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Parkinson's disease (PD) involves impairments of voice and speech (hypokinetic dysarthria). Dysprosody is one of the most common features of PD speech that includes alterations of rhythm and velocity of articulation. The aim of this study is the evaluation of dysprosody patterns in Parkinsonian patients during a sentence repetition task by means of a fully automated tool. Twenty PD patients (14 male and 6 female) and 19 healthy controls (9 male and 10 female) were tested. Results show significant differences between the two groups as far as the time interval between each sentence repetition ( T inter ), the percent of speech time with respect to sentence duration ( D %) and the Net Speech Rate (NSR – defined as the number of syllables of the sentence divided by the effective speech time) are concerned. In particular, T inter is larger in PD patients while D % is higher in the control group. These results show that PD patients may exhibit longer pauses between each sentence repetition and a lower percentage of “speech time” during a whole repetition period. Thus, the decrease of D % leads to an increase of NSR. Other acoustic parameters (noise and F0 variability) did not show any significant difference. This study confirms that speech in PD patients is characterized by short rushes followed by unorthodox pauses. These results may lead to the development of a system for the automatic acoustic analysis which could significantly reduce the processing time in particular during pre-processing, that to date is a time-consuming and operator-dependent step especially in case of recordings of long duration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explorative analysis of prosodic parameters in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) and in healthy controls in correlation to gender, disease-specific parameters, and motor symptoms. Acoustical analysis was performed on 169 patients with PD and 64 age-matched healthy controls based on a four sentence-reading task. Assessment of motor impairment was performed on the basis of Unified Parkinson''s Disease Rating Scale/Motor Score III and further symptom-related subscores. F 0 variability was reduced in male and female PD patients, whereas meanF 0 was found to be elevated in male patients with PD only. No significant difference in overall articulatory rate was found between PD patients and controls, but patients showed a reduction of percentual pause time within polysyllabic words (Pinw%). Female PD patients showed an additional reduction of percentual pause ratio (PR%). Variables of intonation and articulatory rate were not correlated to each other. Strong correlations were seen between some distinct prosodic variables and the axial and akinesia parkinsonian symptoms with some gender-related particularities. Reduction of F 0 variability and Pinw% are the most conspicuous features of parkinsonian dysprosody with some further gender-related characteristics. Changes of intonation variability and speech velocity seem to be controlled by different pathophysiological conditions. In consideration of some gender differences, several distinct aspects of dysprosody can be interpreted as axial and akinesia symptoms of PD. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Objective: The aim of our study was the analysis of fundamental frequency (F0 ) variability (fundamental frequency standard deviation [F 0SD]) and net speech rate (NSR) in the course of reading in Parkinsonian patients'' speech, with special emphasis on the changes of F 0SD and NSR from the first to the last sentence of the task. Patients and Methods: We examined 138 patients with Parkinson''s disease (PD) and 50 age-matched control persons using a standardized reading task with subsequent acoustical analysis of F 0SD and NSR. A subgroup of 20 PD patients underwent a standardized levodopa challenge. Results: F 0SD in PD patients was significantly reduced compared with the control group when based on the measurement of the entire reading task. Furthermore, in the PD group, NSR and F 0SD showed significant changes from the first to the last sentence of the reading task, but no correlation was seen between NSR and F 0SD. Standardized levodopa administration had no effect on NSR and F 0SD when related to the entire reading passage, but the aforementioned decline of F 0 variability in the course of reading seemed to be counterbalanced by levodopa administration. Conclusions: In this large series of PD patients, previous findings of reduced F 0SD in PD were confirmed. Additionally, this is the first analysis to show an increasing reduction of F 0 variability in the course of reading mirroring abnormalities in the dynamical aspects of speech in PD. According to the results of the levodopa challenge, dopaminergic stimulation seems to ameliorate dynamic intonation changes over time, whereas overall intonation variability might be a PD symptom independent of dopaminergic control. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]