Pausing and fluency in speech of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) causes a variety of symptoms in speech production, such as more frequent pauses and an increase in the duration of pauses in the speech. However, there is almost no data on whether the disease affects speech fluency in other ways, such as changes in the frequency of disfluencies in speech. The main question of this study is the following: if we examine speech fluency in speech tasks requiring different cognitive load, will there be a difference between patients and controls? Twenty people with relapsing-remitting MS (3 men and 17 women) and 20 age- and education-matched control speakers (4 men and 16 women) participated in the study. Speech samples were recorded with each participant in three speech tasks: 1) spontaneous narratives about their own lives, 2) narratives about their previous day, and 3) narrative recalls based on a heard text. In the speech samples, pauses and disfluencies were annotated and the duration of pauses was measured. Then, the frequency of pauses and disfluencies were calculated and the types of disfluencies were examined. The results show that there are differences in the frequency and duration of pauses between people with MS and controls. However, there were no significant differences in the frequency of disfluencies between the groups. The same types of disfluencies occurred in the same frequency in both groups. The results help to better understand the speech production processes in MS.

Extracting Phonetic Posterior-Based Features for Detecting Multiple Sclerosis From Speech.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system which, in addition to affecting motor and cognitive functions, may also lead to specific changes in the speech of patients. Speech production, comprehension, repetition and naming tasks, as well as structural and content changes in narratives, might indicate a limitation of executive functions. In this study we present a speech-based machine learning technique to distinguish speakers with relapsing-remitting subtype MS and healthy controls (HC). We exploit the fact that MS might cause a motor speech disorder similar to dysarthria, which, with our hypothesis, might affect the phonetic posterior estimates supplied by a Deep Neural Network acoustic model. From our experimental results, the proposed posterior posteriorgram-based feature extraction approach is useful for detecting MS: depending on the actual speech task, we obtained Equal Error Rate values as low as 13.3%, and AUC scores up to 0.891, indicating a competitive and more consistent classification performance compared to both the x-vector and the openSMILE 'ComParE functionals' attributes. Besides this discrimination performance, the interpretable nature of the phonetic posterior features might also make our method suitable for automatic MS screening or monitoring the progression of the disease. Furthermore, by examining which specific phonetic groups are the most useful for this feature extraction process, the potential utility of the proposed phonetic features could also be utilized in the speech therapy of MS patients.

Speech rate and fluency in young-onset Parkinson's disease: A longitudinal case study from early to post brain surgery stage.

The aim of this study is to analyse the speech rate, pausing and fluency of a patient with young-onset Parkinson's Disease in different stages of the disease. Speech samples of the patient were recorded in the early stages of the disease until after the brain surgery. The recordings were compared to the speech of healthy control speakers. Speech rate, articulation rate, pausing and the frequency of disfluencies were analysed. Results show that all parameters are influenced by the severity of the disease, but articulation rate is the most affected.

Speech tempo in Hungarian speaking children and adolescents: The effects of age and speaking tasks.

This paper provides new data on speech tempo in typically developing Hungarian-speaking children and adolescents obtained in three different speaking contexts and analyzed using an extended set of temporal measures. We asked whether the expected developmental trend across four age levels (6, 9, 13, and 17 years) was equally reflected in children's speech rate, articulation rate, and pausing (frequency, duration, and proportion of pauses), and how their speech tempo was modulated by the cognitive demands of different speaking tasks (spontaneous narratives, story retellings, and story generations). We found a systematic incremental increase in speech rate and articulation rate with each higher age level, but the corresponding decrease in the frequency, duration, and proportion of pauses was less systematic. Increased cognitive demands in the story generation and retelling tasks resulted in slower speech and articulation rates than in spontaneous narratives. The demands of different tasks were also reflected in a distinct pattern of pausing. Overall, the study suggests a protracted developmental time course of temporal control in narrative discourse production and underscores the importance of considering speaking contexts when comparing findings across experimental studies.

Disfluency clusters in typical and atypical finnish adult speech. A pilot study.

This study first aimed to investigate disfluency clusters in typical and atypical Finnish adult speakers. Secondly, it aimed to observe possible fluency strategies in speakers representing different fluency levels. In addition to individual disfluency types, we examined different characteristics of disfluency clusters produced by 23 speakers in a fluency continuum. Three adult speaker groups participated in this study: typical speakers with high disfluency frequencies (GA), typical and atypical speakers with very high disfluency frequencies (GB) and atypical speakers with the highest disfluency frequencies (GC). Data were based on a narrative speech task, and disfluency clusters were analysed with both traditional methods and alternative methods. Two statistically significant differences between the speaker groups were found: 1) the length of the clusters was highest in GC compared to other groups, and 2) speakers in GC formulated their utterances more than other groups. Other results, although nonsignificant, were that 3) speakers in GA revised utterances more often than interrupted them compared to GB and GC speakers, and 4) clusters using repetitive words and phrases to maintain fluency were found in GA and GB only. In this study, different fluency levels revealed different strategies in both the production of single disfluencies and in disfluency clusters. It seems that more fluent speakers formulate their messages differently than less fluent speakers, and repetitions can be used to maintain fluency and possibly prevent difficult clusters, as noted with more fluent speakers.

Rate vs. rhythm characteristics of cluttering with data from a "syllable-timed" language.

PURPOSE: Cluttering is a type of fluency disorder characterized by a speech rate which is perceived to be fast and/or irregular as well as by an abnormal speech rhythm. As far as we know, no research has been conducted as yet using objective measurements and acoustic phonetic description on the rhythm of cluttered speech. The aim of this study is to show by objective measurements whether there are any differences between the rhythm of cluttered and control speech, and which parameters point to such differences. METHODS: For the analysis, recordings of spontaneous speech samples were taken from people who clutter (PWC) as well as from control speakers. Typical speech rhythm values and articulation rate were calculated in each speech sample. RESULTS: Results have confirmed that the rhythm of cluttering is slightly different from that of control speech in terms of various values, but the effect size is only small. It must be noted, however, that the difference between the two groups was not apparent in all analyzed values. CONCLUSION: The timing differences between cluttered and control speech are manifested primarily in the articulation rate while peculiarities in speech rhythm are almost negligible.

Self-initiated error-repairs in cluttering.

The aim of the study is the analysis of the error-repairs of people with cluttering (PWC), whether they repair their speech errors similarly to control speakers or not. Error-repairs were analysed in spontaneous speech samples of 13 PWC and 13 age- and sex-matched control speakers. Error-to-cutoff time, duration of the editing phase, and error-to-repair time were measured. Strategies of repairs (point of interruption, proportion of delays, and types of editing terms and phases) were also examined. Results of the two groups were compared. Results show that there are no differences between the two groups in the total duration of error-repairs. However, there might be differences between the two groups in the self-repair strategies. Results suggest that control speakers might try to plan the error-repairs in parallel with the speech production and they interrupt the speech when the repair is available. In contrast, PWC interrupt speaking earlier perhaps to focus on planning self-repairs.

Changes in temporal features of speech in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) - case studies.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease which, in addition to affecting motor and cognitive functions, may involve language disorders. Despite the importance of speech and language disorders in the quality of life of patients, there are only a few studies about language and speech production difficulties in MS. The aim of this research is to describe the limitation patterns of speech and temporal characteristics of the suprasegmental level in two SPMS cases related to various types of spontaneous speech tasks. We assumed the change of the cognitive load has a greater effect on spontaneous speech in MS patients than in controls. Two SPMS patients, and two sex-, age- and education matched healthy controls were studied. We applied verbal fluency tests (phonemic, episodic, semantic, verb), digit span test, non-word repetition test, Corsi Block Tapping Test, Stroop Colour and Word Test, and Trail Making Test. Token Test was used to measure speech comprehension. The four speech tasks required relatively different degrees of cognitive effort: (a) spontaneous narrative about own life; (b) event description; (c) picture description; (d) narrative recall. Our results show that there are differences between MS patients and controls: MS patients produced slower speech and articulation rate, and they had more and longer pauses in every speech task. Speech tasks and the degree of the cognitive load had a greater effect on MS patients than on control speakers.

Clustering of disfluencies in typical, fast and cluttered speech.

Cluttering is a fluency disorder which can be characterised by excessive disfluencies. However, the low number of studies dealing with the analysis of disfluencies in cluttering show contradictory results. The aim of this article is to analyse disfluency clusters in cluttered, fast and typical speech. Frequency of all disfluency clusters and those complex disfluencies which contain more than two constituents were analysed. The number and types of the constituents of complex disfluencies and the reason of their occurrence were analysed in detail. Results show that complex disfluencies occurred the most frequently in cluttered speech, and the least frequently in exceptionally rapid speech (ERS). Persons who clutter (PWC) had more and much longer complex disfluencies than typical speakers. Complex disfluencies which suggest difficulties in linguistic formulation occurred in cluttering significantly more times than in typical speech. The results bring us closer to understanding why there are perceptually more disfluencies in cluttered speech than in typical one. In addition, they also seem to strengthen the notion that cluttering is a language disorder.

Disfluent whole-word repetitions in cluttering: Durational patterns and functions.

In this article, disfluent word-repetitions are analysed in cluttered and control speech. The main questions are the following: (1) Do different functions of word-repetitions occur in different ratio in cluttered and control speech? (2) Are there any differences between PWC and control speakers in durational parameters of disfluent word-repetitions? Results show that there are differences between the two groups of speakers in the types of word-repetitions, and in their durational parameters. In cluttered speech, the most frequent type of repetitions were covert self-repairs while in control speech canonical repetitions are dominated. There were significant differences in the durational parameters of word-repetitions of both groups except in the function of covert self-monitoring. According to the results, it can be concluded that as in earlier studies, analysis of the frequency of types of disfluencies in themselves is not enough as this analysis does not always show the differences between the two groups. It is important to learn more about the durational and functional characteristics of the specific types of disfluencies comparing them in cluttered and control speech.

Characteristics of pausing in normal, fast and cluttered speech.

One of the main symptoms of cluttering is atypical pausing. However, there is little information about what this atypical pausing means, because typical speakers also have pauses not only at syntactic boundaries, but also within syntactic structures, and even within words. The aim of this study is to analyse how pausing strategies of persons who clutter (PWCs) differ from pausing strategies of normal speakers and speakers with exceptionally rapid speech (ERSs). Results show that there is a difference between the groups in the frequency and/or duration of pauses and the place of their occurrences. ERSs have less and longer pauses than PWCs and control speakers. There is difference between PWCs and control speakers only in the duration of pauses. The results contribute to the assessment, diagnosis, and therapy of cluttering.

Temporal characteristics of speech: the effect of age and speech style.

Aging affects temporal characteristics of speech. It is still a question how these changes occur in different speech styles which require various cognitive skills. In this paper speech rate, articulation rate, and pauses of 20 young and 20 old speakers are analyzed in four speech styles: spontaneous narrative, narrative recalls, a three-participant conversation, and reading aloud. Results show that age has a significant effect only on speech rate, articulation rate, and frequency of pauses. Speech style has a higher effect on temporal parameters than speakers' age.

Voice onset time and speakers' age: data from Hungarian.

The aim of this paper was to investigate the VOT of voiceless plosives (/p, t, k/) in the speech of Hungarian-speaking elderly. Read speech of 25 old (70 to 90 years) and 25 young (21 to 32 years) was analyzed. In each recording, the VOT of phonologically short [p, t, k] was measured. Our data show that VOT values of all three types of voiceless plosives would exhibit significant differences both in old and in young Hungarians' speech. Bilabial and alveolar plosives had significantly longer VOT in old subjects' speech than in that of young subjects, while old subjects produced significantly shorter VOTs in pronouncing [k] than their younger peers. We argue that these results are attributable to (1) significantly slower rate of articulation (yielding longer speech sounds in general), and (2) the articulatory and aerodynamic background of the production of plosives.