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Volume perception in parkinsonian speech.
A K Ho1, J L Bradshaw, T Iansek
1Psychology Department, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Summary
Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and hypophonic dysarthria speak more quietly but perceive their speech volume as louder than controls. This suggests a potential perceptual deficit contributing to speech production issues in PD.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Speech-Language Pathology
- Auditory Perception
Background:
- Hypophonic dysarthria is a common speech disorder in idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD).
- Understanding the relationship between speech volume production and perception is crucial for managing PD-related communication impairments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the discrepancies between actual speech volume production and perceived speech volume in individuals with PD and hypophonic dysarthria.
- To compare these production-perception differences with those in healthy individuals.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 15 idiopathic PD patients with hypophonic dysarthria and 15 healthy controls were assessed.
- Speech volume production was measured during reading and conversation tasks under varying loudness instructions.
- Speech volume perception was evaluated through immediate self-assessment and playback self-assessment.
Main Results:
- Patients with PD produced speech at a lower volume than controls.
- Patients with PD showed a smaller difference between speech production and perception compared to controls.
- PD patients overestimated their speech volume in both reading and conversation tasks, perceiving it as louder than controls did.
Conclusions:
- Individuals with PD and hypophonic dysarthria exhibit altered speech volume regulation, characterized by reduced production and overestimated perception.
- The findings suggest a potential underlying perceptual deficit influencing speech production in PD, or that perception is affected by the mechanisms generating quiet speech.