We will present our current research findings at the annual convention of the American Speech Language and Hearing Association in Boston, MA
November 2018
The Speech Kinematics and Acoustics Lab will be present at the ASHA convention with 3 posters and 2 talks. Here are the details:
1. Speech Kinematic Characteristics of Talkers with Dysarthria due to Multiple Sclerosis.
Thursday November 15, 2018 1:30-3:00
Second-year graduate student Abish Lai will present findings of our work on speech kinematic characteristics in individuals with dysarthria due to MS.
2. Deviant Patterns of Dysarthria in Speakers with Huntington's Disease.
Thursday November 15, 2018 3:30-4:00
Sarah Diehl, who is currently a PhD student under in the direction of Dr. Michael de Riesthal, will present our findings on a cluster analysis of speech perceptual characteristics in a fairly large cohort of patients with Huntington's disease.
3. Effects of Speech Modifications on Tongue and Jaw Articulatory Performance in Talkers with Multiple Sclerosis.
Friday November 16, 2018 10:30-12:00
Second-year graduate student Kristen Baldo will report findings on the effects of clear, loud, and slow speech cues on displacement and movement pattern variability of the tongue and jaw in individuals with dysarthria due to MS.
4. Phonetic Complexity - An Important Construct for the Assessment of Progressive Dysarthria.
Saturday November 17, 2018 8:00-8:30
Mary Salazar, who is currently a PhD student under the direction of Dr. Mili Kuruvilla-Dugdale, will give this technical research talk on our collaborative effort on speech in individuals with dysarthria due to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
5. The Effect of Emotion on Pitch Patterns of Speech in Preschool-Age Children who Stutter.
Saturday November 17, 2018 1:00-2:30
Dr. Aysu Erdemir, who is currently a post-doc in Dr. Robin Jones's lab, will present findings on this collaboration with the Speech Kinematics and Acoustics Lab. In this retrospective study, we examined pitch patterns under two conditions (emotionally aroused vs. neutral) in children who persisted to stutter and those who recovered from stuttering.
Paper accepted in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders
October 2018
We are happy to announce the acceptance of our first paper in a medical journal! It was made possible because of strong support from the neurologists at Vanderbilt's Multiple Sclerosis clinic, particularly Dr. Francesca Bagnato, who was enthusiastic from the start and provided valuable input with regards to study design. The title is "A first investigation of tongue, lip, and jaw movements in persons with dysarthria due to multiple sclerosis” and the paper will appear in January 2019.
The Vanderbilt Speech Kinematics and Acoustics Lab is now on Twitter
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Poster presented at the 174th meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in New Orleans
December 2017
With this poster we present for the first time tongue- and jaw-kinematic and acoustic findings for speakers with dysarthria due to Parkinson’s disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Specifically, this study investigated the effects of different speech modifications on tongue and jaw movements and aimed to determine how these changes in tongue and jaw behavior contribute to changes in vowel acoustics. Based on the findings of the study, we can conclude that speakers with Parkinson's disease are able to change their tongue and jaw movements and vowel acoustics to a greater extent than speakers with ALS. Further, findings suggested that speakers with dysarthria due to ALS already use speech movements that result in best possible speech acoustics during their typical speech and cues to change their speech did not positively impact their speech behaviors. By contrast, speakers with dysarthria due to Parkinson's disease benefit from various cues (speak as clear as possible, speak slower, speak louder). The largest gain in vowel acoustics was observed in response to instructions to speak as clearly as possible and to slow down their rate of speech. Tongue and jaw movement changes contributed to the gains in acoustic vowel contrast. The poster can be found here.
Poster presentation at the annual convention of the American Speech Language and Hearing Association in Los Angeles, CA
November 2017
In collaboration with Drs. Claassen and Michael de Riesthal and PhD student Sarah Diehl the poster entitled “Speech Perceptual Characteristics of Individuals with Dysarthria Secondary to Huntington's Disease” will be presented at ASHA this November. Poster can be found here.
Paper accepted in Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
June 2017
We are happy to announce that the paper with the monster title “Tongue- and Jaw-Specific Contributions to Acoustic Vowel Contrast Changes in the Diphthong /ai/ in Response to Slow, Loud, and Clear Speech” was accepted in June.
Two Posters presented at the International Conference on Speech Motor Control in Groningen, Netherlands
June 2017
Dr. Mefferd presented her recent findings on tongue and jaw kinematics during speech in young adults. This study sets the stage for her current work on speakers with Parkinson's disease and ALS. Specifically, the study examined how jaw and tongue displacements independent of the jaw change in response to slow, loud, and clear speech and to what extent these changes account for the changes in vowel acoustic contrast. If you are interested in more details of the study, please have a look at the poster here.
Further, Dr. Mefferd and Dr. Mili Kuruvilla-Dugdale presented her recent collaborative efforts to examine tongue, lower lip and jaw movements in speakers with ALS during their typical speech and when instructed to speak as clearly as possible. If you are interested in more details of the study, please have a look at the poster here.
Research Paper on Articulatory Motor Control on Speakers with ALS published in the Journal of Communication Disorders
May 2017
We are proud to announce that our newest work is available in print. This study is a collaborate effort with Dr. Mili Kuruvilla-Dugdale, Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri. We investigated articulatory movement pattern variability in speakers with ALS. We were specifically interested in the effect of speaking rate (speaking slower and faster) on articulatory control of the tongue, lower lip, and jaw. Speakers with ALS showed increased variability during slowed speech relative to their typical speech. Further, we were also able to replicate previous findings of significantly lower jaw and lip movement pattern variability during typical speech in speakers with ALS when compared to healthy control speakers. A similar pattern of between-group effects was also observed for tongue movement variability. Although low movement variability is often associated with good motor control we proposed that the significantly lower movement variability during typical speech in speakers with ALS compared to healthy controls may also indicate a motor pathology, particularly during the early stages of speech decline.
Kuruvilla-Dugdale, M.S. & Mefferd, A.S. (in press). Spatiotemporal movement variability in ALS: Speaking rate effects on tongue, lower lip, and jaw motor control. Journal of Communication Disorders. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2017.05.002
Bite Block Effects on Vowel Acoustics in Talkers with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease
December 2016
Mary Jo Bissmeyer's thesis work was presented at the 5th joint meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and Acoustical Society of Japan in Honolulu, Hawaii. The title of her poster presentation was “Bite Block Effects on Vowel Acoustics in Talkers with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease." A 10mm bite block was used to isolate tongue and jaw during speech. Acoustic vowel contrast was examined during sentence repetitions produced by talkers with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and controls under jaw-free and jaw-fixed conditions. Study outcomes revealed that in talkers with ALS acoustic vowel contrast was significantly lower during bite block speech than jaw-free speech. However, in PD acoustic vowel contrast tended to be greater during bite block speech than during jaw-free speech. For controls, no difference was found between the two conditions. Further, group differences between impaired talkers and controls were only significant during bite block speech in talkers with ALS and during jaw-free speech in talkers with PD. Outcomes suggest that the jaw has a positive impact on acoustic vowel contrast in talkers with ALS but may have a negative impact on acoustic vowel contrast in talkers with PD. Further research is warranted to delineate the underlying mechanisms of the observed bite block effects on vowel acoustics.
The Speech Kinematics and Acoustics Lab receives funding from the National Institutes of Health
Dr. Mefferd's grant application “Tongue- and Jaw-Specific Contributions to Vowel Acoustic Changes: Towards a Mechanistic Model of Speech Intelligibility Loss and Recovery in Dysarthria” was funded by the National Institute of Deafness and other Communication Disorders. This grant will support research activities in the Speech Kinematics and Acoustics Lab for the coming 3 years.
Learn more about the National Institutes of Health.