Attentional Demand of Motor Speech Encoding: Evidence From Parkinson's Disease.

Purpose: While the involvement of attention in utterance planning is well established at the conceptual and lexical levels, the attentional demands of postlexical processes are still debated. This study investigates the involvement of attentional resources on motor speech encoding during utterance production in the context of Parkinson's disease (PD), a population allowing to assess if the attentional demands observed in a dual-task paradigm (the dual-task costs [DTCs]) are explained by postlexical difficulties and not solely by executive impairment.

Method: Speech production was analyzed in a dual-task paradigm with 30 participants presenting with motor speech disorders due to hypokinetic dysarthria in the context of PD.

Longitudinal study of speech and dual-task performance in Parkinson's disease patients treated with subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation.

Introduction: Impairments in speech and executive functions are both observed in Parkinson's disease (PD) and might be influenced by subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS). We investigated the effects of STN-DBS on speech and executive functions and their mutual interference in PD.

Methods: 14 PD patients eligible for bilateral STN-DBS (PD-DBS), and 16 PD patients with best medical treatment (PD-BMT) were included.

Attention in post-lexical processes of utterance production: Dual-task cost in younger and older adults.

There is a general agreement that speaking requires attention at least for conceptual and lexical processes of utterance production. However, conflicting results have been obtained with dual-task paradigms using either repetition tasks or more generally tasks involving limited loading of lexical selection. This study aimed to investigate whether post-lexical processes recruit attentional resources.

Sensitivity and specificity of an acoustic- and perceptual-based tool for assessing motor speech disorders in French: the MonPaGe-screening protocol.

To respond to the need of objective screening tools for motor speech disorders (MSD), we present the screening version of a speech assessment protocol (, which is based on semi-automated acoustic and perceptual measures on several speech dimensions in French. We validate the screening tool by testing its sensitivity and specificity and comparing its outcome with external standard assessment tools. The data from 80 patients diagnosed with different types of mild to moderate MSD and 62 healthy test controls were assessed against the normative data obtained on 404 neurotypical speakers, with computed on seven speech dimensions (voice, speech rate, articulation, prosody, pneumophonatory control, diadochokinetic rate, intelligibility) based on acoustic and perceptual measures.

Classification of postoperative behavior disturbances in preschool children: A qualitative study.

Background/aim: Negative postoperative changes in children are frequent and have been described for decades. However, there is currently no theoretical framework, nor any consensual operational criteria for identifying them. This study aims at characterizing the many dimensions involved in postoperative behavioral disturbances in early childhood, using a qualitative analysis applied for the first time to these symptoms.

Neuropsychological outcome after extra-temporal epilepsy surgery.

Background: The neuropsychological results of temporal lobe epilepsy surgery are well reported in the literature. The aim of this study was to analyse the neuropsychological outcome in a consecutive series of patients with extra-temporal epilepsy.

Methods: We retrospectively analysed the data of patients operated between 1996 and 2008 for extra-temporal epilepsy.