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Levodopa-Based Changes on Vocalic Speech Movements during Prosodic Prominence Marking
Tabea Thies1,2, Doris Mücke2, Richard Dano3
1Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, University of Cologne, 50924 Cologne, Germany.
Brain Sciences
|June 2, 2021
Summary
Parkinson's disease patients can mark speech prominence using pitch and duration adjustments. Levodopa medication improved motor control, leading to more agile tongue movements and louder speech.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Speech-Language Pathology
- Acoustics
Background:
- Parkinson's disease (PD) significantly impacts motor control, affecting speech production.
- Understanding speech changes in PD is crucial for diagnosis and therapy.
- Prosodic prominence marking involves complex laryngeal and supra-laryngeal adjustments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate acoustic and articulatory speech changes in Parkinson's disease related to prosodic prominence.
- To examine the influence of dopaminergic medication on speech production and prominence marking.
Main Methods:
- Electromagnetic articulography recorded speech data from 16 Parkinson's disease patients.
- Speech tasks focused on prominence marking strategies under two conditions: with and without dopaminergic medication.
- Analysis included acoustic parameters (pitch, duration, intensity) and articulatory movements (tongue body).
Main Results:
- Parkinson's disease patients maintained prominence relations using prosodic markers like vowel duration and pitch modulation.
- Acoustic vowel space remained consistent, but articulatory tongue body movements were modulated for across-accentuation.
- Levodopa intake improved gross motor performance by 42%, accompanied by enhanced speech motor performance (louder, faster, larger tongue movements).
Conclusions:
- Parkinson's disease patients can effectively signal speech prominence despite motor deficits.
- Dopaminergic medication enhances motor control, leading to more agile tongue movements crucial for speech.
- These findings highlight the importance of articulatory movements in speech therapy for Parkinson's disease.
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