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Ji Min Lee (Penn State) – Relationship between Articulatory Kinematics and Acoustics in Individuals with Dysarthria
March 1, 2019
9:00 am
Moore 127

Ji Min Lee (Penn State) – Relationship between Articulatory Kinematics and Acoustics in Individuals with Dysarthria

Relationship between Articulatory Kinematics and Acoustics in Individuals with Dysarthria

 

Dysarthria is a speech disorder that involves muscle weakness. It occurs due to various neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The talk focuses on speech production of individuals with dysarthria secondary to ALS. When treating individuals with dysarthria, enhancing speech intelligibility is a primary goal. Acoustic characteristics such as formant frequencies critically impact intelligibility. The current study examines how individuals with ALS use their articulators (tongue and jaw) to produce formant frequencies. Tongue and jaw positions were collected using electromagnetic articulography while speakers produced nine vowels in /h/-vowel-/d/ contexts. Acoustic signals were recorded simultaneously. The results showed that the way individuals with ALS use their articulators to produce formant frequencies is different from the controls. Furthermore, the pattern differed according to the severity of dysarthria. I will discuss the findings in relation to
potential articulator behaviors to enhance speech intelligibility in these individuals.