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PubMed2003

Temporal integration of speech prosody is shaped by language experience: an fMRI study.

Differences in hemispheric functions underlying speech perception may be related to the size of temporal integration windows over which prosodic features (e.g., pitch) span in the speech signal. Chinese tone and intonation, both signaled by variations in pitch contours, span over shorter (local) and longer (global) temporal domains, respectively. This cross-linguistic (Chinese and English) study uses functional magnetic resonance imaging to show that pitch contours associated with tones are processed in the left hemisphere by Chinese listeners only, whereas pitch contours associated with intonation are processed predominantly in the right hemisphere. These findings argue against the view that all aspects of speech prosody are lateralized to the right hemisphere, and promote the idea that varying-sized temporal integration windows reflect a neurobiological adaptation to meet the 'prosodic needs' of a particular language.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

The effect of spectral manipulations on the identification of affective and linguistic prosody.

We investigated the effect of various spectral manipulations on the identification of sentential prosody. Two main categories of prosody--affective (happy, angry, sad) and linguistic (statement, question, continuation)--were studied. Thirty-six subjects were presented with stimuli that were recorded by a female native speaker of American English. The stimuli were digitally manipulated to create synthesized, band-pass filtered (F0-range and F2/F3-range) and re-entrant (pitch only version of stimulus is convolved with a steady-state signal) conditions. Results of a forced-choice discrimination paradigm showed that, in general, performance is remarkably robust despite spectral manipulation, even when there is relatively little spectral information. However, performance was significantly degraded in the low band-pass and re-entrant conditions. These observations are discussed in light of the relevance of the fundamental frequency as well as syllabification for the analysis of prosodic information.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

On the lateralization of emotional prosody: an event-related functional MR investigation.

In order to investigate the lateralization of emotional speech we recorded the brain responses to three emotional intonations in two conditions, i.e., "normal" speech and "prosodic" speech (i.e., speech with no linguistic meaning, but retaining the 'slow prosodic modulations' of speech). Participants listened to semantically neutral sentences spoken with a positive, neutral, or negative intonation in both conditions and judged how positive, negative, or neutral the intonation was on a five-point scale. Core peri-sylvian language areas, as well as some frontal and subcortical areas were activated bilaterally in the normal speech condition. In contrast, a bilateral fronto-opercular region was active when participants listened to prosodic speech. Positive and negative intonations elicited a bilateral fronto-temporal and subcortical pattern in the normal speech condition, and more frontal activation in the prosodic speech condition. The current results call into question an exclusive right hemisphere lateralization of emotional prosody and expand patient data on the functional role of the basal ganglia during the perception of emotional prosody.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Effect of bilateral stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus on parkinsonian dysarthria.

Never was the effect of bilateral stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) evaluated quantitatively on all the components of speech production, that is articulation, respiration and phonation, at the same time. It is the purpose of this study which uses force measurements of the articulatory organs and acoustic analysis in 16 parkinsonian patients. With STN stimulation, reaction and movement time of the articulatory organs decreased and their maximal strength, as well as their precision increased. We also noted a large beneficial effect on voice with a significant improvement in respiratory and phonatory functions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Breath sounds, asthma, and the mobile phone.

The sounds generated by breathing in asthma are widely accepted as an indicator of disease activity. We have investigated the use of a mobile phone and electronic signal transfer by e-mail and voice mail to study tracheal breath sounds in individuals with normal lung function and patients with chronic or exercise-induced asthma. Spectrograms from patients with active asthma and impaired lung function were significantly different from people without asthma (p<0.0001). Our results suggest that mobile phone recordings clearly discriminate tracheal breath sounds in asthma and could be a non-invasive method of monitoring airway diseases.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Efficacy of salbutamol in treatment of infant pertussis demonstrated by sound spectrum analysis.

The value of sound spectrum analysis (sonography) as an indicator of the severity of symptomatic pertussis was assessed in four infants aged 3 weeks to 5 months. Coughing paroxysms and whooping could be clearly distinguished and measured on the sonogram. Sonography was then used to evaluate the effects of oral salbutamol on pertussis. The drug reduced the frequency and shortened the duration of the whoops; however, it did not have corresponding effect on the cough. Salbutamol seemed to relieve the laryngeal spasms and consequently eased the infant's breathing difficulties.

Albuterol↗
PubMed1989

A comparative study of rodent ultrasonic vocalizations during copulation.

The temporal patterning of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) during copulation was recorded for male-female pairs of Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus campbelli), prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster), and montane voles (Microtus montanus). Each species appears to utilize a single major frequency band for USVs, centered around 31 kHz for the vole species and 71 kHz for hamsters. Djungarian hamsters exhibited low rates of USVs prior to introduction of the female and following ejaculation, but a high USV rate during periods of copulatory activity. Both vole species called at high rates during all stages of the copulatory sequence, although calling rates decreased following ejaculation. Anesthetization trials, where one pair member was awake and the other anesthesized, suggest that it is the male of each species that produces most USVs. The results were compared with six other muroid species for which data on the temporal patterning of USVs during copulation are available. These data extend our knowledge of the patterning of USVs during copulatory behavior and suggest the need for additional comparative investigations.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

A reconsideration of sound calibration in the mouse.

Although it is traditional to perform sound calibrations in anesthetized animals by placing a probe-tube microphone near the tympanic membrane, these measurements are inaccurate at high stimulus frequencies where hearing must be quantified in the mouse. Hence, our motivation to develop another approach using the mouse ear canal as a coupler. Results of real-ear-canal calibrations indicate that an average calibration can be used to estimate sound pressure levels in the three mouse strains tested. Similar estimates were also obtained using a tubing coupler, whose volume was comparable to that of the ear canal, thereby offering a simpler alternative. In addition, real-head calibrations were also performed to provide a procedure that can be used in situations where the ear is not dissected, as in measurements of the auditory brainstem response. Calibrations for open, rather than closed, sound-delivery systems were also evaluated using a modified method of substitution.

Acoustics↗
PubMed2001

Reflections of depression in acoustic measures of the patient's speech.

BACKGROUND: The literature on acoustic measures of voice in depression is reviewed. Authors have separated results derived from studies of automatic speech, such as counting or reading, from free speech. Free speech requires cognitive activity such as word finding and discourse planning in addition to the motor activity of automatic speech. Also, results have been less ambiguous if homogeneous groups of agitated or retarded depressed patients were examined. METHODS: These distinctions are applied to the results of a 12-week double-blind treatment trial that compared response to nortriptyline (25-100 mg/day) with sertraline (50-150 mg/day). Twelve male and ten female elderly depressed patients and an age-matched normal control group (n=19) were studied. Patients were divided into retarded or agitated groups on the basis of ratings. Results from measures of fluency (speech productivity and pausing) and prosody (emphasis and inflection) are described. RESULTS: Depressed patients showed less prosody than the normal subjects. Improvement in the retarded group was reflected in briefer pauses but not longer utterances. There was a trend in the agitated group for improvement to be reflected in the utterance but not the pause measure. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical impressions are substantially related to acoustic parameters. Temporal changes associated with depression appear to reflect the depressed state whereas prosodic features seem to reflect a depressed trait. Acoustic measures of the patient's speech may provide objective procedures to aid in the evaluation of depression. Limitations of the study are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Prediction of acute and late responses to light therapy from vocal (pitch) and self-rated activation in seasonal affective disorder.

It was hypothesized that pre-treatment activation plays a role in the response to light therapy in Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). In 55 SAD patients (DSMIII-R) energetic and tense activation was assessed before light therapy via self-rating (AD-ACL) and voice sound characteristics (mean pitch and variation in pitch). These variables were studied in relation to the "acute" response to 4 days of light therapy (30 min, 10000 lux) and to a "late" response (11 (10) days after light therapy had stopped). Acute response was defined as the percent change in 3 times daily self-rated depressed mood (AMS) with respect to the average of 4 baseline days. "Late" response was defined as the percent change in HRSD or AMS scores between baseline and 11 (10) days after light therapy. It was found that patients having high pitched voices with small variation in this pitch benefitted more from light therapy than the patients with low pitch and large variation in pitch levels. This effect was only significant after the first day of light exposure. No other significant relations were found between baseline activation and acute or late responses to light therapy. Hence, light therapy seems to give extra comfort in "tense" patients, who become rapid responders to light therapy.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Development of the vocal fundamental frequency of spontaneous cries during the first 3 months.

Studies in the field of cry diagnosis have concentrated on the fundamental frequency (F(0)) and related parameters as suitable predictors for an at-risk status of the infant for a CNS dysfunction, mostly reflected in an increased F(0). The high variability of F(0) in infant cries is a limiting factor to develop cry analysis as a non-invasive tool for early diagnosis. As only a few longitudinal studies were carried out, our case study wants to contribute to provide developmental data on fundamental frequency of infant cries with a considerable higher time resolution (shorter recording interval). The fundamental frequency of spontaneous cries of one male infant was analyzed using KAY-CSL 4300 for its daily characteristics during the first 3 months of life. This dense sampling interval (daily recordings) enabled the description of the range of temporary changes of the fundamental frequency during the observation period. The mean fundamental frequency values of cries uttered at single days and of the cries of successive days were relatively variable. In contrast to former studies, no significant decreasing or increasing trend of the mean fundamental frequency of all analyzed cries was found through the first 3 months of life. Only cries shorter than 0.8 s showed an increasing developmental trend of the mean F(0).

Acoustics↗
PubMed1984

Computer analyses of acoustical parameters in hypopituitary children before and after growth hormone treatment.

The effect of growth hormone treatment on voice quality, glottal frequency and articulatory pause was studied by computer analyses in 13 growth hormone-deficient children and age-matched controls. Each of the acoustical parameters when evaluated prior to the administration of growth hormone showed a deviation from the control subjects. Following treatment, improvement was noted in each of the parameters studied. It is concluded that growth hormone-deficient children have acoustical parameters which vary from age-matched controls, and that growth hormone plays a definite role in maturation of the phonatory apparatus.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Fourier analysis of infantile stridor: preliminary data.

Preliminary data from 3 patients suggest that computerized (Fourier) analysis of infantile stridor can be instructive. Several recordings are quickly collected with a microphone and digital oscilloscope at the patient's bedside. The data are later sent to a computer for spectral analysis. Averaging of several spectra from each patient depicts only those sounds that are consistent from sample to sample. Subtraction of background noise from the averaged stridor removes all but those sounds that are produced by the patient. The results show that the spectra are relatively consistent from sample to sample within the same patient, and that different patients with different pathologies have distinct patterns in their spectra. It thus appears that further acoustical studies of infantile stridor will be productive. We are optimistic that data from a larger series of patients will indicate those spectral patterns which are characteristic of a specific laryngotracheal pathology, and perhaps facilitate rapid diagnosis without invasive procedures. An additional potential of this analysis is that pre- and post-operative spectra can be subtracted to show those sounds that improved or worsened. Such serial comparisons during the management of airway problems could be useful in evaluating treatment.

Female↗
PubMed1996

Neuronal networks and self-organizing maps: new computer techniques in the acoustic evaluation of the infant cry.

Neuronal networks are computer-based techniques for the evaluation and control of complex information systems and processes. So far, they have been used in engineering, telecommunications, artificial speech and speech recognition. A new approach in neuronal network is the self-organizing map (Kohonen map). In the phase of 'learning', the map adapts to the patterns of the primary signals. If, the phase of 'using the map', the input signal hits the field of the primary signals, it resembles them and is called a 'winner'. In our study, we recorded the cries of newborns and young infants using digital audio tape (DAT) and a high quality microphone. The cries were elicited by tactile stimuli wearing headphones. In 27 cases, delayed auditory feedback was presented to the children using a headphone and an additional three-head tape-recorder. Spectrographic characteristics of the cries were classified by 20-step bark spectra and then applied to the neuronal networks. It was possible to recognize similarities of different cries of the same children as well as interindividual differences, which are also audible to experienced listeners. Differences were obvious in profound hearing loss. We know much about the cries of both healthy and sick infants, but a reliable investigation regimen, which can be used for clinical routine purposes, has yet not been developed. If, in the future, it becomes possible to classify spectrographic characteristics automatically, even if they are not audible, neuronal networks may be helpful in the early diagnosis of infant diseases.

Acoustics↗
PubMed1999

Dysphonia in infants.

The definition of infant dysphonia is difficult because the physiological phonation itself may be extremely variable in newborns. In a wider sense, all voice utterings can be interpreted as dysphonia which deviate continuously in any of the parameters (timbre, pitch, intensity, or noise) from the normal. We differentiated 20 types of such pathological phonation. The most characteristic are: the hoarse (caused by inflammation or tumor of the vocal cords); the hollow (indicative of tracheal stenosis); the shrill (suggesting a CNS damage); the bleating (pathognostic of Down syndrome); the faint (a result of myogenic diseases); and the mewing cry (etiology: cri-du-chat syndrome). In a narrower sense dysphonia in infants is a kind of pathological phonation without evidence of neurological alteration or chromosomal aberration and without a verified laryngeal lesion. These infants utter pressed, harsh, or very high voice (hyperfunctional form) or a weak, inert cry (hypofunctional form). The dysphonic voice may be characterized also by sudden change in melody or in pitch (glide, shift, break, bitonality) and by turbulent noises. This type of newborn dysphonia is a result of the immature innervation of the larynx, it gradually improves and lateron spontaneously disappears. Perceptual evaluation, endoscopy, and acoustic analysis yield useful diagnostic information.

Crying↗
PubMed1999

Phonation in the newborn, infant cry.

Sound spectrographic studies have shown that the crying of newborn infants has a fundamental frequency of about 400-600 cycles per second, and mostly a slightly rising-falling melody contour. In sick infants, and especially those with diseases affecting the central nervous system, abnormal cry characteristics occur. The fundamental frequency has been increased, and the melody contour is unstable. Various cry characteristics, which rarely occur in cries of healthy infants, are more often present in cries of the sick ones. Studies of cries in newborn infants have been especially aimed to determine whether cry analysis could be successful in diagnostics and in the early detection of the infant at risk for developmental difficulties.

Crying↗
PubMed2000

Electrophysiological correlates of cross-linguistic speech perception in native English speakers.

The present study examined the electrophysiological responses that Native English speakers display during a passive oddball task when they are presented with different types of syllabic contrasts, namely a labial /ba/-dental /d a/, a Hindi dental /d a/-retroflex /da/ and a within-category (two /ba/ tokens) contrasts. The analyses of the event-related potentials obtained showed that subjects pre-attentively perceive the differences in all experimental conditions, despite not showing such detection behaviourally in the Hindi and within-category conditions. These results support the notion that there is no permanent loss of the initial perceptual abilities that humans have as infants, but that there is an important neural reorganisation which allows the system to overcome the differences detected and only be aware of contrasts that are relevant in the language which will become the subjects native tongue. We also report order asymmetries in the ERP responses and suggest that the percepts and not only the physical attributes of the stimuli have to be considered for the evaluation of the responses obtained.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Ultrasonic vocalisation emitted by infant rodents: a tool for assessment of neurobehavioural development.

Ultrasonic vocalisations (USVs) emitted by altricial rodent pups are whistle-like sounds with frequencies between 30 and 90 kHz. These signals play an important communicative role in mother-offspring interaction since they elicit in the dam a prompt response concerning caregiving behaviours. Both physical and social parameters modulate the USV emission in the infant rodent. Recently, a more detailed analysis of the ultrasonic vocalisation pattern, considering the spectrographic structure of sounds has allowed a deeper investigation of this behaviour. In order to investigate neurobehavioural development, the analysis of USVs presents several advantages, mainly: (i) USVs are one of the few responses produced by very young mice that can be quantitatively analysed and elicited by quantifiable stimuli; (ii) USV production follows a clear ontogenetic profile from birth to PND 14-15, thus allowing longitudinal neurobehavioural analysis during very early postnatal ontogeny. The study of this ethologically-ecologically relevant behaviour represent a valid model to evaluate possible alterations in the neurobehavioural development of perinatally treated or genetically modified infant rodents. Furthermore, the role played by several receptor agonists and antagonists in modulating USV rate makes this measure particularly important when investigating the effects of anxiogenic and anxiolytic compounds, and emotional behaviour in general.

Animals↗