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European Journal of Medical Research Jul 2023Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory and demyelinating autoimmune disease. MS patients deal with motor and sensory impairments, visual disabilities,... (Review)
Review
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory and demyelinating autoimmune disease. MS patients deal with motor and sensory impairments, visual disabilities, cognitive disorders, and speech and language deficits. The study aimed to record, enhance, update, and delve into our present comprehension of speech deficits observed in patients with MS and the methodology (assessment tools) studies followed. The method used was a search of the literature through the databases for May 2015 until June 2022. The reviewed studies offer insight into speech impairments most exhibited by MS patients. Patients with MS face numerous communication changes concerning the phonation system (changes observed concerning speech rate, long pause duration) and lower volume. Moreover, the articulation system was affected by the lack of muscle synchronization and inaccurate pronunciations, mainly of vowels. Finally, there are changes regarding prosody (MS patients exhibited monotonous speech). Findings indicated that MS patients experience communication changes across various domains. Based on the reviewed studies, we concluded that the speech system of MS patients is impaired to some extent, and the patients face many changes that impact their conversational ability and the production of slower and inaccurate speech. These changes can affect MS patients' quality of life.
Topics: Humans; Multiple Sclerosis; Speech; Quality of Life; Autoimmune Diseases; Cognition Disorders
PubMed: 37488623
DOI: 10.1186/s40001-023-01230-3 -
Journal of Fluency Disorders Dec 2023The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency and types of disfluencies in Greek-English bilingual adults across naturalistic speech samples and compare...
PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency and types of disfluencies in Greek-English bilingual adults across naturalistic speech samples and compare frequency and types of disfluencies between the participants' L1 and L2.
METHODS
Participants in the study included 26 Greek-English bilingual young adults. All participants were sequential bilinguals, whose first language was Greek and second language was English. Two speech samples were collected in each language, a conversational and a narrative sample, which were subsequently analyzed for the frequency and types of disfluencies.
RESULTS
Results indicated that participants produced more typical disfluencies in English compared to Greek across speaking samples. The most frequent types of disfluencies were filled pauses and vowel prolongations (without tension or struggle) across speaking samples and languages.
CONCLUSION
Our results revealed differences in the types and frequencies of disfluencies produced in participants' native compared to their second language. Results add to the growing body of literature addressing the manifestation of speech disfluencies in bilingual speakers.
Topics: Humans; Young Adult; Speech; Multilingualism; Stuttering; Greece; Language
PubMed: 37660637
DOI: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2023.106001 -
Assistive Technology : the Official... Jul 2023In recent years, rapid advancements have taken place for automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems and devices. Though ASR technologies have increased, the... (Review)
Review
In recent years, rapid advancements have taken place for automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems and devices. Though ASR technologies have increased, the accessibility of these novel interaction systems is underreported and may present difficulties for people with speech impediments. In this article, we attempt to identify gaps in current research on the interaction between people with dysarthria and ASR systems and devices. We cover the period from 2011, when Siri (the first and the leading commercial voice assistant) was launched, to 2020. The review employs an interaction framework in which each element (user, input, system, and output) contributes to the interaction process. To select the articles for review, we conducted a search of scientific databases and academic journals. A total of 36 studies met the inclusion criteria, which included use of the word error rate (WER) as a measurement for evaluating ASR systems. This review determines that challenges in interacting with ASR systems persist even in light of the most recent commercial technologies. Further, understanding of the entire interaction process remains limited; thus, to improve this interaction, the recent progress of ASR systems must be elucidated.
Topics: Humans; Speech; Speech Recognition Software; Speech Perception; Dysarthria; Databases, Factual
PubMed: 35435810
DOI: 10.1080/10400435.2022.2061085 -
Cognitive Science Mar 2024Temporal perspectives allow us to place ourselves and temporal events on a timeline, making it easier to conceptualize time. This study investigates how we take...
Temporal perspectives allow us to place ourselves and temporal events on a timeline, making it easier to conceptualize time. This study investigates how we take different temporal perspectives in our temporal gestures. We asked participants (n = 36) to retell temporal scenarios written in the Moving-Ego, Moving-Time, and Time-Reference-Point perspectives in spontaneous and encouraged gesture conditions. Participants took temporal perspectives mostly in similar ways regardless of the gesture condition. Perspective comparisons showed that temporal gestures of our participants resonated better with the Ego- (i.e., Moving-Ego and Moving-Time) versus Time-Reference-Point distinction instead of the classical Moving-Ego versus Moving-Time contrast. Specifically, participants mostly produced more Moving-Ego and Time-Reference-Point gestures for the corresponding scenarios and speech; however, the Moving-Time perspective was not adopted more than the others in any condition. Similarly, the Moving-Time gestures did not favor an axis over the others, whereas Moving-Ego gestures were mostly sagittal and Time-Reference-Point gestures were mostly lateral. These findings suggest that we incorporate temporal perspectives into our temporal gestures to a considerable extent; however, the classical Moving-Ego and Moving-Time classification may not hold for temporal gestures.
Topics: Humans; Gestures; Speech; Time Perception; Time
PubMed: 38500335
DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13425 -
Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics Sep 2023This study aimed to assess the intelligibility of so-called 'pseudo-whispered speech' (pseudo-WS), as produced without voice nor pulmonic airstream by some alaryngeal...
This study aimed to assess the intelligibility of so-called 'pseudo-whispered speech' (pseudo-WS), as produced without voice nor pulmonic airstream by some alaryngeal patients prior to rehabilitation. Several perception tests were submitted to three experienced clinicians and three naive listeners, relying on the speech samples of 20 French native speakers: 10 alaryngeal speakers, solely using pseudo-WS when starting speech therapy up to six months after total laryngectomy, and 10 control speakers, recorded in the closest speech mode available, whispered speech (WS). Experts were asked to identify consonants (C) in the /a/+C+/a/ context and to rate intelligibility, unintended additive noise, and fluency on a likert-scale, while naive listeners completed a quantitative test of intelligibility. Intelligibility of WS was found to be high, with scores ranging from 46.33/54 to 53.67/54 (median 52.5, interquartile range 2.33) for the quantitative test, and segmental intelligibility ranging from 68.75% to 94.79% (median 87.5, interquartile range 17.71). Segmental confusion affected voicing in favour of unvoiced consonants, as previously reported in the literature. By contrast, intelligibility of pseudo-WS was found to be poor, with scores ranging from 1/54 (unintelligibility) to 28.33/54 (median 8.66, interquartile range 14.67) for the quantitative test, and segmental intelligibility ranging from 3.13% to 28.13% (median 9.24, interquartile range 14.58). Segmental intelligibility was not uniformly affected: stops, labials and unvoiced consonants were better identified than other categories. Finally, a significant correlation was found between global intelligibility and articulatory precision, while unintended additive noise and fluency seemed to play no role.
Topics: Humans; Laryngectomy; Speech, Alaryngeal; Speech Intelligibility; Voice; Language
PubMed: 35818773
DOI: 10.1080/02699206.2022.2092425 -
Journal of Speech, Language, and... May 2024According to the interpersonal synergy model of spoken dialogue, interlocutors modify their communicative behaviors to meet the contextual demands of a given...
PURPOSE
According to the interpersonal synergy model of spoken dialogue, interlocutors modify their communicative behaviors to meet the contextual demands of a given conversation. Although a growing body of research supports this postulation for linguistic behaviors (e.g., semantics, syntax), little is understood about how this model applies to speech behaviors (e.g., speech rate, pitch). The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that interlocutors adjust their speech behaviors across different conversational tasks with different conversational goals.
METHOD
In this study, 28 participants each engaged in two different types of conversations (i.e., relational and informational) with two partners (i.e., Partner 1 and Partner 2), yielding a total of 112 conversations. We compared six acoustic measures of participant speech behavior across conversational task and partner.
RESULTS
Linear mixed-effects models demonstrated significant differences between speech feature measures in informational and relational conversations. Furthermore, these findings were generally robust across conversations with different partners.
CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest that contextual demands influence speech behaviors. These findings provide empirical support for the interpersonal synergy model and highlight important considerations for assessing speech behaviors in individuals with communication disorders.
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Young Adult; Adult; Speech; Interpersonal Relations; Speech Acoustics; Verbal Behavior; Communication
PubMed: 38629972
DOI: 10.1044/2024_JSLHR-23-00622 -
CoDAS 2023Dynamic vocal analysis (DVA) is an auditory-perceptual and acoustic vocal assessment strategy that provides estimates on the biomechanics and aerodynamics of vocal...
Dynamic vocal analysis (DVA) is an auditory-perceptual and acoustic vocal assessment strategy that provides estimates on the biomechanics and aerodynamics of vocal production by performing frequency and intensity variation tasks and using voice acoustic spectrography. The objective of this experience report is to demonstrate the use of DVA in the assessment of vocal functionality of dysphonic and non-dysphonic individuals, with a special focus on the laryngeal musculature. Phonatory tasks consisted of sustained vowel, "a" or "é", and/or connected speech, in three intensities (habitual, soft, and loud) and three frequencies (habitual, high, and low), as well as ascending and descending glissando. The adjustments of the laryngeal and paralaryngeal muscles can be inferred from the different DVA tasks. The main characteristics of the laryngeal muscles analyzed are control of glottic adduction, stretching, and shortening of the vocal folds; the main characteristics of the paralaryngeal musculature are mainly related to the vertical laryngeal position in the neck. While the sustained vowel evaluates the vocal functionality with a focus on the larynx, connected speech allows the evaluation of the articulatory adjustments employed. An acoustic spectrographic software can be used to visualize the performance of such tasks. The clinical application of the DVA will be exemplified using acoustic spectrography plates from normal and dysphonic voices, taken from a voice bank. Individuals who perform the DVA tasks in a balanced way, with adequate vocal quality and without phonatory effort, demonstrate good vocal functionality. On the other hand, difficulties in performing these tasks with worsening vocal quality and/or increased muscle tension may be indications of altered vocal functionality.
Topics: Humans; Voice; Speech; Phonation; Voice Quality; Larynx
PubMed: 37729254
DOI: 10.1590/2317-1782/20232021083pt -
Integrative Psychological & Behavioral... Sep 2023This comment paper reviews Fossa (2022) from the perspective of the semiotics of inner speech. The syntactic and semantic features of inner speech described in Vygotsky,... (Review)
Review
This comment paper reviews Fossa (2022) from the perspective of the semiotics of inner speech. The syntactic and semantic features of inner speech described in Vygotsky, Thinking and Speech, Chap. 7, are, on the one hand, a source of creativity through the affective dimension of inner spech and, on the other hand, a therapeutic function of psychoanalysis and other forms of psychotherapy. The function of inner speech in the pre-reflective dimension is the focus of Fossa's edited volume. In order to reinforce this argument, the present paper takes as its cue the internal forms of words discussed by Potebnya and examines them. The internal form of words has certain primordial features and evokes a figure (образ; picture). Internal forms have figurative properties. Through this context-independent figuration (phonological, visual image, experiential sense of meaning), semantics causes a unit with other words in a loose semantic linkage. As they are not bound by the external form of segmented speech, they bring about a sense of reification, as if the internal form repeats itself in the proximity of semantic sense, even if the manifested expressive content is different. The internal form of words, in which the form conveys meaning as it is, reveals the semiotic character of dreams and free association, which psychoanalysis uses as clinical material. Many psychotherapies actively use pre-linguistic mediating effects, because surrendering to the internal forms that are repeated in inner speech allows the subject to return to a pre-reflective dimension from which a new subject can be recovered. From the above, this paper has shown that in the boundary zone of the transition from inner speech to outer speech situations, exposure to alterity, to intimate unknown, is involved in the constitution of the subject.
Topics: Humans; Free Association; Speech; Psychotherapy; Psychoanalysis; Language
PubMed: 37171667
DOI: 10.1007/s12124-023-09772-1 -
Systematic Reviews Jul 2023We systematically reviewed the literature and performed a meta-analysis on the effects of speech therapy and phonosurgery, for transgender women, in relation to the... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
We systematically reviewed the literature and performed a meta-analysis on the effects of speech therapy and phonosurgery, for transgender women, in relation to the fundamental frequency gain of the voice, regarding the type of vocal sample collected, and we compared the effectiveness of the treatments. In addition, the study design, year, country, types of techniques used, total therapy time, and vocal assessment protocols were analyzed.
METHODS
We searched the PubMed, Lilacs, and SciELO databases for observational studies and clinical trials, published in English, Portuguese, or Spanish, between January 2010 and January 2023. The selection of studies was carried out according to Prisma 2020. The quality of selected studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale.
RESULTS
Of 493 studies, 31 were deemed potentially eligible and retrieved for full-text review and 16 were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. Six studies performed speech therapy and ten studies phonosurgery. The speech therapy time did not influence the post-treatment gain in voice fundamental frequency (p = 0.6254). The type of sample collected significantly influenced the post-treatment voice frequency gain (p < 0.01). When the vocal sample was collected through vowel (p < 0.01) and reading (p < 0.01), the gain was significantly more heterogeneous between the different types of treatment. Phonosurgery is significantly more effective in terms of fundamental frequency gain compared to speech therapy alone, regardless of the type of sample collected (p < 0.01). The average gain of fundamental frequency after speech therapy, in the /a/ vowel sample, was 27 Hz, 39.05 Hz in reading, and 25.42 Hz in spontaneous speech. In phonosurgery, there was a gain of 71.68 Hz for the vowel /a/, 41.07 Hz in reading, and 39.09 Hz in spontaneous speech. The study with the highest gain (110 Hz) collected vowels, and the study with the lowest gain (15 Hz), spontaneous speech. The major of the included studies received a score between 4 and 8 on the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.
CONCLUSION
The type of vocal sample collected influences the gain result of the fundamental frequency after treatment. Speech therapy and phonosurgery increased the fundamental frequency and improved female voice perception and vocal satisfaction. However, phonosurgery yielded a greater fundamental frequency gain in the different samples collected. The study protocol was registered at Prospero (CRD42017078446).
Topics: Female; Humans; Speech Therapy; Transgender Persons; Speech; Voice; Databases, Factual
PubMed: 37481572
DOI: 10.1186/s13643-023-02267-5 -
Language, Speech, and Hearing Services... Jul 2023This review article critically interrogates the history and the current practice of standardized assessment in speech and language therapy. Speech and language... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE
This review article critically interrogates the history and the current practice of standardized assessment in speech and language therapy. Speech and language assessments utilizing standardized linguistic norms are a critical tool for constructing disability and controlling disabled individuals. Such practices are rooted in a medical model of disability where the linguistic practice(s) of the individual is pathologized to create normalcy and disorder.
METHOD
We examine how these practices are anchored in eugenics and the racist logics of intelligence testing in which racialized populations were rendered as linguistically and biologically inferior.
RESULTS
This review article shows how ideologies governing standardized assessments are influenced by racism, ableism, and the nation-state and serve as foundational mechanisms to enable surveillance and capital production. It demonstrates how standard language ideologies are central to standardized testing. Speech and language therapy practices upholding these ideologies contribute to unrestrained wealth generation for the testing industry.
CONCLUSIONS
The review article ends with a call for clinicians, educators, and researchers to critically examine the relationship between standardized assessment, race, disability, and capitalism in speech-language therapy. This process will contribute toward dismantling the hegemonic role of standardized assessment in oppression and marginalization of speech and language-disabled individuals.
Topics: Humans; Speech; Language Therapy; Speech Therapy; Language; Linguistics
PubMed: 37018017
DOI: 10.1044/2023_LSHSS-22-00141