Speech Prosody in Parkinson's Disease

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between perceived speech severity and the speech prosody in speakers with Parkinson's Disease (PD). Recordings from 39 males and females with PD and 33 healthy older adult males were analyzed. Results showed that there was not a significant relationship between perceptual severity and frequency (p= .970) and amplitude (p= .15) modulation, but that there was a positive relationship between perceived severity and amplitude and frequency modulation (p= <.001). Independent samples t-tests showed that there was an effect of sex on frequency modulation in speakers with PD (p=.002) and a difference in frequency modulation between male speakers with PD and male control speakers (p= .023). However, there was not an effect of age of onset on frequency (p= .608) and amplitude (p=.627) modulation and there was not an effect of sex on amplitude (p= .140) modulation. Also, there was not a difference in amplitude modulation between male speakers with PD and males control speakers (p= .758). This study shows the importance of considering factors like sex when working on speech with people with PD, and supports the need for further research on the effect of these and other variables on speech in people with PD.