Correlation Analysis Between Cortical Structural Features and Acoustic Features in Patients With Parkinson's Disease

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Speech Science
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting motor control.
• Acoustic changes in speech are common in PD, but their relationship with brain structure is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between acoustic speech features and cortical brain characteristics in Parkinson's disease patients.
• To compare these features between PD patients and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

• Collected speech samples (vowels, plosives, voiced consonants) and extracted acoustic parameters (F0, VOT, formants, Jitter, Shimmer, HNR).
• Acquired cranial MRI scans and analyzed cortical features (thickness, area, volume) using the Desikan-Killiany-Tourville Atlas.
• Utilized statistical tests (Levene's, t-test, Mann-Whitney U) and Spearman correlations to analyze differences and associations.

Main Results:

• PD patients showed significantly lower F3 for vowel /i/ and higher jitter for vowel /u/ (males) compared to controls.
• Cortical thickness, area, and volume were reduced in most brain regions of PD patients, with some areas showing thickening.
• Significant correlations were found between various acoustic parameters (F0, F1-F3, B2-B3, VO-VVO, Jitter, HNR, VOT) and cortical features (thickness, area, volume) in specific brain regions (frontal, temporal, entorhinal, fusiform, precuneus) in PD patients.

Conclusions:

• Parkinson's disease significantly affects both acoustic speech characteristics and cortical brain features.
• A notable correlation exists between specific acoustic alterations and changes in cortical structure in PD patients, highlighting a potential link between vocal changes and neurodegeneration.