• Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.129-141
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• 2004

An auditory-perceptual evaluation has long been utilized in assessing dysarthric speech. The process involves subjective judgement and the results might vary depending on clinical experiences or training of listeners. This study aimed to investigate reliability of the auditory-perceptual evaluation of 22 multi -dimensional variables on 6 patients with Parkinsonian speech disorders. Listeners were divided into two groups: one consisted of 6 speech therapists with clinical experiences for three years or more, and the other 6 graduate students without any previous clinical background. The results showed that the former evaluated dysarthric speech with higher inter-rater and intra-rater reliabilities than the latter. Furthermore, such speech variables as 'precise consonant: 'speech intelligibility: and 'SMR regularity' were more influenced than others by clinical experiences. We, therefore, postulated that a reliable auditory-perceptual evaluation of dysarthric speech may require adequate amount of clinical training of listeners.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.39-49
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• 2004

An auditory-perceptual rating scale has long been utilized in an evaluation procedure of Parkinsonian speech. This study attempted to investigate various variables and appropriate equal-interval rating scale for each variable. We collected speech samples from 27 patients with Parkinsonian speech disorders. A total of 25 variables and descriptions for each variable across phonatory, resonatory, and articulatory dimensions were included in the rating scale. The descriptive parts of each variable could increase the objectivity of the rating scale.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.221-227
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• 2003

Diadochokinetic (DDK) speech task has been utilized as an evaluating tool for speakers with dysarthria for many years. This study attempted to differently diagnose multiple system atrophy (MSA) from idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) using patients' performance of DDK (i.e., alternate motion rate (AMR)). The subjects included 11 cases of pathologically confirmed MSA and 16 IPD patients who commonly presented with parkinsonian syndrome. The speech sample of each patient was analyzed acoustically using the MSPTM(Motor Speech Profile, a module of CSL). The results showed that the average DDK rate was significantly faster in the IPD than the MSA groups in all three syllables (i.e., /puh/, /tuh/. and /kuh/). We propose the average DDK rate variable as a core clinical trait in differentiating the two pathological conditions.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.55-62
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• 2015

It is widely accepted that Parkinson's disease(PD) is the most common cause of hypokinetic dysarthria, and its characteristics of 'short rushes of speech' have become more evident along with the severity of motor disorders. Speech alternate motion rates (AMRs) are particularly useful for observing not only rate abnormalities but also deviant speech. However, relatively little is known about the characteristics of 'short rushes of speech' in terms of AMRs of PD except for the perceptual characteristics. The purpose of this study was to examine which acoustic features of 'short rushes of speech' in terms of AMRs are a robust indicator of Parkinsonian speech. Numbers of syllabic repetitions (/pə/, /tə/, /kə/) in AMR tasks were analyzed through acoustic methods observing a spectrogram of the Computerized Speech Lab in 9 patients with PD. Acoustically, we found three characteristics of 'short rushes of speech': 1) Vocalized consonants without closure duration(VC) 76.3%; 2) No consonant segmentation(NC) 18.6%; 3) No vowel formant frequency(NV) 5.1%. Based on these results, 'short rushes of speech' may affect the failure to reach and maintain the phonatory targets. In order to best achieve the therapeutic goals, and to make the treatment most efficacious, it is important to incorporate training methods which are based on both phonation and articulation.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.976-980
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• 2001

Objectives : For Parkinsonian patients who had not reacted favorably on drug therapy are good candidate for ventroposterolateral pallidotomy, although not curative. We studied these patients after unilateral pallidotomy, to confirm the effectiveness and safety of this procedure. Methods : We evaluated the 17 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's diesease who had undergone unilateral posteroventral pallidotomy. All patients responded to levodopa initially. Mean age was 55 years(38-75years), and mean duration of disease was 9.8 years(3-20years). Pre-and postoperative evaluation at 3 month intervals included Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating scale(UPDRS) scoring, Hoehn and Yahr(H & Y) staging, and neuropsychological examinations. Results : Pallidotomy significantly improved parkinsonian symptom(tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, dyskinesia, sensory symptom). Nine of 10 patients who showed dyskinesia preoperatively significant improvement. The mean dose of levodopa in 9 patients was lowered. The mean H & Y score and UPDRS score were improved in on and/or off time in 15 patients. Among patients who were not improved, one patient worsened, and the others showed no change. The mean overall UPDRS off score changed from 76 preoperatively to 44(33%) at 6 months and from 70 to 52(25%) at 1 year. Transient surgical morbidity was showen in four patients and included dysarthria, hypotonia and confusion. Conclusion : We conclude that pallidotomy is safe and effective in patients who have levodopa-reponsive parkinsonism with severe symptom fluctuation. Unilateral pallidotomy also considered helpful to ipsilateral symptom. Unilateral pallidotomy can improve all of parkinsonian's symptom and allow to reduce the levodopa medication. Most of patients show satisfactory results.