Speech prosody in cerebellar ataxia.
Item
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Title
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Speech prosody in cerebellar ataxia.
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Identifier
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AAI9986309
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identifier
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9986309
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Creator
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Casper, Maureen.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Lawrence J. Raphael
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Date
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2000
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Physics, Acoustics | Health Sciences, Speech Pathology | Psychology, Experimental | Biology, Neuroscience
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Abstract
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The present study sought an acoustic signature for the speech disturbance recognized in cerebellar degeneration. Magnetic resonance imaging was used for a radiological rating of cerebellar involvement in six cerebellar ataxic dysarthric speakers. Acoustic measures of the [pap] syllables in contrastive prosodic conditions and of normal vs. brain-damaged patients were used to further our understanding both of the speech degeneration that accompanies cerebellar pathology and of speech motor control and movement in general. Pair-wise comparisons of the prosodic conditions within the normal group showed statistically significant differences for four prosodic contrasts. For three of the four contrasts analyzed, the normal speakers showed both longer durations and higher formant and fundamental frequency values in the more prominent first condition of the contrast.;The acoustic measures of the normal prosodic contrast values were then used as a model to measure the degree of speech deterioration for individual cerebellar subjects. This estimate of speech deterioration as determined by individual differences between cerebellar and normal subjects' acoustic values of the four prosodic contrasts was used in correlation analyses with MRI ratings. Moderate correlations between speech deterioration and cerebellar atrophy were found in the measures of syllable duration and f0. A strong negative correlation was found for F1.;Moreover, the normal model presented by these acoustic data allows for a description of the flexibility of task-oriented behavior in normal speech motor control. These data challenge spatio-temporal theory which explains movement as an artifact of time wherein longer durations predict more extreme movements and give further evidence for gestural internal dynamics of movement in which time emerges from articulatory events rather than dictating those events. This model provides a sensitive index of cerebellar pathology with quantitative acoustic analyses.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
