Voice and Fluency Changes as a Function of Speech Task and Deep Brain Stimulation

         

Language is a skilled process that finds its roots in the left hemisphere of the brain. In class, we discussed the functionality of speech and language, as well as the inability of said processes. I wondered what happened to make the distinctive properties of speech, and through extension, the processes that might improve speech disabilities. Parkinson's disease provides a basic biological means of anatomical maladies that impare speech processes. The following survey used individuals with Parkinson's disease and deep brain stimulation in order to better understand how motor skills in speech are so detailed, and how problematic situations in the brain can be corrected.  In the past, deep brain stimulation helped with other motor skills in individuals with Parkinson's, but this form of therapy was maladaptive when it came to speech motor skills. The reason behind this is the fact that it focused on the basal ganglia.

                Participants in the study had already had deep brain stimulation before at the time of data collection due to Parkinson's disease, and were able to . Participants were tested with deep brain stimulators on and off during data collection, and were asked to do three different tasks. Each task was performed in both on and off stimulators, and there was at least a week between these two conditions.  The first task was to talk about a hobby or something of interest. This was to get speech patterns as they occurred at random. The second task was to repeat phrases from what they had previously talked about, in order to compare a repetitive measure against the random. Lastly, participants were asked to repeat phrases that the researchers had asked of them.  These tasks allowed the samples to contain repeated and random measures.

                The researchers found that no matter if the stimulator was on or not, the length of time that a person Parkinson's correlated with how often they used terms like "uhm" or breaks in their conversation.  They also found this to be true when the stimulator was off and the participant was asked to repeat their conversation.  However, individuals were less likely to use breaks when repeating their conversation than just conversating. Overall, the findings of the research showed significant differences, but not by grand measures.  

Diana, Rogers, T., Godier, V., Tagliati, M., & Sidtis, J. J. (2010). Voice and Fluency Changes as a Function of Speech Task and Deep Brain Stimulation. Journal Of Speech, Language & Hearing Research, 53(5), 1167-1177. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2010/09-0154)