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Identifying Communicative Signals in Dysarthric Speech

识别构音障碍言语中的交流信号

基本信息

批准号：
6866487
负责人：
RUPAL PATEL
金额：
$ 7.85万
依托单位：
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2004
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2004-05-01 至 2007-04-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6866487
关键词：
brain injury cerebral palsy clinical research communication dysarthria human subject loudness patient oriented research quality of life sound frequency speech statistics /biometry video recording system

项目摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dysarthria, a speech disorder resulting from damage to the brain or peripheral nerves leads to slow, imprecise, and poorly coordinated speech movements. For many individuals, speech is not a viable communication option. This has devastating consequences on quality of life. Despite severe dysarthria, many individuals continue to use vocalizations when interacting with familiar communication partners suggesting that reliable information is embedded in the dysarthric speech signal. Identifying these consistent vocal signals has the potential to afford many individuals with an alternative channel of communication. Previous work has assumed that salient information is primarily encoded in speech sound segments. Our recent investigations have shown that prosodic features such as fundamental frequency (perceived as pitch), intensity (perceived as loudness), and syllable duration also carry significant communicative information. We hypothesize that speakers with severe dysarthria have sufficient control of prosody, given that these features vary over slower time scales than segmental units such as phonemes and thus may be easier to produce. We have demonstrated control of prosody in isolated vowels and in phrases to mark question-statement contrasts. To extend beyond previous work we will study a more complex task of local syllable-level control of prosody that better approximates natural speech. Fifteen speakers with severe dysarthria and fifteen non-impaired controls will produce four-syllable phrases with stress placed on specified syllables to modulate the meaning of the phrase. To determine whether speakers with severe dysarthria can accurately signal stress, a group of 60 listeners will judge which syllable was stressed in each recording (Specific Aim 1). Statistical analyses will be performed to examine listener accuracy for each speaker and to compare results across speaker groups. To understand how speakers with dysarthria mark contrastive stress, we will extract and analyze several acoustic features including fundamental frequency, intensity, duration, pause and spectral tilt (Specific Aim 2). Separate analyses of variance will performed on each feature to quantify its importance in signaling stress and to determine feature-wise differences between speakers. Last, we will compare stress patterning in speakers with severe dysarthria and non-impaired speakers to gain a better understanding of acoustic correlates and compensatory mechanisms associated with signaling stress in dysarthria (Specific Aim 3). If speakers with dysarthria can reliably exploit prosodic cues, our findings will guide the development of intervention strategies that focus on the role of prosody for improving the effectiveness of natural communication, and the design of novel communication devices that leverage prosody as a communicative signal. Our ultimate goal is to understand the factors that lead to improved speaker expressiveness, and to leverage this knowledge to help individuals communicate more naturally and effectively, enabling them to engage more fully in educational, vocational, and social activities.

描述（由申请人提供）：构音障碍，一种由大脑或周围神经损伤引起的语言障碍，导致语言运动缓慢、不精确和不协调。对许多人来说，言语并不是一种可行的交流方式。这对生活质量造成了毁灭性的影响。尽管有严重的构音障碍，但许多人在与熟悉的交流伙伴互动时仍继续使用发声，这表明在构音障碍语音信号中嵌入了可靠的信息。识别这些一致的声音信号有可能为许多人提供另一种交流渠道。先前的工作假设显著信息主要编码在语音片段中。我们最近的研究表明，韵律特征，如基本频率（被认为是音高）、强度（被认为是响度）和音节持续时间也携带着重要的交流信息。我们假设患有严重构音障碍的说话者对韵律有足够的控制，因为这些特征在较慢的时间尺度上变化，而不是音素等片段单位，因此可能更容易产生。我们已经证明了控制韵律在孤立的元音和短语，以标记问题陈述句对比。为了超越之前的工作，我们将研究一个更复杂的任务，即局部音节水平的韵律控制，以更好地接近自然语音。15名患有严重构音障碍的说话者和15名没有受损的对照组将会产生四音节的短语，在特定的音节上重音来调节短语的意思。为了确定患有严重构音障碍的说话者是否能准确地发出重音信号，一组60名听众将判断每个录音中哪个音节被重读（具体目标1）。将进行统计分析，以检查每个说话者的听众准确性，并比较不同说话者组的结果。为了理解有构音障碍的说话者如何标记对比重音，我们将提取和分析几个声学特征，包括基频、强度、持续时间、停顿和频谱倾斜（具体目标2）。单独的方差分析将执行每个特性量化它在信号压力和重要性来确定feature-wise扬声器之间的区别。最后，我们将比较严重构音障碍和未受损说话者的应激模式，以更好地理解构音障碍中与信号应激相关的声学相关和补偿机制（Specific Aim 3）。如果患有构音障碍的说话者能够可靠地利用韵律线索，我们的研究结果将指导关注韵律在提高自然交流效率中的作用的干预策略的发展，以及利用韵律作为交流信号的新型交流设备的设计。我们的最终目标是了解导致说话人表达能力提高的因素，并利用这些知识来帮助个人更自然、更有效地沟通，使他们更充分地参与教育、职业和社会活动。