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Biomedical subjects

S B Leder

Publications and source records attributed to S B Leder.

45 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Some acoustic evidence for vocal abuse in adult speakers with repaired cleft palate.

Acoustic evidence for vocal abuse in adult speakers with cleft palate and hypernasality has not been reported. This study was undertaken to determine if there was acoustic evidence of inappropriate vocal fold adduction during stop consonant production in this population. The results indicated that spectrograms of speakers without cleft palate and severe hypernasality exhibited acoustic characteristics different from spectrograms of speakers without cleft palate and speakers with cleft palate and mild hypernasality. Specifically, voiceless stop productions of severe hypernasal speakers resembled voiced stop productions. Their vocal folds were inappropriately adducted to provide a constriction inferior to the inadequately functioning velopharyngeal port to minimize the nasal air leak. The acoustic evidence supports the hypothesis that a cause of vocal abuse in the cleft palate population is due to compensatory laryngeal valving activities secondary to severe hypernasality.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Influence of intonation on auditory sequential memory skills.

This study was designed to investigate the effect of intonation on the auditory sequential memory spans of children normal in language development and those with delay. Analysis indicated that intonation as a cue did not facilitate recall of monosyllabic nouns presented in sequences of two, three, four, and five words. Children with a language delay of six months or longer had spans of one word less than children with no language delay. Neither recall nor the memory span was related to chronological age over the range of 42 and 72 mo. for either group of children.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1978

Effects on superiority of ear of intonation of dichotically presented sentences.

A dichotic listening paradigm utilizing sentences of three monosyllabic words examined the effects of intonation on superiority of ear. Five types of intoned contours, i.e., declarative, interrogative, imperative, conditional, and monotone, were employed. Subjects consisted of 20 adults who had normal hearing bilaterally, were native English speakers, and were righthanded in 100% of their daily activities. The results indicated that, when three monosyllabic work sentences with four different intoned contours were dichotically presented, superiority of neither left nor right ear was evidenced. However, the declarative intoned contours, being linguistically less marked, were perceived with significantly less accuracy than the relatively more marked interrogative, imperative, and conditional intoned contours.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Gag reflex and dysphagia.

BACKGROUND: The gag reflex is a protective response that prevents foreign objects or noxious material from entering the pharynx, larynx, or trachea; it is not elicited during a normal swallow. Although no data have been reported to support a relationship between the gag reflex and dysphagia, the gag reflex is nevertheless routinely assessed during the bedside dysphagia evaluation. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether absence of a gag reflex is a predictor of dysphagia. METHOD: Fourteen consecutive adult subjects referred for a bedside dysphagia evaluation because they were considered to be at increased risk for aspiration, specifically due to absence of a gag reflex, were investigated. In addition, the gag reflex was assessed in 69 normal adult volunteers. RESULTS: Although all subjects were referred for bedside dysphagia evaluations specifically because they had no gag reflex, 86% (12/14) were nevertheless able to eat at least a puree diet. In addition, 86% (12/14) of subjects with no gag reflex had normal velar movement, reinforcing the physiologic differences between velar functioning during phonation and the gag reflex. The gag reflex, traditionally considered part of the bedside dysphagia evaluation, was absent in 13% (9/69) of nondysphagic subjects, raising further doubts regarding its clinical relevancy. CONCLUSION: The absence of a gag reflex does not appear to be a predictor of dysphagia.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Tracheogastric puncture for vocal rehabilitation following total pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy.

Speech rehabilitation postpharyngolaryngoesophagectomy has not received significant emphasis. We describe our experience with five patients who underwent a delayed tracheogastric puncture (TGP) after pharyngogastric anastomosis. When compared to patients who had undergone tracheoesophageal puncture (TEP) after laryngectomy, speech intelligibility and fluency were adequate for conversational speech, but voice quality was characterized by lower pitch, reduced intensity, slower rate, and a "wet" quality. There were no complications related to the TGP. TGP is a safe and often useful procedure for voice and speech restoration in patients who have undergone total pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy and pharyngogastric anastomosis.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Adult onset of stuttering as a presenting sign in a parkinsonian-like syndrome: a case report.

Stuttering onset in adulthood is rare. With no prior history of stuttering or demonstrable neurological insult, diagnosis is often that of a conversion reaction. Stuttering as the first sign of a parkinsonian-like syndrome in extrapyramidal disease has only been reported once in the previous 30 years (Koller, 1983). The present case study differs from and builds upon the case reports in the literature, and describes a 29-year-old white male who began stuttering purportedly secondary to psychological stress. The fluency evaluation revealed severe stuttering characterized by multiple repetitions and/or blocks, with 20 or more repetitions per word routinely noted during both conversational speech and oral reading. No starters or secondary stuttering characteristics, no specific word fears or avoidances, and no situational fears were exhibited. The subsequent neurological examination found resting tremor in hands and legs, lingual fasciculations, gait imbalance, and numbness and tingling of the hands and feet, all of which were progressive in nature. Rehabilitation initially focused on fluency therapy, but then included psychiatric therapy, and finally medical intervention. Fluency and psychiatric therapies were unsuccessful in eliminating stuttering. Following a diagnosis of parkinsonian-like syndrome, medical intervention with carbidopa-levodopa resulted in dramatic improvement of motor, sensory, and fluency symptoms. It is important to consider extrapyramidal disease as an etiological factor in patients with adult onset of stuttering.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Speaking fundamental frequency of postlingually profoundly deaf adult men.

We investigated the speaking fundamental frequency (F0) of 21 postlingually profoundly sensorineurally deaf men. Results indicated that speaking F0 was significantly higher for the deaf group than for normal-hearing, age-matched men. Neither duration of profound deafness nor hearing aid usage affected speaking F0 values significantly. The findings of the present study provide a baseline for determining the effects of rehabilitation.

Adult↗