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Objective: Parkinson’s disease (PD), caused by basal ganglia dysfunction, is associated with motor disturbances including dysarthria. Stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus, a preferred treatment targeting basal ganglia function, improves features of the motor disorder, but has uncertain effects on speech. We studied speech during contrasting stimulation states to reveal subcortical effects on voice and articulation. Measures were made on selected samples of spontaneous and repeated speech. Methods: Persons with Parkinson’s disease (PWP) who had undergone bilateral deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (DBS-STN) provided spontaneous speech samples and then repeated portions of their monologue both on and off stimulation. Excerpts were presented in a listening protocol probing intelligibility. Also analysed were a continuous phrase repetition task and a second spontaneous speech sample. Fundamental frequency (F0), harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR), jitter, shimmer and fluency were measured in these three speech samples performed with DBS stimulation on and off. Results: During subcortical stimulation, spontaneous excerpts were less intelligible than repeated excerpts. F0 and HNR were higher and shimmer was decreased in repetition and stimulation. Articulatory dysfluencies were increased for spontaneous speech and during stimulation in all three speech samples. Conclusion: Deep brain stimulation disrupts fluency and improves voice in spontaneous speech, reflecting an inverse influence of subcortical systems on articulatory posturing and laryngeal mechanisms. Better voice and less dysfluency in repetition may occur because an external model reduces the speech planning burden, as seen for gait and arm reach. These orthogonal results for fluency versus phonatory competence may account for ambivalent reports from dysarthric speakers and reveal the complexity of subcortical control of motor speech.

Pesquisas têm estabelecido que cada serviço deve estabelecer seus padrões normativos para a análise acústica. O objetivo do presente estudo é normatizar as medidas de freqüência fundamental (fo), jitter, shimmer e proporção harmônico-ruído (PHR) para adultos jovens com voz normal. MÉTODO: Participaram deste estudo 20 homens e 20 mulheres, de 20 a 45 anos de idade, sem sinais e sintomas de problemas vocais, produzindo as vogais sustentadas /a/ e /é/, analisadas pelo programa CSL- 4300 Kay-Elemetrics. RESULTADOS: Para as mulheres, respectivamente para a vogal /a/ e /é/ os valores médios foram: fo de 205,82Hz e 206,56Hz; jitter de 0,62% e 0,59%; shimmer de 0,22dB e 0,19dB; PHR de 10,9 dB e 11,04 dB. Para os homens, respectivamente para a vogal /a/ e /é/, os valores médios foram: fo de 119,84Hz e 118,92Hz; jitter de 0,49% e 0,5%; shimmer de 0,22 dB e 0,21 dB; PHR de 9,56 dB e 9,63dB. As medidas de fo e PHR foram significativamente maiores para as mulheres em comparação aos homens. CONCLUSÃO: As diferenças entre os nossos resultados e os dos outros autores confirmam a necessidade de se realizar a normatização para cada programa a ser utilizado. Studies have established that normative data is necessary for acoustic analysis. The aim of the present study is to standardize fundamental frequency measures (fo), jitter, shimmer and harmonic-noise ratio (HNR) for young adults with normal voice. METHOD: 20 males and 20 females, between 20 and 45 years, without signs and symptoms of vocal problems; CSL-4300 Kay-Elemetrics; vowels /a/ and /é/. RESULTS: for females, vowels /a/ and /é/ had average measures of: fo 205.82 Hz and 206.56 Hz; jitter of 0.62% and 0.59%; shimmer of 0.22 dB and 0.19 dB; PHR of 10.9 dB and 11.04 dB, respectively. For males, vowel /a/ and /é/ had average measures of: fo 119.84 Hz and 118.92 Hz; jitter of 0.49% and 0.5%; shimmer of 0.22 dB and 0.21 dB; HNR 9.56 dB and 9.63 dB, respectively. Both fo and NHR female measures were significantly higher than their male counterparts. CONCLUSION: our results differ from the literature; therefore, it is important to standardize the program in use.

Spasmodic dysphonia is a severe voice disorder characterized by involuntary disruption of phonation, also called focal laryngeal dystonia. This study presents the results of an investigation into the acousticvocal characteristics of a population of patients with spasmodic dysphonia, and comparing them with those of a control group (patients with diagnosis of mobile vocal cords, without damage in the structure of the glottal mucosa or neurological disorders involving the movement of the vocal cords). The following parameters were investigated in the emission of the vowel /a /: mean pitch value, standard deviation, minimum pitch, maximum pitch and a number of phonatory breaks. The Praat acoustic analysis system was used for these measurements (Boersma and Weenink, 2003). Regarding results, no significant differences were found between patients and control group for the average measures of mean pitch in both sexes. Comparison of the standard deviation of mean pitch and the ranges between maximum and minimum pitch revealed significant differences between the group of patients and controls. The voice breaks were calculated only in the group of patients. No person in the control group had phonatory disruptions in the emission of the vowel. The standard deviation of mean pitch, the range between maximum and minimum pitch and the number of phonatory breaks during prolonged vowel can be used as indicators of spasmodic dysphonia. La disfonía espasmódica es un desorden vocal severo caracterizado por una interrupción involuntaria de la fonación, denominada también distonía focal laríngea. En este estudio se presentan los resultados de una investigación sobre las características acústico-vocales de una población de pacientes con disfonías espasmódicas, y la comparación de las mismas con las de un grupo control (sujetos con el diagnóstico otorrinolaringológico de cuerdas vocales móviles, sin daños estructurales en la mucosa glótica, ni alteraciones neurológicas que involucren la dinámica cordal). Se analizó acústicamente la vocal /a/ investigándose: valor de la frecuencia fundamental, desviación estándar, rango diferencial entre frecuencia máxima y mínima, y número de quiebres fonatorios. Se utilizó para estas mediciones el Sistema de análisis acústico Praat (Boersma y Weenink, 2003). En los resultados no se encontraron diferencias significativas entre las medias de la Frecuencia Fundamental entre ambos grupos estudiados. La comparación de los promedios del desvío estándar de la Frecuencia Fundamental arrojó sin embargo diferencias significativas, así como la comparación de los promedios de los rangos entre frecuencia máxima y mínima. Respecto a la variable Quiebres Fonatorios, se calcularon solamente en el grupo de pacientes ya que ninguno de los sujetos del grupo control presentó interrupciones fonatorias en la emisión de la vocal. Cabe concluirse que la desviación estándar, el rango entre el valor máximo y mínimo de frecuencia fundamental y el número de interrupciones durante la emisión de vocal prolongada pueden utilizarse como indicadores de disfonía espasmódica.

Summary Studies have established that normative data is necessary for acoustic analysis. The aim of the present study is to standardize fundamental frequency measures (fo), jitter, shimmer and harmonic-noise ratio (HNR) for young adults with normal voice. Method 20 males and 20 females, between 20 and 45 years, without signs and symptoms of vocal problems; CSL-4300 Kay-Elemetrics; vowels /a/ and /e/. Results for females, vowels /a/ and /e/ had average measures of: fo 205.82 Hz and 206.56 Hz; jitter of 0.62% and 0.59%; shimmer of 0.22 dB and 0.19 dB; PHR of 10.9 dB and 11.04 dB, respectively. For males, vowel /a/ and /e/ had average measures of: fo 119.84 Hz and 118.92 Hz; jitter of 0.49% and 0.5%; shimmer of 0.22 dB and 0.21 dB; HNR 9.56 dB and 9.63 dB, respectively. Both fo and NHR female measures were significantly higher than their male counterparts. Conclusion our results differ from the literature; therefore, it is important to standardize the program in use.

A well-controlled recording in a studio is fundamental in most voice rehabilitation. However, this laboratory like recording method has been questioned because voice use in a natural environment may be quite different. In children's natural environment, high background noise levels are common and are an important factor contributing to voice problems. The primary noise source in day-care centers is the children themselves. The aim of the present study was to compare perceptual evaluations of voice quality and acoustic measures from a controlled recording with recordings of spontaneous speech in children's natural environment in a day-care setting. Eleven 5-year-old children were recorded three times during a day at the day care. The controlled speech material consisted of repeated sentences. Matching sentences were selected from the spontaneous speech. All sentences were repeated three times. Recordings were randomized and analyzed acoustically and perceptually. Statistic analyses showed that fundamental frequency was significantly higher in spontaneous speech (P