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. 2021 Dec 13;64(12):4682-4694.
doi: 10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00153. Epub 2021 Nov 3.

Feedback and Feedforward Auditory-Motor Processes for Voice and Articulation in Parkinson's Disease

Defne Abur  1 , Austeja Subaciute  2 , Ayoub Daliri  1   3 , Rosemary A Lester-Smith  1   4 , Ashling A Lupiani  1   5 , Dante Cilento  1 , Nicole M Enos  2   6 , Hasini R Weerathunge  2 , Monique C Tardif  1   7 , Cara E Stepp  1   2   8
Affiliations

Feedback and Feedforward Auditory-Motor Processes for Voice and Articulation in Parkinson's Disease

Defne Abur et al. J Speech Lang Hear Res. .

Abstract

Purpose: Unexpected and sustained manipulations of auditory feedback during speech production result in "reflexive" and "adaptive" responses, which can shed light on feedback and feedforward auditory-motor control processes, respectively. Persons with Parkinson's disease (PwPD) have shown aberrant reflexive and adaptive responses, but responses appear to differ for control of vocal and articulatory features. However, these responses have not been examined for both voice and articulation in the same speakers and with respect to auditory acuity and functional speech outcomes (speech intelligibility and naturalness).

Method: Here, 28 PwPD on their typical dopaminergic medication schedule and 28 age-, sex-, and hearing-matched controls completed tasks yielding reflexive and adaptive responses as well as auditory acuity for both vocal and articulatory features.

Results: No group differences were found for any measures of auditory-motor control, conflicting with prior findings in PwPD while off medication. Auditory-motor measures were also compared with listener ratings of speech function: first formant frequency acuity was related to speech intelligibility, whereas adaptive responses to vocal fundamental frequency manipulations were related to speech naturalness.

Conclusions: These results support that auditory-motor processes for both voice and articulatory features are intact for PwPD receiving medication. This work is also the first to suggest associations between measures of auditory-motor control and speech intelligibility and naturalness.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Separate hardware and software were used for shifts in voice fundamental frequency (f o, in green) and vowel first formant (F 1, in purple) for the active (left) and passive (right) setups.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Auditory-motor measures for persons with Parkinson's disease (PwPD; dark colors) and controls (light colors). Group means are plotted as solid lines for reflexive and adaptive responses and solid circles for auditory acuity. Group standard deviations are shown as shaded regions for reflexive and adaptive responses and interval bars for auditory acuity. JND = just-noticeable difference. *Indicates statistical significance at p < .05 level. ns indicates not statistically significant.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Speech intelligibility ratings (left) are shown as a function of passive F 1 acuity (%), and speech naturalness ratings (right) are shown as a function of mean adaptive f o responses (cents) for persons with Parkinson's disease (PwPD; dark blue markers) and controls (light blue markers).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abur, D. , Enos, N. M. , & Stepp, C. E. (2019). Visual analog scale ratings and orthographic transcription measures of sentence intelligibility in Parkinson's disease with variable listener exposure. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 28(3), 1222–1232. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_AJSLP-18-0275 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Abur, D. , Lester-Smith, R. A. , Daliri, A. , Lupiani, A. A. , Guenther, F. H. , & Stepp, C. E. (2018). Sensorimotor adaptation of voice fundamental frequency in Parkinson's disease. PLOS ONE, 13(1), Article e0191839. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191839 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Abur, D. , & Stepp, C. E. (2020). Acuity to changes in self-generated vocal pitch in Parkinson's disease. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 63(9), 3208–3214. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00003 - PMC - PubMed
    1. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2005). Guidelines for manual pure-tone threshold audiometry. https://www.asha.org/policy/
    1. Anand, S. , & Stepp, C. E. (2015). Listener perception of monopitch, naturalness, and intelligibility for speakers with Parkinson's disease. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 58(4), 1134–1144. https://doi.org/10.1044/2015_JSLHR-S-14-0243 - PMC - PubMed

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