Folia phoniatrica最新文献

Cepstral coefficients calculated out of a linear prediction have been used to discriminate two groups of 19 control children and 12 patients with velar impairment. French vowels /a/, /i/, /u/ had been studied using the cepstral coefficients. Vowels /i/ and /u/ appeared to be efficient to perform the separation on acoustic grounds. A 100% recognition score can be reached when the two vowels are considered together. Modifications of the cepstrums dealing with velar incompetence are also discussed. A way to make an automatic grading of the pathology is finally presented.

Auditory lateralization was examined in 21 monozygotic twin pairs (n = 42) and 52 singletons (healthy volunteers). Nine of the twin pairs were discordant for handedness, and 12 consisted of concordantly right-handed persons. All subjects were studied with a German dichotic consonant-vowel recall test using the syllables /ka/, /ta/, /pa/, /ga/, /da/ and /ba/ as stimuli. There was (i) a marked right-ear advantage in right handed singletons (as expected), (ii) no significant ear advantage among monozygotic twins (neither among those concordant nor those discordant handedness), and (iii) no relation between the direction of ear advantage within twin pairs. These data suggest that auditory lateralization is largely determined nongenetically.

Comprehensive speech examinations of 10 equally affected subjects with moderate, treated Parkinson's disease were performed before and 4 weeks following initiation of treatment with selegiline (deprenyl), with other drug therapies unchanged. Forty different measures relating to the speech processes of respiration, phonation, resonation, articulation and prosody were examined to measure changes in performance due to selegiline. Significant improvements were noted for 8 of the 40 measures, with these improvements relating to the speech processes of articulation and respiration. The potential interactive effects of comedication are discussed. In addition, previously undescribed comprehensive speech characteristics of moderate Parkinson's disease are presented and discussed.

Many useful objective measurements of air volume and flow may be made with a high degree of validity and reliability using present-day respirometers within a speech clinic. We have studied measures of aerodynamic function in 76 British Caucasian subjects and derived reference equations for mean flow rate (MFR), phonation quotient (PQ), vocal velocity index (VVI), phonation time and the phonation volume/vital capacity ratio. Measures from resting breathing patterns have also been investigated. Age was found to be an important determinant in the reference equations. MFR, PQ and VVI were all greater than previously reported. The equations derived in this study should provide a more appropriate assessment of aerodynamic function than the previously reported normal ranges.

Nine individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) and nine normal control subjects, matched for sex and age, were compared on a standardized assessment protocol for dysarthria. Simple measures of hand and gait motility were also obtained. A kinematic analysis of vertical jaw movements during speech was performed by using an optoelectronic technique. The PD subjects were examined during both induced off L-dopa and on L-dopa states, and their performance was compared between the two conditions. Significant group differences were found for all kinematic measures during a syllable repetition task, as well as for the total dysarthria test scores and certain individual test items. Implications and clinical usefulness of the kinematic approach to the study of oral motor functions are discussed.

We have applied high-resolution vocal frequent analysis to a population of singing voices. Two important elements have become apparent: (1) Confirmation that the singing formant originates in the resonators. This is observed especially on a low fundamental, and it is acquired through technical skill and experience. (2) Observation of the vibrato, which, isolated from the clinical study, regarding only its graphic presentation, could have been interpreted as 'abnormal'.

The authors used long-time averaged spectrum and three-dimensional analysis of periodicity (3D-PAN) for analyzing emotional expressions in utterances. They confirmed the movement of the skewness of formant region, that is getting smaller at anger and at joy. It can reach positive values. The skewness is higher at sadness. These findings correspond to the physiological phenomena that we can follow in the whole musculature. The 3D-PAN has not brought any new finding as far.

We present a new method of individual tracheal valve fitting for laryngectomized patients with voice prosthesis. In cases with morphologically poor tracheostoma the adhesion of the tracheal cannula or valve ring might be impaired by reduced contact surface to the skin. In some cases obligatory circumferential occlusion leads to stretching and higher tension of the adhering ring. Our technique of individual fitting with a silicon adapter permits airtight, tension-free adherence of tracheal valves, or, if desired, facilitation of stoma-closing with a finger, when the tracheostoma is deformed or too big.

Tape recordings before and after successful voice therapy from 174 subjects with non-organic voice disorders (functional dysphonia) were analysed by long-time averaged voice spectrograms (LTAS). In female as well as in male voices there was a statistically significant increase in level in the first formant region of the spectra. In the female voices there was also an increase in level in the region of the fundamental. The LTAS were compared to the results of a perceptual evaluation of the voice qualities by a small group of expert listeners. There was no significant change of the LTAS in voices with negligible amelioration after therapy. In the voices, where the change after therapy was perceptually rated to be considerable, the LTAS showed only an increase in intensity, but the general configuration of the spectral envelope remained unchanged. There was only a weakly positive correlation between the quality ratings and parameters of the spectra.