A Multidimensional Study on Articulation Deficits in Parkinson's Disease

Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder that affects individuals with various etiologies. Parkinson's disease (PD) alone affects nearly one million individuals in the U.S., with dysarthria developing in approximately 90% of these individuals within the first two years of onset. The dysarthria associated with PD is characterized by reduced movement, which has been supported by findings of reduced lip, tongue, and jaw movement in speakers with PD. However, it remains unclear if hypokinetic dysarthria causes a global reduction across all articulators, or if specific articulators are disproportionally affected by the disease. Further, it is not fully understood what factors contribute to speech intelligibility. Specifically, little is known about the articulatory-kinematic correlates of speech intelligibility. This missing link is vital to understand, as articulation deficits are a universal characteristic of dysarthria, regardless of etiology. The proposed study provides a linked investigation of kinematic, acoustic, and perceptual characteristics in speakers with PD and neurologically healthy speakers.

This research aims to (1) examine the perceptual, acoustic, and articulator-specific movement deficits in speakers with PD and (2) understand the relationship between articulatory movement and measures of speech perception. Specific Aim 1 will examine the group differences between speakers with PD and neurologically healthy speakers using perceptual, acoustic, and articulator-specific kinematic measures. The investigators hypothesize the perceptual, acoustic, and tongue-related kinematic measures will differentiate individuals with PD from neurologically healthy speakers. Specific Aim 2 will model speech intelligibility (Specific Aim 2a) and ratings of articulatory precision (Specific Aim 2b) using selected acoustic and kinematic measurements. The investigators hypothesize that the acoustic measures will be stronger predictors of speech intelligibility than the kinematic measures, as they are both derived from the speech signal. Further, the investigators hypothesize the selected kinematic measures may demonstrate a stronger relationship to articulation ratings than speech intelligibility. This study is a requisite step toward our long-term goal of advancing dysarthria management strategies. The primary outcome will be explanatory models that identify acoustic and articulatory correlates of speech intelligibility and articulatory precision. This study has important implications for developing articulator-specific dysarthria management strategies to supplement universal dysarthria management strategies.