for understanding neural mechanisms of neurogenic speech and voice disorders. However, performing vocal tasks within the fMRI environment may not always be analogous to performance outside of the scanner. Using a mock MRI scanner, this study examines the effects of a simulated scanning environment on vowel intensity in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) and hypophonia and older healthy control (OHC) participants.

Investigating Acoustic Correlates of Intelligibility Gains and Losses During Slowed Speech: A Hybridization Approach.

Purpose This exploratory study sought to identify acoustic variables explaining rate-related variation in intelligibility for speakers with dysarthria secondary to multiple sclerosis. Method Seven speakers with dysarthria due to multiple sclerosis produced the same set of Harvard sentences at habitual and slow rates. Speakers were selected from a larger corpus on the basis of rate-related intelligibility characteristics.

Impact of Cognitive Impairment and Dysarthria on Spoken Language in Multiple Sclerosis.

Objective: To investigate the impact of cognitive impairment on spoken language produced by speakers with multiple sclerosis (MS) with and without dysarthria.

Method: Sixty speakers comprised operationally defined groups. Speakers produced a spontaneous speech sample to obtain speech timing measures of speech rate, articulation rate, and silent pause frequency and duration.

Separate and Combined Influence of Cognitive Impairment and Dysarthria on Functional Communication in Multiple Sclerosis.

Purpose: Dysarthria is a consequence of multiple sclerosis (MS) that can co-occur with cognitive impairment. Clinical management thus requires understanding the separate and combined effects of dysarthria and cognitive impairment on functional communication in MS. This study compared perceptual measures of intelligibility and speech severity that capture functional communication deficits for 4 operationally defined groups with MS.

Altered resting-state functional connectivity of the putamen and internal globus pallidus is related to speech impairment in Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Speech impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD) is pervasive, with life-impacting consequences. Yet, little is known about how functional connections between the basal ganglia and cortex relate to PD speech impairment (PDSI). Whole-brain resting-state connectivity analyses of basal ganglia nuclei can expand the understanding of PDSI pathophysiology.

Vocalic transitions as markers of speech acoustic changes with STN-DBS in Parkinson's Disease.

Purpose: Deep Brain Stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) effectively treats cardinal symptoms of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) that cannot be satisfactorily managed with medication. Research is equivocal regarding speech changes associated with STN-DBS. This study investigated the impact of STN-DBS on vocalic transitions and the relationship to intelligibility.

Consonant Acoustics in Parkinson's Disease and Multiple Sclerosis: Comparison of Clear and Loud Speaking Conditions.

Purpose: The impact of clear speech or an increased vocal intensity on consonant spectra was investigated for speakers with mild dysarthria secondary to multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease and healthy controls.

Method: Sentences were read in habitual, clear, and loud conditions. Spectral moment coefficients were obtained for word-initial and word-medial /s/, /ʃ/, /t/, and /k/.

Clear Speech Variants: An Acoustic Study in Parkinson's Disease.

Purpose: The authors investigated how different variants of clear speech affect segmental and suprasegmental acoustic measures of speech in speakers with Parkinson's disease and a healthy control group.

Method: A total of 14 participants with Parkinson's disease and 14 control participants served as speakers. Each speaker produced 18 different sentences selected from the Sentence Intelligibility Test (Yorkston & Beukelman, 1996).

Acoustic variation during passage reading for speakers with dysarthria and healthy controls.

Purpose: Acoustic variation in a passage read by speakers with dysarthria and healthy speakers was examined.

Method: 15 speakers with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), 12 speakers with Parkinson's disease (PD), and 14 healthy speakers were studied. Acoustic variables included measures of global speech timing (e.

Comparison of Intelligibility Measures for Adults With Parkinson's Disease, Adults With Multiple Sclerosis, and Healthy Controls.

Purpose: This study obtained judgments of sentence intelligibility using orthographic transcription for comparison with previously reported intelligibility judgments obtained using a visual analog scale (VAS) for individuals with Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis and healthy controls (K. Tjaden, J. E.

Acoustic and perceptual correlates of faster-than-habitual speech produced by speakers with Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis.

Unlabelled: Acoustic-perceptual characteristics of a faster-than-habitual rate (Fast condition) were examined for speakers with Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Judgments of intelligibility for sentences produced at a habitual rate (Habitual condition) and at a faster-than-habitual rate (Fast condition) by 46 speakers with PD or MS as well as a group of 32 healthy speakers revealed that the Fast condition was, on average, associated with decreased intelligibility. However, some speakers' intelligibility did not decline.

Relationship between acoustic measures and judgments of intelligibility in Parkinson's disease: a within-speaker approach.

This study investigated the acoustic basis of within-speaker, across-utterance variation in sentence intelligibility for 12 speakers with dysarthria secondary to Parkinson's disease (PD). Acoustic measures were also obtained for 12 healthy controls for comparison to speakers with PD. Speakers read sentences using their typical speech style.