Age-related changes of the dental aesthetic zone at rest and during spontaneous smiling and speech.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geld, P.A.A.M. van der; Oosterveld, P.; Kuijpers-Jagtman, A.M.

2008-01-01

The aims of this study were to analyse lip line heights and age effects in an adult male population during spontaneous smiling, speech, and tooth display in the natural rest position and to determine whether lip line height follows a consistent pattern during these different functions. The sample

Particularities of the (not so emotional speech in European Portuguese: Acted and spontaneous data analysis

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Ana Margarida Belém Nunes

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The present article is a symbiosis of two previous studies made by the author on European Portuguese Emotional Speech. It is known that nonverbal vocal expressions, such as laughter, vocalizations and, for instance, screams are an important source of emotional cues in social contexts (Lima et al., 2013. In social contexts we get information’s about others emotional states also by facial and corporal expressions, touch and voice cues, (Lima et al., 2013 & Cowie et al, 2003. Nevertheless most of the existent research on emotion is based on simulated emotions that are induced in laboratory and/or produced by professional actors. In this study in particular, it is proposed to explore how much and in which voice related parameters spontaneous and acted speech diverge. On the other hand, this study will help to obtain data on emotional speech and to describe the expression of emotions, by voice alone, for the first time for European Portuguese. Analyses are mainly focused on parameters that are generally accepted as more directly related with voice quality like F0; jitter; shimmer and HNR (Lima et all, 2013; Tiovanen et al, 2006; Drioli et all, 2003. Given the scarcity of studies on voice quality in European Portuguese, it is important to highlight that this work presents original corpora specifically created for the presented research: a small corpus for spontaneous emotional speech and Feeltrace system to provide the necessary annotation and interpretation of emotions; a second corpus for acted emotions produced by a professional actor. It is particularly important to highlight that was found that European Portuguese presents some specificities on the values obtained for neutral expression, sadness and joy, that do not occur in other languages.

Speech Entrainment Compensates for Broca's Area Damage

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Fridriksson, Julius; Basilakos, Alexandra; Hickok, Gregory; Bonilha, Leonardo; Rorden, Chris

2015-01-01

Speech entrainment (SE), the online mimicking of an audiovisual speech model, has been shown to increase speech fluency in patients with Broca's aphasia. However, not all individuals with aphasia benefit from SE. The purpose of this study was to identify patterns of cortical damage that predict a positive response SE's fluency-inducing effects. Forty-four chronic patients with left hemisphere stroke (15 female) were included in this study. Participants completed two tasks: 1) spontaneous speech production, and 2) audiovisual SE. Number of different words per minute was calculated as a speech output measure for each task, with the difference between SE and spontaneous speech conditions yielding a measure of fluency improvement. Voxel-wise lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) was used to relate the number of different words per minute for spontaneous speech, SE, and SE-related improvement to patterns of brain damage in order to predict lesion locations associated with the fluency-inducing response to speech entrainment. Individuals with Broca's aphasia demonstrated a significant increase in different words per minute during speech entrainment versus spontaneous speech. A similar pattern of improvement was not seen in patients with other types of aphasia. VLSM analysis revealed damage to the inferior frontal gyrus predicted this response. Results suggest that SE exerts its fluency-inducing effects by providing a surrogate target for speech production via internal monitoring processes. Clinically, these results add further support for the use of speech entrainment to improve speech production and may help select patients for speech entrainment treatment. PMID:25989443

Segmentation cues in conversational speech: Robust semantics and fragile phonotactics

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Laurence eWhite

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Multiple cues influence listeners’ segmentation of connected speech into words, but most previous studies have used stimuli elicited in careful readings rather than natural conversation. Discerning word boundaries in conversational speech may differ from the laboratory setting. In particular, a speaker’s articulatory effort – hyperarticulation vs hypoarticulation (H&H – may vary according to communicative demands, suggesting a compensatory relationship whereby acoustic-phonetic cues are attenuated when other information sources strongly guide segmentation. We examined how listeners’ interpretation of segmentation cues is affected by speech style (spontaneous conversation vs read, using cross-modal identity priming. To elicit spontaneous stimuli, we used a map task in which speakers discussed routes around stylised landmarks. These landmarks were two-word phrases in which the strength of potential segmentation cues – semantic likelihood and cross-boundary diphone phonotactics – was systematically varied. Landmark-carrying utterances were transcribed and later re-recorded as read speech.Independent of speech style, we found an interaction between cue valence (favourable/unfavourable and cue type (phonotactics/semantics. Thus, there was an effect of semantic plausibility, but no effect of cross-boundary phonotactics, indicating that the importance of phonotactic segmentation may have been overstated in studies where lexical information was artificially suppressed. These patterns were unaffected by whether the stimuli were elicited in a spontaneous or read context, even though the difference in speech styles was evident in a main effect. Durational analyses suggested speaker-driven cue trade-offs congruent with an H&H account, but these modulations did not impact on listener behaviour. We conclude that previous research exploiting read speech is reliable in indicating the primacy of lexically-based cues in the segmentation of natural

Investigation of the Reationship between Hand Gestures and Speech in Adults Who Stutter

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Ali Barikrou

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: Gestures of the hands and arms have long been observed to accompany speech in spontaneous conversation. However, the way in which these two modes of expression are related in production is not yet fully understood. So, the present study aims to investigate the spontaneous gestures that accompany speech in adults who stutter in comparison to fluent controls.  Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional and comparative research, ten adults who stutter were selected randomly from speech and language pathology clinics and compared with ten healthy persons as control group who were matched with stutterers according to sex, age and education. The cartoon story-retelling task used to elicit spontaneous gestures that accompany speech. Participants were asked to watch the animation carefully and then retell the storyline in as much detail as possible to a listener sitting across from him or her and his or her narration was video recorded simultaneously. Then recorded utterances and gestures were analyzed. The statistical methods such as Kolmogorov- Smirnov and Independent t-test were used for data analyzing. Results: The results indicated that stutterers in comparison to controls in average use fewer iconic gestures in their narration (P=0.005. Also, stutterers in comparison to controls in average use fewer iconic gestures per each utterance and word (P=0.019. Furthermore, the execution of gesture production during moments of dysfluency revealed that more than 70% of the gestures produced with stuttering were frozen or abandoned at the moment of dysfluency. Conclusion: It seems gesture and speech have such an intricate and deep association that show similar frequency and timing patterns and move completely parallel to each other in such a way that deficit in speech results in deficiency in hand gesture.

Perceived Liveliness and Speech Comprehensibility in Aphasia: The Effects of Direct Speech in Auditory Narratives

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Groenewold, Rimke; Bastiaanse, Roelien; Nickels, Lyndsey; Huiskes, Mike

2014-01-01

Background: Previous studies have shown that in semi-spontaneous speech, individuals with Broca's and anomic aphasia produce relatively many direct speech constructions. It has been claimed that in "healthy" communication direct speech constructions contribute to the liveliness, and indirectly to the comprehensibility, of speech.…

Speech watermarking: an approach for the forensic analysis of digital telephonic recordings.

Science.gov (United States)

Faundez-Zanuy, Marcos; Lucena-Molina, Jose J; Hagmüller, Martin

2010-07-01

In this article, the authors discuss the problem of forensic authentication of digital audio recordings. Although forensic audio has been addressed in several articles, the existing approaches are focused on analog magnetic recordings, which are less prevalent because of the large amount of digital recorders available on the market (optical, solid state, hard disks, etc.). An approach based on digital signal processing that consists of spread spectrum techniques for speech watermarking is presented. This approach presents the advantage that the authentication is based on the signal itself rather than the recording format. Thus, it is valid for usual recording devices in police-controlled telephone intercepts. In addition, our proposal allows for the introduction of relevant information such as the recording date and time and all the relevant data (this is not always possible with classical systems). Our experimental results reveal that the speech watermarking procedure does not interfere in a significant way with the posterior forensic speaker identification.

Perceived liveliness and speech comprehensibility in aphasia : the effects of direct speech in auditory narratives

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groenewold, Rimke; Bastiaanse, Roelien; Nickels, Lyndsey; Huiskes, Mike

2014-01-01

Background: Previous studies have shown that in semi-spontaneous speech, individuals with Broca's and anomic aphasia produce relatively many direct speech constructions. It has been claimed that in 'healthy' communication direct speech constructions contribute to the liveliness, and indirectly to

Decoding Speech With Integrated Hybrid Signals Recorded From the Human Ventral Motor Cortex

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Kenji Ibayashi

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Restoration of speech communication for locked-in patients by means of brain computer interfaces (BCIs is currently an important area of active research. Among the neural signals obtained from intracranial recordings, single/multi-unit activity (SUA/MUA, local field potential (LFP, and electrocorticography (ECoG are good candidates for an input signal for BCIs. However, the question of which signal or which combination of the three signal modalities is best suited for decoding speech production remains unverified. In order to record SUA, LFP, and ECoG simultaneously from a highly localized area of human ventral sensorimotor cortex (vSMC, we fabricated an electrode the size of which was 7 by 13 mm containing sparsely arranged microneedle and conventional macro contacts. We determined which signal modality is the most capable of decoding speech production, and tested if the combination of these signals could improve the decoding accuracy of spoken phonemes. Feature vectors were constructed from spike frequency obtained from SUAs and event-related spectral perturbation derived from ECoG and LFP signals, then input to the decoder. The results showed that the decoding accuracy for five spoken vowels was highest when features from multiple signals were combined and optimized for each subject, and reached 59% when averaged across all six subjects. This result suggests that multi-scale signals convey complementary information for speech articulation. The current study demonstrated that simultaneous recording of multi-scale neuronal activities could raise decoding accuracy even though the recording area is limited to a small portion of cortex, which is advantageous for future implementation of speech-assisting BCIs.

Steganalysis of recorded speech

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Johnson, Micah K.; Lyu, Siwei; Farid, Hany

2005-03-01

Digital audio provides a suitable cover for high-throughput steganography. At 16 bits per sample and sampled at a rate of 44,100 Hz, digital audio has the bit-rate to support large messages. In addition, audio is often transient and unpredictable, facilitating the hiding of messages. Using an approach similar to our universal image steganalysis, we show that hidden messages alter the underlying statistics of audio signals. Our statistical model begins by building a linear basis that captures certain statistical properties of audio signals. A low-dimensional statistical feature vector is extracted from this basis representation and used by a non-linear support vector machine for classification. We show the efficacy of this approach on LSB embedding and Hide4PGP. While no explicit assumptions about the content of the audio are made, our technique has been developed and tested on high-quality recorded speech.

[Repetitive phenomenona in the spontaneous speech of aphasic patients: perseveration, stereotypy, echolalia, automatism and recurring utterance].

Science.gov (United States)

Wallesch, C W; Brunner, R J; Seemüller, E

1983-12-01

Repetitive phenomena in spontaneous speech were investigated in 30 patients with chronic infarctions of the left hemisphere which included Broca's and/or Wernicke's area and/or the basal ganglia. Perseverations, stereotypies, and echolalias occurred with all types of brain lesions, automatisms and recurring utterances only with those patients, whose infarctions involved Wernicke's area and basal ganglia. These patients also showed more echolalic responses. The results are discussed in view of the role of the basal ganglia as motor program generators.

Spontaneous speech: Quantifying daily communication in Spanish-speaking individuals with aphasia.

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Silvia Martínez-Ferreiro

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Observable disruptions in spontaneous speech are among the most prominent characteristics of aphasia. The potential of language production analyses in discourse contexts to reveal subtle language deficits has been progressively exploited, becoming essential for diagnosing language disorders (Vermeulen et al., 1989; Goodglass et al., 2000; Prins and Bastiaanse, 2004; Jaecks et al., 2012. Based on previous studies, short and/or fragmentary utterances, and consequently a shorter MLU, are expected in the speech of individuals with aphasia, together with a large proportions of incomplete sentences and a limited use of embeddings. Fewer verbs with a lower diversity (lower type/token ratio and fewer internal arguments are also predicted, as well as a low proportion of inflected verbs (Bastiaanse and Jonkers, 1998. However, this profile comes mainly from the study of individuals with prototypical aphasia types, mainly Broca’s aphasia, raising the question of how accurate spontaneous speech is to pinpoint deficits in individuals with less clear diagnoses. To address this question, we present the results of a spontaneous speech analysis of 25 Spanish-speaking subjects: 10 individuals with aphasia (IWAs, 7 male and 3 female (mean age: 64.2 in neural stable condition (> 1 year post-onset who suffered from a single CVA in the left hemisphere (Rosell, 2005, and 15 non-brain-damaged matched speakers (NBDs. In the aphasia group, 7 of the participants were diagnosed as non-fluent (1 motor aphasia, 4 transcortical motor aphasia or motor aphasia with signs of transcorticality, 2 mixed aphasia with motor predominance, and 3 of them as fluent (mixed aphasia with anomic predominance. The protocol for data collection included semi-standardized interviews, in which participants were asked 3 questions evoking past, present, and future events (last job, holidays, and hobbies. 300 words per participant were analyzed. The MLU over the total 300 words revealed a decreased

SPEECH EVALUATION WITH AND WITHOUT PALATAL OBTURATOR IN PATIENTS SUBMITTED TO MAXILLECTOMY

Science.gov (United States)

de Carvalho-Teles, Viviane; Pegoraro-Krook, Maria Inês; Lauris, José Roberto Pereira

2006-01-01

Most patients who have undergone resection of the maxillae due to benign or malignant tumors in the palatomaxillary region present with speech and swallowing disorders. Coupling of the oral and nasal cavities increases nasal resonance, resulting in hypernasality and unintelligible speech. Prosthodontic rehabilitation of maxillary resections with effective separation of the oral and nasal cavities can improve speech and esthetics, and assist the psychosocial adjustment of the patient as well. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the palatal obturator prosthesis on speech intelligibility and resonance of 23 patients with age ranging from 18 to 83 years (Mean = 49.5 years), who had undergone inframedial-structural maxillectomy. The patients were requested to count from 1 to 20, to repeat 21 words and to spontaneously speak for 15 seconds, once with and again without the prosthesis, for tape recording purposes. The resonance and speech intelligibility were judged by 5 speech language pathologists from the tape recordings samples. The results have shown that the majority of patients (82.6%) significantly improved their speech intelligibility, and 16 patients (69.9%) exhibited a significant hypernasality reduction with the obturator in place. The results of this study indicated that maxillary obturator prosthesis was efficient to improve the speech intelligibility and resonance in patients who had undergone maxillectomy. PMID:19089242

Prosodic Contrasts in Ironic Speech

Science.gov (United States)

Bryant, Gregory A.

2010-01-01

Prosodic features in spontaneous speech help disambiguate implied meaning not explicit in linguistic surface structure, but little research has examined how these signals manifest themselves in real conversations. Spontaneously produced verbal irony utterances generated between familiar speakers in conversational dyads were acoustically analyzed…

Does the Recording Medium Influence Phonetic Transcription of Cleft Palate Speech?

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Klintö, Kristina; Lohmander, Anette

2017-01-01

Background: In recent years, analyses of cleft palate speech based on phonetic transcriptions have become common. However, the results vary considerably among different studies. It cannot be excluded that differences in assessment methodology, including the recording medium, influence the results. Aims: To compare phonetic transcriptions from…

Good and bad in the hands of politicians: spontaneous gestures during positive and negative speech.

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Daniel Casasanto

2010-07-01

Full Text Available According to the body-specificity hypothesis, people with different bodily characteristics should form correspondingly different mental representations, even in highly abstract conceptual domains. In a previous test of this proposal, right- and left-handers were found to associate positive ideas like intelligence, attractiveness, and honesty with their dominant side and negative ideas with their non-dominant side. The goal of the present study was to determine whether 'body-specific' associations of space and valence can be observed beyond the laboratory in spontaneous behavior, and whether these implicit associations have visible consequences.We analyzed speech and gesture (3012 spoken clauses, 1747 gestures from the final debates of the 2004 and 2008 US presidential elections, which involved two right-handers (Kerry, Bush and two left-handers (Obama, McCain. Blind, independent coding of speech and gesture allowed objective hypothesis testing. Right- and left-handed candidates showed contrasting associations between gesture and speech. In both of the left-handed candidates, left-hand gestures were associated more strongly with positive-valence clauses and right-hand gestures with negative-valence clauses; the opposite pattern was found in both right-handed candidates.Speakers associate positive messages more strongly with dominant hand gestures and negative messages with non-dominant hand gestures, revealing a hidden link between action and emotion. This pattern cannot be explained by conventions in language or culture, which associate 'good' with 'right' but not with 'left'; rather, results support and extend the body-specificity hypothesis. Furthermore, results suggest that the hand speakers use to gesture may have unexpected (and probably unintended communicative value, providing the listener with a subtle index of how the speaker feels about the content of the co-occurring speech.

An investigation and comparison of speech recognition software for determining if bird song recordings contain legible human voices

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Tim D. Hunt

Full Text Available The purpose of this work was to test the effectiveness of using readily available speech recognition API services to determine if recordings of bird song had inadvertently recorded human voices. A mobile phone was used to record a human speaking at increasing distances from the phone in an outside setting with bird song occurring in the background. One of the services was trained with sample recordings and each service was compared for their ability to return recognized words. The services from Google and IBM performed similarly and the Microsoft service, that allowed training, performed slightly better. However, all three services failed to perform at a level that would enable recordings with recognizable human speech to be deleted in order to maintain full privacy protection.

SOFTWARE EFFORT ESTIMATION FRAMEWORK TO IMPROVE ORGANIZATION PRODUCTIVITY USING EMOTION RECOGNITION OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERS IN SPONTANEOUS SPEECH

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B.V.A.N.S.S. Prabhakar Rao

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Productivity is a very important part of any organisation in general and software industry in particular. Now a day’s Software Effort estimation is a challenging task. Both Effort and Productivity are inter-related to each other. This can be achieved from the employee’s of the organization. Every organisation requires emotionally stable employees in their firm for seamless and progressive working. Of course, in other industries this may be achieved without man power. But, software project development is labour intensive activity. Each line of code should be delivered from software engineer. Tools and techniques may helpful and act as aid or supplementary. Whatever be the reason software industry has been suffering with success rate. Software industry is facing lot of problems in delivering the project on time and within the estimated budget limit. If we want to estimate the required effort of the project it is significant to know the emotional state of the team member. The responsibility of ensuring emotional contentment falls on the human resource department and the department can deploy a series of systems to carry out its survey. This analysis can be done using a variety of tools, one such, is through study of emotion recognition. The data needed for this is readily available and collectable and can be an excellent source for the feedback systems. The challenge of recognition of emotion in speech is convoluted primarily due to the noisy recording condition, the variations in sentiment in sample space and exhibition of multiple emotions in a single sentence. The ambiguity in the labels of training set also increases the complexity of problem addressed. The existing models using probabilistic models have dominated the study but present a flaw in scalability due to statistical inefficiency. The problem of sentiment prediction in spontaneous speech can thus be addressed using a hybrid system comprising of a Convolution Neural Network and

Dog-directed speech: why do we use it and do dogs pay attention to it?

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Ben-Aderet, Tobey; Gallego-Abenza, Mario; Reby, David; Mathevon, Nicolas

2017-01-11

Pet-directed speech is strikingly similar to infant-directed speech, a peculiar speaking pattern with higher pitch and slower tempo known to engage infants' attention and promote language learning. Here, we report the first investigation of potential factors modulating the use of dog-directed speech, as well as its immediate impact on dogs' behaviour. We recorded adult participants speaking in front of pictures of puppies, adult and old dogs, and analysed the quality of their speech. We then performed playback experiments to assess dogs' reaction to dog-directed speech compared with normal speech. We found that human speakers used dog-directed speech with dogs of all ages and that the acoustic structure of dog-directed speech was mostly independent of dog age, except for sound pitch which was relatively higher when communicating with puppies. Playback demonstrated that, in the absence of other non-auditory cues, puppies were highly reactive to dog-directed speech, and that the pitch was a key factor modulating their behaviour, suggesting that this specific speech register has a functional value in young dogs. Conversely, older dogs did not react differentially to dog-directed speech compared with normal speech. The fact that speakers continue to use dog-directed with older dogs therefore suggests that this speech pattern may mainly be a spontaneous attempt to facilitate interactions with non-verbal listeners. © 2017 The Author(s).

The Prevalence of Speech Disorders among University Students in Jordan

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Alaraifi, Jehad Ahmad; Amayreh, Mousa Mohammad; Saleh, Mohammad Yusef

2014-01-01

Problem: There are no available studies on the prevalence, and distribution of speech disorders among Arabic speaking undergraduate students in Jordan. Method: A convenience sample of 400 undergraduate students at the University of Jordan was screened for speech disorders. Two spontaneous speech samples and an oral reading of a passage were…

Robust Speech/Non-Speech Classification in Heterogeneous Multimedia Content

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huijbregts, M.A.H.; de Jong, Franciska M.G.

In this paper we present a speech/non-speech classification method that allows high quality classification without the need to know in advance what kinds of audible non-speech events are present in an audio recording and that does not require a single parameter to be tuned on in-domain data. Because

Automated acoustic analysis in detection of spontaneous swallows in Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Golabbakhsh, Marzieh; Rajaei, Ali; Derakhshan, Mahmoud; Sadri, Saeed; Taheri, Masoud; Adibi, Peyman

2014-10-01

Acoustic monitoring of swallow frequency has become important as the frequency of spontaneous swallowing can be an index for dysphagia and related complications. In addition, it can be employed as an objective quantification of ingestive behavior. Commonly, swallowing complications are manually detected using videofluoroscopy recordings, which require expensive equipment and exposure to radiation. In this study, a noninvasive automated technique is proposed that uses breath and swallowing recordings obtained via a microphone located over the laryngopharynx. Nonlinear diffusion filters were used in which a scale-space decomposition of recorded sound at different levels extract swallows from breath sounds and artifacts. This technique was compared to manual detection of swallows using acoustic signals on a sample of 34 subjects with Parkinson's disease. A speech language pathologist identified five subjects who showed aspiration during the videofluoroscopic swallowing study. The proposed automated method identified swallows with a sensitivity of 86.67 %, a specificity of 77.50 %, and an accuracy of 82.35 %. These results indicate the validity of automated acoustic recognition of swallowing as a fast and efficient approach to objectively estimate spontaneous swallow frequency.

Introductory speeches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

This CD is multimedia presentation of programme safety upgrading of Bohunice V1 NPP. This chapter consist of introductory commentary and 4 introductory speeches (video records): (1) Introductory speech of Vincent Pillar, Board chairman and director general of Slovak electric, Plc. (SE); (2) Introductory speech of Stefan Schmidt, director of SE - Bohunice Nuclear power plants; (3) Introductory speech of Jan Korec, Board chairman and director general of VUJE Trnava, Inc. - Engineering, Design and Research Organisation, Trnava; Introductory speech of Dietrich Kuschel, Senior vice-president of FRAMATOME ANP Project and Engineering

On speech recognition during anaesthesia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alapetite, Alexandre

2007-01-01

This PhD thesis in human-computer interfaces (informatics) studies the case of the anaesthesia record used during medical operations and the possibility to supplement it with speech recognition facilities. Problems and limitations have been identified with the traditional paper-based anaesthesia...... and inaccuracies in the anaesthesia record. Supplementing the electronic anaesthesia record interface with speech input facilities is proposed as one possible solution to a part of the problem. The testing of the various hypotheses has involved the development of a prototype of an electronic anaesthesia record...... interface with speech input facilities in Danish. The evaluation of the new interface was carried out in a full-scale anaesthesia simulator. This has been complemented by laboratory experiments on several aspects of speech recognition for this type of use, e.g. the effects of noise on speech recognition...

AGGLOMERATIVE CLUSTERING OF SOUND RECORD SPEECH SEGMENTS BASED ON BAYESIAN INFORMATION CRITERION

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O. Yu. Kydashev

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the detailed description of agglomerative clustering system implementation for speech segments based on Bayesian information criterion. Numerical experiment results with different acoustic features, as well as the full and diagonal covariance matrices application are given. The error rate DER equal to 6.4% for audio records of radio «Svoboda» was achieved by means of designed system.

Measuring Speech Comprehensibility in Students with Down Syndrome

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Yoder, Paul J.; Woynaroski, Tiffany; Camarata, Stephen

2016-01-01

Purpose: There is an ongoing need to develop assessments of spontaneous speech that focus on whether the child's utterances are comprehensible to listeners. This study sought to identify the attributes of a stable ratings-based measure of speech comprehensibility, which enabled examining the criterion-related validity of an orthography-based…

Finite Verb Morphology in the Spontaneous Speech of Dutch-Speaking Children With Hearing Loss.

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Hammer, Annemiek; Coene, Martine

2016-01-01

In this study, the acquisition of Dutch finite verb morphology is investigated in children with cochlear implants (CIs) with profound hearing loss and in children with hearing aids (HAs) with moderate to severe hearing loss. Comparing these two groups of children increases our insight into how hearing experience and audibility affect the acquisition of morphosyntax. Spontaneous speech samples were analyzed of 48 children with CIs and 29 children with HAs, ages 4 to 7 years. These language samples were analyzed by means of standardized language analysis involving mean length of utterance, the number of finite verbs produced, and target-like subject-verb agreement. The outcomes were interpreted relative to expectations based on the performance of typically developing peers with normal hearing. Outcomes of all measures were correlated with hearing level in the group of HA users and age at implantation in the group of CI users. For both groups, the number of finite verbs that were produced in 50-utterance sample was on par with mean length of utterance and at the lower bound of the normal distribution. No significant differences were found between children with CIs and HAs on any of the measures under investigation. Yet, both groups produced more subject-verb agreement errors than are to be expected for typically developing hearing peers. No significant correlation was found between the hearing level of the children and the relevant measures of verb morphology, both with respect to the overall number of verbs that were used and the number of errors that children made. Within the group of CI users, the outcomes were significantly correlated with age at implantation. When producing finite verb morphology, profoundly deaf children wearing CIs perform similarly to their peers with moderate-to-severe hearing loss wearing HAs. Hearing loss negatively affects the acquisition of subject-verb agreement regardless of the hearing device (CI or HA) that the child is wearing. The

Can mergers-in-progress be unmerged in speech accommodation?

Science.gov (United States)

Babel, Molly; McAuliffe, Michael; Haber, Graham

2013-01-01

This study examines spontaneous phonetic accommodation of a dialect with distinct categories by speakers who are in the process of merging those categories. We focus on the merger of the NEAR and SQUARE lexical sets in New Zealand English, presenting New Zealand participants with an unmerged speaker of Australian English. Mergers-in-progress are a uniquely interesting sound change as they showcase the asymmetry between speech perception and production. Yet, we examine mergers using spontaneous phonetic imitation, which is phenomenon that is necessarily a behavior where perceptual input influences speech production. Phonetic imitation is quantified by a perceptual measure and an acoustic calculation of mergedness using a Pillai-Bartlett trace. The results from both analyses indicate spontaneous phonetic imitation is moderated by extra-linguistic factors such as the valence of assigned conditions and social bias. We also find evidence for a decrease in the degree of mergedness in post-exposure productions. Taken together, our results suggest that under the appropriate conditions New Zealanders phonetically accommodate to Australian English and that in the process of speech imitation, mergers-in-progress can, but do not consistently, become less merged.

Can mergers-in-progress be unmerged in speech accommodation?

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Molly eBabel

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This study examines spontaneous phonetic accommodation of a dialect with distinct categories by speakers who are in the process of merging those categories. We focus on the merger of the NEAR and SQUARE lexical sets in New Zealand English, presenting New Zealand participants with an unmerged speaker of Australian English. Mergers-in-progress are a uniquely interesting sound change as they showcase the asymmetry between speech perception and production. Yet, we examine mergers using spontaneous phonetic imitation, which is phenomenon that is necessarily a behavior where perceptual input influences speech production. Phonetic imitation is quantified by a perceptual measure and an acoustic calculation of mergedness using a Pillai-Bartlett trace. The results from both analyses indicate spontaneous phonetic imitation is moderated by extra-linguistic factors such as the valence of assigned conditions and social bias. We also find evidence for a decrease in the degree of mergedness in post-exposure productions. Taken together, our results suggest that under the appropriate conditions New Zealanders phonetically accommodate to Australian English and that in the process of speech imitation, mergers-in-progress can, but do not consistently, become less merged.

The contrast between alveolar and velar stops with typical speech data: acoustic and articulatory analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Melo, Roberta Michelon; Mota, Helena Bolli; Berti, Larissa Cristina

2017-06-08

This study used acoustic and articulatory analyses to characterize the contrast between alveolar and velar stops with typical speech data, comparing the parameters (acoustic and articulatory) of adults and children with typical speech development. The sample consisted of 20 adults and 15 children with typical speech development. The analyzed corpus was organized through five repetitions of each target-word (/'kap ə/, /'tapə/, /'galo/ e /'daɾə/). These words were inserted into a carrier phrase and the participant was asked to name them spontaneously. Simultaneous audio and video data were recorded (tongue ultrasound images). The data was submitted to acoustic analyses (voice onset time; spectral peak and burst spectral moments; vowel/consonant transition and relative duration measures) and articulatory analyses (proportion of significant axes of the anterior and posterior tongue regions and description of tongue curves). Acoustic and articulatory parameters were effective to indicate the contrast between alveolar and velar stops, mainly in the adult group. Both speech analyses showed statistically significant differences between the two groups. The acoustic and articulatory parameters provided signals to characterize the phonic contrast of speech. One of the main findings in the comparison between adult and child speech was evidence of articulatory refinement/maturation even after the period of segment acquisition.

Automatic Speech Signal Analysis for Clinical Diagnosis and Assessment of Speech Disorders

CERN Document Server

Baghai-Ravary, Ladan

2013-01-01

Automatic Speech Signal Analysis for Clinical Diagnosis and Assessment of Speech Disorders provides a survey of methods designed to aid clinicians in the diagnosis and monitoring of speech disorders such as dysarthria and dyspraxia, with an emphasis on the signal processing techniques, statistical validity of the results presented in the literature, and the appropriateness of methods that do not require specialized equipment, rigorously controlled recording procedures or highly skilled personnel to interpret results. Such techniques offer the promise of a simple and cost-effective, yet objective, assessment of a range of medical conditions, which would be of great value to clinicians. The ideal scenario would begin with the collection of examples of the clients’ speech, either over the phone or using portable recording devices operated by non-specialist nursing staff. The recordings could then be analyzed initially to aid diagnosis of conditions, and subsequently to monitor the clients’ progress and res...

A Danish open-set speech corpus for competing-speech studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jens Bo; Dau, Torsten; Neher, Tobias

2014-01-01

Studies investigating speech-on-speech masking effects commonly use closed-set speech materials such as the coordinate response measure [Bolia et al. (2000). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 107, 1065-1066]. However, these studies typically result in very low (i.e., negative) speech recognition thresholds (SRTs......) when the competing speech signals are spatially separated. To achieve higher SRTs that correspond more closely to natural communication situations, an open-set, low-context, multi-talker speech corpus was developed. Three sets of 268 unique Danish sentences were created, and each set was recorded...... with one of three professional female talkers. The intelligibility of each sentence in the presence of speech-shaped noise was measured. For each talker, 200 approximately equally intelligible sentences were then selected and systematically distributed into 10 test lists. Test list homogeneity was assessed...

Neurophysiology of speech differences in childhood apraxia of speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Preston, Jonathan L; Molfese, Peter J; Gumkowski, Nina; Sorcinelli, Andrea; Harwood, Vanessa; Irwin, Julia R; Landi, Nicole

2014-01-01

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during a picture naming task of simple and complex words in children with typical speech and with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Results reveal reduced amplitude prior to speaking complex (multisyllabic) words relative to simple (monosyllabic) words for the CAS group over the right hemisphere during a time window thought to reflect phonological encoding of word forms. Group differences were also observed prior to production of spoken tokens regardless of word complexity during a time window just prior to speech onset (thought to reflect motor planning/programming). Results suggest differences in pre-speech neurolinguistic processes.

Progressive apraxia of speech as a window into the study of speech planning processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Laganaro, Marina; Croisier, Michèle; Bagou, Odile; Assal, Frédéric

2012-09-01

We present a 3-year follow-up study of a patient with progressive apraxia of speech (PAoS), aimed at investigating whether the theoretical organization of phonetic encoding is reflected in the progressive disruption of speech. As decreased speech rate was the most striking pattern of disruption during the first 2 years, durational analyses were carried out longitudinally on syllables excised from spontaneous, repetition and reading speech samples. The crucial result of the present study is the demonstration of an effect of syllable frequency on duration: the progressive disruption of articulation rate did not affect all syllables in the same way, but followed a gradient that was function of the frequency of use of syllable-sized motor programs. The combination of data from this case of PAoS with previous psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic data, points to a frequency organization of syllable-sized speech-motor plans. In this study we also illustrate how studying PAoS can be exploited in theoretical and clinical investigations of phonetic encoding as it represents a unique opportunity to investigate speech while it progressively disrupts. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Srl. All rights reserved.

Two Methods of Automatic Evaluation of Speech Signal Enhancement Recorded in the Open-Air MRI Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Přibil, Jiří; Přibilová, Anna; Frollo, Ivan

2017-12-01

The paper focuses on two methods of evaluation of successfulness of speech signal enhancement recorded in the open-air magnetic resonance imager during phonation for the 3D human vocal tract modeling. The first approach enables to obtain a comparison based on statistical analysis by ANOVA and hypothesis tests. The second method is based on classification by Gaussian mixture models (GMM). The performed experiments have confirmed that the proposed ANOVA and GMM classifiers for automatic evaluation of the speech quality are functional and produce fully comparable results with the standard evaluation based on the listening test method.

Developmental profile of speech-language and communicative functions in an individual with the preserved speech variant of Rett syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Marschik, Peter B; Vollmann, Ralf; Bartl-Pokorny, Katrin D; Green, Vanessa A; van der Meer, Larah; Wolin, Thomas; Einspieler, Christa

2014-08-01

We assessed various aspects of speech-language and communicative functions of an individual with the preserved speech variant of Rett syndrome (RTT) to describe her developmental profile over a period of 11 years. For this study, we incorporated the following data resources and methods to assess speech-language and communicative functions during pre-, peri- and post-regressional development: retrospective video analyses, medical history data, parental checklists and diaries, standardized tests on vocabulary and grammar, spontaneous speech samples and picture stories to elicit narrative competences. Despite achieving speech-language milestones, atypical behaviours were present at all times. We observed a unique developmental speech-language trajectory (including the RTT typical regression) affecting all linguistic and socio-communicative sub-domains in the receptive as well as the expressive modality. Future research should take into consideration a potentially considerable discordance between formal and functional language use by interpreting communicative acts on a more cautionary note.

First-language raters’ opinions when validating word recordings for a newly developed speech reception threshold test

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seema Panday

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Background: The purpose of this study was to consider the value of adding first-language speaker ratings to the process of validating word recordings for use in a new speech reception threshold (SRT test in audiology. Previous studies had identified 28 word recordings as being suitable for use in a new SRT test. These word recordings had been shown to satisfy the linguistic criteria of familiarity, phonetic dissimilarity and tone, and the psychometric criterion of homogeneity of audibility.   Objectives: The aim of the study was to consider the value of adding first-language speakers’ ratings when validating word recordings for a new SRT test.   Method: A single observation, cross-sectional design was used to collect and analyse quantitative data in this study. Eleven first-language isiZulu speakers, purposively selected, were asked to rate each of the word recordings for pitch, clarity, naturalness, speech rate and quality on a 5-point Likert scale. The percent agreement and Friedman test were used for analysis.   Results: More than 20% of these 11 participants rated the three-word recordings below ‘strongly agree’ in the category of pitch or tone, and one-word recording below ‘strongly agree’ in the categories of pitch or tone, clarity or articulation and naturalness or dialect.   Conclusion: The first-language speaker ratings proved to be a valuable addition to the process of selecting word recordings for use in a new SRT test. In particular, these ratings identified potentially problematic word recordings in the new SRT test that had been missed by the previously and more commonly used linguistic and psychometric selection criteria.

First-language raters' opinions when validating word recordings for a newly developed speech reception threshold test.

Science.gov (United States)

Panday, Seema; Kathard, Harsha; Pillay, Mershen; Wilson, Wayne

2018-03-29

 The purpose of this study was to consider the value of adding first-language speaker ratings to the process of validating word recordings for use in a new speech reception threshold (SRT) test in audiology. Previous studies had identified 28 word recordings as being suitable for use in a new SRT test. These word recordings had been shown to satisfy the linguistic criteria of familiarity, phonetic dissimilarity and tone, and the psychometric criterion of homogeneity of audibility. Objectives: The aim of the study was to consider the value of adding first-language speakers' ratings when validating word recordings for a new SRT test. Method: A single observation, cross-sectional design was used to collect and analyse quantitative data in this study. Eleven first-language isiZulu speakers, purposively selected, were asked to rate each of the word recordings for pitch, clarity, naturalness, speech rate and quality on a 5-point Likert scale. The percent agreement and Friedman test were used for analysis. Results: More than 20% of these 11 participants rated the three-word recordings below 'strongly agree' in the category of pitch or tone, and one-word recording below 'strongly agree' in the categories of pitch or tone, clarity or articulation and naturalness or dialect. Conclusion: The first-language speaker ratings proved to be a valuable addition to the process of selecting word recordings for use in a new SRT test. In particular, these ratings identified potentially problematic word recordings in the new SRT test that had been missed by the previously and more commonly used linguistic and psychometric selection criteria.

Prevalence of Vocal Problems: Speech-Language Pathologists' Evaluation of Music and Non-Music Teacher Recordings

Science.gov (United States)

Hackworth, Rhonda S.

2013-01-01

The current study, a preliminary examination of whether music teachers are more susceptible to vocal problems than teachers of other subjects, asked for expert evaluation of audio recordings from licensed speech-language pathologists. Participants (N = 41) taught music (n = 23) or another subject (n = 18) in either elementary (n = 21), middle (n =…

Speech-Based Information Retrieval for Digital Libraries

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Oard, Douglas W

1997-01-01

Libraries and archives collect recorded speech and multimedia objects that contain recorded speech, and such material may comprise a substantial portion of the collection in future digital libraries...

Speech rhythm analysis with decomposition of the amplitude envelope: characterizing rhythmic patterns within and across languages.

Science.gov (United States)

Tilsen, Sam; Arvaniti, Amalia

2013-07-01

This study presents a method for analyzing speech rhythm using empirical mode decomposition of the speech amplitude envelope, which allows for extraction and quantification of syllabic- and supra-syllabic time-scale components of the envelope. The method of empirical mode decomposition of a vocalic energy amplitude envelope is illustrated in detail, and several types of rhythm metrics derived from this method are presented. Spontaneous speech extracted from the Buckeye Corpus is used to assess the effect of utterance length on metrics, and it is shown how metrics representing variability in the supra-syllabic time-scale components of the envelope can be used to identify stretches of speech with targeted rhythmic characteristics. Furthermore, the envelope-based metrics are used to characterize cross-linguistic differences in speech rhythm in the UC San Diego Speech Lab corpus of English, German, Greek, Italian, Korean, and Spanish speech elicited in read sentences, read passages, and spontaneous speech. The envelope-based metrics exhibit significant effects of language and elicitation method that argue for a nuanced view of cross-linguistic rhythm patterns.

Speech Analysis of Bengali Speaking Children with Repaired Cleft Lip & Palate

Science.gov (United States)

Chakrabarty, Madhushree; Kumar, Suman; Chatterjee, Indranil; Maheshwari, Neha

2012-01-01

The present study aims at analyzing speech samples of four Bengali speaking children with repaired cleft palates with a view to differentiate between the misarticulations arising out of a deficit in linguistic skills and structural or motoric limitations. Spontaneous speech samples were collected and subjected to a number of linguistic analyses…

Cleft Audit Protocol for Speech (CAPS-A): A Comprehensive Training Package for Speech Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Sell, D.; John, A.; Harding-Bell, A.; Sweeney, T.; Hegarty, F.; Freeman, J.

2009-01-01

Background: The previous literature has largely focused on speech analysis systems and ignored process issues, such as the nature of adequate speech samples, data acquisition, recording and playback. Although there has been recognition of the need for training on tools used in speech analysis associated with cleft palate, little attention has been…

Impact of cognitive function and dysarthria on spoken language and perceived speech severity in multiple sclerosis

Science.gov (United States)

Feenaughty, Lynda

Purpose: The current study sought to investigate the separate effects of dysarthria and cognitive status on global speech timing, speech hesitation, and linguistic complexity characteristics and how these speech behaviors impose on listener impressions for three connected speech tasks presumed to differ in cognitive-linguistic demand for four carefully defined speaker groups; 1) MS with cognitive deficits (MSCI), 2) MS with clinically diagnosed dysarthria and intact cognition (MSDYS), 3) MS without dysarthria or cognitive deficits (MS), and 4) healthy talkers (CON). The relationship between neuropsychological test scores and speech-language production and perceptual variables for speakers with cognitive deficits was also explored. Methods: 48 speakers, including 36 individuals reporting a neurological diagnosis of MS and 12 healthy talkers participated. The three MS groups and control group each contained 12 speakers (8 women and 4 men). Cognitive function was quantified using standard clinical tests of memory, information processing speed, and executive function. A standard z-score of ≤ -1.50 indicated deficits in a given cognitive domain. Three certified speech-language pathologists determined the clinical diagnosis of dysarthria for speakers with MS. Experimental speech tasks of interest included audio-recordings of an oral reading of the Grandfather passage and two spontaneous speech samples in the form of Familiar and Unfamiliar descriptive discourse. Various measures of spoken language were of interest. Suprasegmental acoustic measures included speech and articulatory rate. Linguistic speech hesitation measures included pause frequency (i.e., silent and filled pauses), mean silent pause duration, grammatical appropriateness of pauses, and interjection frequency. For the two discourse samples, three standard measures of language complexity were obtained including subordination index, inter-sentence cohesion adequacy, and lexical diversity. Ten listeners

Does Speech Emerge From Earlier Appearing Oral Motor Behaviors?

OpenAIRE

Moore, Christopher A.; Ruark, Jacki L.

1996-01-01

This investigation was designed to quantify the coordinative organization of mandibular muscles in toddlers during speech and nonspeech behaviors. Seven 15-month-olds were observed during spontaneous production of chewing, sucking, babbling, and speech. Comparison of mandibular coordination across these behaviors revealed that, even for children in the earliest stages of true word production, coordination was quite different from that observed for other behaviors. Production of true words was...

SSCS'10 : Proceedings of the 2010 ACM Workshop on Searching Spontaneous Conversational Speech

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Larson, Martha; Ordelman, Roeland; Metze, Florian; Kraaij, Wessel; de Jong, Franciska

2010-01-01

The spoken word is a valuable source of semantic information. Techniques that exploit the spoken word by making use of speech recognition or spoken audio analysis hold clear potential for improving multimedia search. Nonetheless, speech technology remains underexploited by systems that provide

Multimodal Speech Capture System for Speech Rehabilitation and Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Sebkhi, Nordine; Desai, Dhyey; Islam, Mohammad; Lu, Jun; Wilson, Kimberly; Ghovanloo, Maysam

2017-11-01

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are trained to correct articulation of people diagnosed with motor speech disorders by analyzing articulators' motion and assessing speech outcome while patients speak. To assist SLPs in this task, we are presenting the multimodal speech capture system (MSCS) that records and displays kinematics of key speech articulators, the tongue and lips, along with voice, using unobtrusive methods. Collected speech modalities, tongue motion, lips gestures, and voice are visualized not only in real-time to provide patients with instant feedback but also offline to allow SLPs to perform post-analysis of articulators' motion, particularly the tongue, with its prominent but hardly visible role in articulation. We describe the MSCS hardware and software components, and demonstrate its basic visualization capabilities by a healthy individual repeating the words "Hello World." A proof-of-concept prototype has been successfully developed for this purpose, and will be used in future clinical studies to evaluate its potential impact on accelerating speech rehabilitation by enabling patients to speak naturally. Pattern matching algorithms to be applied to the collected data can provide patients with quantitative and objective feedback on their speech performance, unlike current methods that are mostly subjective, and may vary from one SLP to another.

Automatic Smoker Detection from Telephone Speech Signals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poorjam, Amir Hossein; Hesaraki, Soheila; Safavi, Saeid

2017-01-01

This paper proposes an automatic smoking habit detection from spontaneous telephone speech signals. In this method, each utterance is modeled using i-vector and non-negative factor analysis (NFA) frameworks, which yield low-dimensional representation of utterances by applying factor analysis...... method is evaluated on telephone speech signals of speakers whose smoking habits are known drawn from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 2008 and 2010 Speaker Recognition Evaluation databases. Experimental results over 1194 utterances show the effectiveness of the proposed approach...... for the automatic smoking habit detection task....

A Comparison between Three Methods of Language Sampling: Freeplay, Narrative Speech and Conversation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasser Rezapour

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The spontaneous language sample analysis is an important part of the language assessment protocol. Language samples give us useful information about how children use language in the natural situations of daily life. The purpose of this study was to compare Conversation, Freeplay, and narrative speech in aspects of Mean Length of Utterance (MLU, Type-token ratio (TTR, and the number of utterances. Methods: By cluster sampling method, a total of 30 Semnanian five-year-old boys with normal speech and language development were selected from the active kindergartens in Semnan city. Conversation, Freeplay, and narrative speech were three applied language sample elicitation methods to obtain 15 minutes of children’s spontaneous language samples. Means for MLU, TTR, and the number of utterances are analyzed by dependent ANOVA. Results: The result showed no significant difference in number of elicited utterances among these three language sampling methods. Narrative speech elicited longer MLU than freeplay and conversation, and compared to freeplay and narrative speech, conversation elicited higher TTR. Discussion: Results suggest that in the clinical assessment of the Persian-language children, it is better to use narrative speech to elicit longer MLU and to use conversation to elicit higher TTR.

The Wildcat Corpus of Native- and Foreign-Accented English: Communicative Efficiency across Conversational Dyads with Varying Language Alignment Profiles

Science.gov (United States)

Van Engen, Kristin J.; Baese-Berk, Melissa; Baker, Rachel E.; Choi, Arim; Kim, Midam; Bradlow, Ann R.

2010-01-01

This paper describes the development of the Wildcat Corpus of native- and foreign-accented English, a corpus containing scripted and spontaneous speech recordings from 24 native speakers of American English and 52 non-native speakers of English. The core element of this corpus is a set of spontaneous speech recordings, for which a new method of…

[Spontaneous speech prosody and discourse analysis in schizophrenia and Fronto Temporal Dementia (FTD) patients].

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez, Angela; Felizzola Donado, Carlos Alberto; Matallana Eslava, Diana Lucía

2015-01-01

Patients with schizophrenia and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) in their linguistic variants share some language characteristics such as the lexical access difficulties, disordered speech with disruptions, many pauses, interruptions and reformulations. For the schizophrenia patients it reflects a difficulty of affect expression, while for the FTD patients it reflects a linguistic issue. This study, through an analysis of a series of cases assessed Clinic both in memory and on the Mental Health Unit of HUSI-PUJ (Hospital Universitario San Ignacio), with additional language assessment (analysis speech and acoustic analysis), present distinctive features of the DFT in its linguistic variants and schizophrenia that will guide the specialist in finding early markers of a differential diagnosis. In patients with FTD language variants, in 100% of cases there is a difficulty understanding linguistic structure of complex type; and important speech fluency problems. In patients with schizophrenia, there are significant alterations in the expression of the suprasegmental elements of speech, as well as disruptions in discourse. We present how depth language assessment allows to reassess some of the rules for the speech and prosody analysis of patients with dementia and schizophrenia; we suggest how elements of speech are useful in guiding the diagnosis and correlate functional compromise in everyday psychiatrist's practice. Copyright © 2014 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

Co-Thought and Co-Speech Gestures Are Generated by the Same Action Generation Process

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Mingyuan; Kita, Sotaro

2016-01-01

People spontaneously gesture when they speak (co-speech gestures) and when they solve problems silently (co-thought gestures). In this study, we first explored the relationship between these 2 types of gestures and found that individuals who produced co-thought gestures more frequently also produced co-speech gestures more frequently (Experiments…

Automatic Speech Recognition Systems for the Evaluation of Voice and Speech Disorders in Head and Neck Cancer

OpenAIRE

Andreas Maier; Tino Haderlein; Florian Stelzle; Elmar Nöth; Emeka Nkenke; Frank Rosanowski; Anne Schützenberger; Maria Schuster

2010-01-01

In patients suffering from head and neck cancer, speech intelligibility is often restricted. For assessment and outcome measurements, automatic speech recognition systems have previously been shown to be appropriate for objective and quick evaluation of intelligibility. In this study we investigate the applicability of the method to speech disorders caused by head and neck cancer. Intelligibility was quantified by speech recognition on recordings of a standard text read by 41 German laryngect...

Dysfluencies in the speech of adults with intellectual disabilities and reported speech difficulties.

Science.gov (United States)

Coppens-Hofman, Marjolein C; Terband, Hayo R; Maassen, Ben A M; van Schrojenstein Lantman-De Valk, Henny M J; van Zaalen-op't Hof, Yvonne; Snik, Ad F M

2013-01-01

In individuals with an intellectual disability, speech dysfluencies are more common than in the general population. In clinical practice, these fluency disorders are generally diagnosed and treated as stuttering rather than cluttering. To characterise the type of dysfluencies in adults with intellectual disabilities and reported speech difficulties with an emphasis on manifestations of stuttering and cluttering, which distinction is to help optimise treatment aimed at improving fluency and intelligibility. The dysfluencies in the spontaneous speech of 28 adults (18-40 years; 16 men) with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities (IQs 40-70), who were characterised as poorly intelligible by their caregivers, were analysed using the speech norms for typically developing adults and children. The speakers were subsequently assigned to different diagnostic categories by relating their resulting dysfluency profiles to mean articulatory rate and articulatory rate variability. Twenty-two (75%) of the participants showed clinically significant dysfluencies, of which 21% were classified as cluttering, 29% as cluttering-stuttering and 25% as clear cluttering at normal articulatory rate. The characteristic pattern of stuttering did not occur. The dysfluencies in the speech of adults with intellectual disabilities and poor intelligibility show patterns that are specific for this population. Together, the results suggest that in this specific group of dysfluent speakers interventions should be aimed at cluttering rather than stuttering. The reader will be able to (1) describe patterns of dysfluencies in the speech of adults with intellectual disabilities that are specific for this group of people, (2) explain that a high rate of dysfluencies in speech is potentially a major determiner of poor intelligibility in adults with ID and (3) describe suggestions for intervention focusing on cluttering rather than stuttering in dysfluent speakers with ID. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc

Tools for the assessment of childhood apraxia of speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Gubiani, Marileda Barichello; Pagliarin, Karina Carlesso; Keske-Soares, Marcia

2015-01-01

This study systematically reviews the literature on the main tools used to evaluate childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). The search strategy includes Scopus, PubMed, and Embase databases. Empirical studies that used tools for assessing CAS were selected. Articles were selected by two independent researchers. The search retrieved 695 articles, out of which 12 were included in the study. Five tools were identified: Verbal Motor Production Assessment for Children, Dynamic Evaluation of Motor Speech Skill, The Orofacial Praxis Test, Kaufman Speech Praxis Test for Children, and Madison Speech Assessment Protocol. There are few instruments available for CAS assessment and most of them are intended to assess praxis and/or orofacial movements, sequences of orofacial movements, articulation of syllables and phonemes, spontaneous speech, and prosody. There are some tests for assessment and diagnosis of CAS. However, few studies on this topic have been conducted at the national level, as well as protocols to assess and assist in an accurate diagnosis.

Consonant and Syllable Structure Patterns in Childhood Apraxia of Speech: Developmental Change in Three Children

Science.gov (United States)

Jacks, Adam; Marquardt, Thomas P.; Davis, Barbara L.

2006-01-01

Changes in consonant and syllable-level error patterns of three children diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) were investigated in a 3-year longitudinal study. Spontaneous speech samples were analyzed to assess the accuracy of consonants and syllables. Consonant accuracy was low overall, with most frequent errors on middle- and…

A prepared speech in front of a pre-recorded audience: subjective, physiological, and neuroendocrine responses to the Leiden Public Speaking Task.

Science.gov (United States)

Westenberg, P Michiel; Bokhorst, Caroline L; Miers, Anne C; Sumter, Sindy R; Kallen, Victor L; van Pelt, Johannes; Blöte, Anke W

2009-10-01

This study describes a new public speaking protocol for youth. The main question asked whether a speech prepared at home and given in front of a pre-recorded audience creates a condition of social-evaluative threat. Findings showed that, on average, this task elicits a moderate stress response in a community sample of 83 12- to 15-year-old adolescents. During the speech, participants reported feeling more nervous and having higher heart rate and sweatiness of the hands than at baseline or recovery. Likewise, physiological (heart rate and skin conductance) and neuroendocrine (cortisol) activity were higher during the speech than at baseline or recovery. Additionally, an anticipation effect was observed: baseline levels were higher than recovery levels for most variables. Taking the anticipation and speech response together, a substantial cortisol response was observed for 55% of participants. The findings indicate that the Leiden Public Speaking Task might be particularly suited to investigate individual differences in sensitivity to social-evaluative situations.

Speech enhancement

CERN Document Server

Benesty, Jacob; Chen, Jingdong

2006-01-01

We live in a noisy world! In all applications (telecommunications, hands-free communications, recording, human-machine interfaces, etc.) that require at least one microphone, the signal of interest is usually contaminated by noise and reverberation. As a result, the microphone signal has to be ""cleaned"" with digital signal processing tools before it is played out, transmitted, or stored.This book is about speech enhancement. Different well-known and state-of-the-art methods for noise reduction, with one or multiple microphones, are discussed. By speech enhancement, we mean not only noise red

Variable Span Filters for Speech Enhancement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jesper Rindom; Benesty, Jacob; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll

2016-01-01

In this work, we consider enhancement of multichannel speech recordings. Linear filtering and subspace approaches have been considered previously for solving the problem. The current linear filtering methods, although many variants exist, have limited control of noise reduction and speech...

A record of spontaneous subduction initiation in the Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc

Science.gov (United States)

Arculus, Richard J.; Ishizuka, Osamu; Bogus, Kara A.; Gurnis, Michael; Hickey-Vargas, Rosemary; Aljahdali, Mohammed H.; Bandini-Maeder, Alexandre N.; Barth, Andrew P.; Brandl, Philipp A.; Drab, Laureen; Do Monte Guerra, Rodrigo; Hamada, Morihisa; Jiang, Fuqing; Kanayama, Kyoko; Kender, Sev; Kusano, Yuki; Li, He; Loudin, Lorne C.; Maffione, Marco; Marsaglia, Kathleen M.; McCarthy, Anders; Meffre, Sebastién; Morris, Antony; Neuhaus, Martin; Savov, Ivan P.; Sena, Clara; Tepley, Frank J., III; van der Land, Cees; Yogodzinski, Gene M.; Zhang, Zhaohui

2015-09-01

The initiation of tectonic plate subduction into the mantle is poorly understood. If subduction is induced by the push of a distant mid-ocean ridge or subducted slab pull, we expect compression and uplift of the overriding plate. In contrast, spontaneous subduction initiation, driven by subsidence of dense lithosphere along faults adjacent to buoyant lithosphere, would result in extension and magmatism. The rock record of subduction initiation is typically obscured by younger deposits, so evaluating these possibilities has proved elusive. Here we analyse the geochemical characteristics of igneous basement rocks and overlying sediments, sampled from the Amami Sankaku Basin in the northwest Philippine Sea. The uppermost basement rocks are areally widespread and supplied via dykes. They are similar in composition and age--as constrained by the biostratigraphy of the overlying sediments--to the 52-48-million-year-old basalts in the adjacent Izu-Bonin-Mariana fore-arc. The geochemical characteristics of the basement lavas indicate that a component of subducted lithosphere was involved in their genesis, and the lavas were derived from mantle source rocks that were more melt-depleted than those tapped at mid-ocean ridges. We propose that the basement lavas formed during the inception of Izu-Bonin-Mariana subduction in a mode consistent with the spontaneous initiation of subduction.

Filled pause refinement based on the pronunciation probability for lecture speech.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan-Hua Long

Full Text Available Nowadays, although automatic speech recognition has become quite proficient in recognizing or transcribing well-prepared fluent speech, the transcription of speech that contains many disfluencies remains problematic, such as spontaneous conversational and lecture speech. Filled pauses (FPs are the most frequently occurring disfluencies in this type of speech. Most recent studies have shown that FPs are widely believed to increase the error rates for state-of-the-art speech transcription, primarily because most FPs are not well annotated or provided in training data transcriptions and because of the similarities in acoustic characteristics between FPs and some common non-content words. To enhance the speech transcription system, we propose a new automatic refinement approach to detect FPs in British English lecture speech transcription. This approach combines the pronunciation probabilities for each word in the dictionary and acoustic language model scores for FP refinement through a modified speech recognition forced-alignment framework. We evaluate the proposed approach on the Reith Lectures speech transcription task, in which only imperfect training transcriptions are available. Successful results are achieved for both the development and evaluation datasets. Acoustic models trained on different styles of speech genres have been investigated with respect to FP refinement. To further validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, speech transcription performance has also been examined using systems built on training data transcriptions with and without FP refinement.

HMM adaptation for child speech synthesis using ASR data

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Govender, N

2015-11-01

Full Text Available . This paper reports on a feasibility study that was conducted to determine whether it is possible to synthesize good quality child voices using child speech data that was recorded for automatic speech recognition (ASR) purposes. A text-to-speech system...

Effect of gap detection threshold on consistency of speech in children with speech sound disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Sayyahi, Fateme; Soleymani, Zahra; Akbari, Mohammad; Bijankhan, Mahmood; Dolatshahi, Behrooz

2017-02-01

The present study examined the relationship between gap detection threshold and speech error consistency in children with speech sound disorder. The participants were children five to six years of age who were categorized into three groups of typical speech, consistent speech disorder (CSD) and inconsistent speech disorder (ISD).The phonetic gap detection threshold test was used for this study, which is a valid test comprised six syllables with inter-stimulus intervals between 20-300ms. The participants were asked to listen to the recorded stimuli three times and indicate whether they heard one or two sounds. There was no significant difference between the typical and CSD groups (p=0.55), but there were significant differences in performance between the ISD and CSD groups and the ISD and typical groups (p=0.00). The ISD group discriminated between speech sounds at a higher threshold. Children with inconsistent speech errors could not distinguish speech sounds during time-limited phonetic discrimination. It is suggested that inconsistency in speech is a representation of inconsistency in auditory perception, which causes by high gap detection threshold. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Speech Intelligibility Evaluation for Mobile Phones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Søren; Cubick, Jens; Dau, Torsten

2015-01-01

In the development process of modern telecommunication systems, such as mobile phones, it is common practice to use computer models to objectively evaluate the transmission quality of the system, instead of time-consuming perceptual listening tests. Such models have typically focused on the quality...... of the transmitted speech, while little or no attention has been provided to speech intelligibility. The present study investigated to what extent three state-of-the art speech intelligibility models could predict the intelligibility of noisy speech transmitted through mobile phones. Sentences from the Danish...... Dantale II speech material were mixed with three different kinds of background noise, transmitted through three different mobile phones, and recorded at the receiver via a local network simulator. The speech intelligibility of the transmitted sentences was assessed by six normal-hearing listeners...

CAR2 - Czech Database of Car Speech

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Sovka

1999-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents new Czech language two-channel (stereo speech database recorded in car environment. The created database was designed for experiments with speech enhancement for communication purposes and for the study and the design of a robust speech recognition systems. Tools for automated phoneme labelling based on Baum-Welch re-estimation were realised. The noise analysis of the car background environment was done.

CAR2 - Czech Database of Car Speech

OpenAIRE

Pollak, P.; Vopicka, J.; Hanzl, V.; Sovka, Pavel

1999-01-01

This paper presents new Czech language two-channel (stereo) speech database recorded in car environment. The created database was designed for experiments with speech enhancement for communication purposes and for the study and the design of a robust speech recognition systems. Tools for automated phoneme labelling based on Baum-Welch re-estimation were realised. The noise analysis of the car background environment was done.

Speech Intelligibility

Science.gov (United States)

Brand, Thomas

Speech intelligibility (SI) is important for different fields of research, engineering and diagnostics in order to quantify very different phenomena like the quality of recordings, communication and playback devices, the reverberation of auditoria, characteristics of hearing impairment, benefit using hearing aids or combinations of these things.

Speech coding, reconstruction and recognition using acoustics and electromagnetic waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holzrichter, J.F.; Ng, L.C.

1998-01-01

The use of EM radiation in conjunction with simultaneously recorded acoustic speech information enables a complete mathematical coding of acoustic speech. The methods include the forming of a feature vector for each pitch period of voiced speech and the forming of feature vectors for each time frame of unvoiced, as well as for combined voiced and unvoiced speech. The methods include how to deconvolve the speech excitation function from the acoustic speech output to describe the transfer function each time frame. The formation of feature vectors defining all acoustic speech units over well defined time frames can be used for purposes of speech coding, speech compression, speaker identification, language-of-speech identification, speech recognition, speech synthesis, speech translation, speech telephony, and speech teaching. 35 figs

Speech coding, reconstruction and recognition using acoustics and electromagnetic waves

Science.gov (United States)

Holzrichter, John F.; Ng, Lawrence C.

1998-01-01

The use of EM radiation in conjunction with simultaneously recorded acoustic speech information enables a complete mathematical coding of acoustic speech. The methods include the forming of a feature vector for each pitch period of voiced speech and the forming of feature vectors for each time frame of unvoiced, as well as for combined voiced and unvoiced speech. The methods include how to deconvolve the speech excitation function from the acoustic speech output to describe the transfer function each time frame. The formation of feature vectors defining all acoustic speech units over well defined time frames can be used for purposes of speech coding, speech compression, speaker identification, language-of-speech identification, speech recognition, speech synthesis, speech translation, speech telephony, and speech teaching.

High-frequency energy in singing and speech

Science.gov (United States)

Monson, Brian Bruce

While human speech and the human voice generate acoustical energy up to (and beyond) 20 kHz, the energy above approximately 5 kHz has been largely neglected. Evidence is accruing that this high-frequency energy contains perceptual information relevant to speech and voice, including percepts of quality, localization, and intelligibility. The present research was an initial step in the long-range goal of characterizing high-frequency energy in singing voice and speech, with particular regard for its perceptual role and its potential for modification during voice and speech production. In this study, a database of high-fidelity recordings of talkers was created and used for a broad acoustical analysis and general characterization of high-frequency energy, as well as specific characterization of phoneme category, voice and speech intensity level, and mode of production (speech versus singing) by high-frequency energy content. Directionality of radiation of high-frequency energy from the mouth was also examined. The recordings were used for perceptual experiments wherein listeners were asked to discriminate between speech and voice samples that differed only in high-frequency energy content. Listeners were also subjected to gender discrimination tasks, mode-of-production discrimination tasks, and transcription tasks with samples of speech and singing that contained only high-frequency content. The combination of these experiments has revealed that (1) human listeners are able to detect very subtle level changes in high-frequency energy, and (2) human listeners are able to extract significant perceptual information from high-frequency energy.

Status Report on Speech Research. A Report on the Status and Progress of Studies on the Nature of Speech, Instrumentation for Its Investigation, and Practical Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

1983-09-30

Iberall, A. S. (1978). Cybernetics offers a (hydrodynamic) thermodynamic view of brain activities. An alternative to reflexology . In F. Brambilla, P. K...spontaneous speech that have the effect of equalizing the number of syllables per foot , and thus making the speaker’s output more isochronous

Secure access to patient's health records using SpeechXRays a mutli-channel biometrics platform for user authentication.

Science.gov (United States)

Spanakis, Emmanouil G; Spanakis, Marios; Karantanas, Apostolos; Marias, Kostas

2016-08-01

The most commonly used method for user authentication in ICT services or systems is the application of identification tools such as passwords or personal identification numbers (PINs). The rapid development in ICT technology regarding smart devices (laptops, tablets and smartphones) has allowed also the advance of hardware components that capture several biometric traits such as fingerprints and voice. These components are aiming among others to overcome weaknesses and flaws of password usage under the prism of improved user authentication with higher level of security, privacy and usability. To this respect, the potential application of biometrics for secure user authentication regarding access in systems with sensitive data (i.e. patient's data from electronic health records) shows great potentials. SpeechXRays aims to provide a user recognition platform based on biometrics of voice acoustics analysis and audio-visual identity verification. Among others, the platform aims to be applied as an authentication tool for medical personnel in order to gain specific access to patient's electronic health records. In this work a short description of SpeechXrays implementation tool regarding eHealth is provided and analyzed. This study explores security and privacy issues, and offers a comprehensive overview of biometrics technology applications in addressing the e-Health security challenges. We present and describe the necessary requirement for an eHealth platform concerning biometric security.

Self-organizing map classifier for stressed speech recognition

Science.gov (United States)

Partila, Pavol; Tovarek, Jaromir; Voznak, Miroslav

2016-05-01

This paper presents a method for detecting speech under stress using Self-Organizing Maps. Most people who are exposed to stressful situations can not adequately respond to stimuli. Army, police, and fire department occupy the largest part of the environment that are typical of an increased number of stressful situations. The role of men in action is controlled by the control center. Control commands should be adapted to the psychological state of a man in action. It is known that the psychological changes of the human body are also reflected physiologically, which consequently means the stress effected speech. Therefore, it is clear that the speech stress recognizing system is required in the security forces. One of the possible classifiers, which are popular for its flexibility, is a self-organizing map. It is one type of the artificial neural networks. Flexibility means independence classifier on the character of the input data. This feature is suitable for speech processing. Human Stress can be seen as a kind of emotional state. Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients, LPC coefficients, and prosody features were selected for input data. These coefficients were selected for their sensitivity to emotional changes. The calculation of the parameters was performed on speech recordings, which can be divided into two classes, namely the stress state recordings and normal state recordings. The benefit of the experiment is a method using SOM classifier for stress speech detection. Results showed the advantage of this method, which is input data flexibility.

Omission of definite and indefinite articles in the spontaneous speech of agrammatic speakers with Broca's aphasia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Havik, E.; Bastiaanse, Y.R.M.

2004-01-01

Background: Cross-linguistic investigation of agrammatic speech in speakers of different languages allows us to tests theoretical accounts of the nature of agrammatism. A significant feature of the speech of many agrammatic speakers is a problem with article production. Mansson and Ahlsen (2001)

78 FR 49693 - Speech-to-Speech and Internet Protocol (IP) Speech-to-Speech Telecommunications Relay Services...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-15

...-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, Report and Order (Order), document...] Speech-to-Speech and Internet Protocol (IP) Speech-to-Speech Telecommunications Relay Services; Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities...

Experimental investigation on spontaneously active hippocampal cultures recorded by means of high-density MEAs: analysis of the spatial resolution effects

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Alessandro Maccione

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Based on experiments performed with high-resolution Active Pixel Sensor microelectrode arrays (APS-MEAs coupled with spontaneously active hippocampal cultures, this work investigates the spatial resolution effects of the neuroelectronic interface on the analysis of the recorded electrophysiological signals. The adopted methodology consists, first, in recording the spontaneous activity at the highest spatial resolution (inter-electrode separation of 21 µm from the whole array of 4096 microelectrodes. Then, the full resolution dataset is spatially down sampled in order to evaluate the effects on raster plot representation, array-wide spike rate (AWSR, mean firing rate (MFR and mean bursting rate (MBR. Furthermore, the effects of the array-to-network relative position are evaluated by shifting a subset of equally spaced electrodes on the entire recorded area. Results highlight that MFR and MBR are particularly influenced by the spatial resolution provided by the neuroelectronic interface. On high-resolution large MEAs, such analysis better represent the time-based parameterization of the network dynamics. Finally, this work suggest interesting capabilities of high-resolution MEAs for spatial-based analysis in dense and low-dense neuronal preparation for investigating signalling at both local and global neuronal circuitries.

Differences between Spontaneous and Elicited Expressive Communication in Children with Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Chiang, Hsu-Min

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between spontaneous and elicited expressive communication in Australian and Taiwanese children with autism who were nonverbal or had limited speech. Thirty-four children with autism (17 Australian and 17 Taiwanese children) participated in this study. Each participant was observed for 2…

Practising verbal maritime communication with computer dialogue systems using automatic speech recognition (My Practice session)

OpenAIRE

John, Peter; Wellmann, J.; Appell, J.E.

2016-01-01

This My Practice session presents a novel online tool for practising verbal communication in a maritime setting. It is based on low-fi ChatBot simulation exercises which employ computer-based dialogue systems. The ChatBot exercises are equipped with an automatic speech recognition engine specifically designed for maritime communication. The speech input and output functionality enables learners to communicate with the computer freely and spontaneously. The exercises replicate real communicati...

Effects of the Syntactic Complexity on Speech Dysfluency of Stuttering Persian-Speaking Children and Adults in Conversational Speech

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Behrooz Mahmoodi Bakhtiari

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Recently, researchers have increasingly turned to study the relation between stuttering and syntactic complexity. This study investigates the effect of syntactic complexity on theamount of speech dysfluency in stuttering Persian-speaking children and adults in conversational speech. The obtained results can pave the way to a better understanding of stuttering in children andadults, and finding more appropriate treatments.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the participants were 15 stuttering adult Persian-speakers, older than 15 years, and 15 stuttering child Persian-speakers of 4-6 years of age. In this study, first a 30 minute sample of the spontaneous speech of the participants was provided. Then the utterances of each person were studied in respect to the amount of dysfluency and syntactic complexity. The obtained information was analyzed using paired samples t-test.Results: In both groups of stuttering children and adults, there was a significant difference between the amount of dysfluency of simple and complex sentences (p<0.05.Conclusion: The results of this study showed that an increase in syntactic complexity in conversational speech, increased the amount of dysfluency in stuttering children and adults. Moreover,as a result of increase of syntactic complexity, dysfluency had a greater increase in stuttering children than stuttering adults.

Distributed Speech Enhancement in Wireless Acoustic Sensor Networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zeng, Y.

2015-01-01

In digital speech communication applications like hands-free mobile telephony, hearing aids and human-to-computer communication systems, the recorded speech signals are typically corrupted by background noise. As a result, their quality and intelligibility can get severely degraded. Traditional

Tooth display and lip position during spontaneous and posed smiling in adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Der Geld, Pieter; Oosterveld, Paul; Berge, Stefaan J; Kuijpers-Jagtman, Anne M

2008-08-01

To analyze differences in tooth display, lip-line height, and smile width between the posed smiling record, traditionally produced for orthodontic diagnosis, and the spontaneous (Duchenne) smile of joy. The faces of 122 male participants were each filmed during spontaneous and posed smiling. Spontaneous smiles were elicited through the participants watching a comical movie. Maxillary and mandibular lip-line heights, tooth display, and smile width were measured using a digital videographic method for smile analysis. Paired sample t-tests were used to compare measurements of posed and spontaneous smiling. Maxillary lip-line heights during spontaneous smiling were significantly higher than during posed smiling. Compared to spontaneous smiling, tooth display in the (pre)molar area during posed smiling decreased by up to 30%, along with a significant reduction of smile width. During posed smiling, also mandibular lip-line heights changed and the teeth were more covered by the lower lip than during spontaneous smiling. Reduced lip-line heights, tooth display, and smile width on a posed smiling record can have implications for the diagnostics of lip-line height, smile arc, buccal corridors, and plane of occlusion. Spontaneous smiling records next to posed smiling records are therefore recommended for diagnostic purposes. Because of the dynamic nature of spontaneous smiling, it is proposed to switch to dynamic video recording of the smile.

Temporal modulations in speech and music.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Nai; Patel, Aniruddh D; Chen, Lin; Butler, Henry; Luo, Cheng; Poeppel, David

2017-10-01

Speech and music have structured rhythms. Here we discuss a major acoustic correlate of spoken and musical rhythms, the slow (0.25-32Hz) temporal modulations in sound intensity and compare the modulation properties of speech and music. We analyze these modulations using over 25h of speech and over 39h of recordings of Western music. We show that the speech modulation spectrum is highly consistent across 9 languages (including languages with typologically different rhythmic characteristics). A different, but similarly consistent modulation spectrum is observed for music, including classical music played by single instruments of different types, symphonic, jazz, and rock. The temporal modulations of speech and music show broad but well-separated peaks around 5 and 2Hz, respectively. These acoustically dominant time scales may be intrinsic features of speech and music, a possibility which should be investigated using more culturally diverse samples in each domain. Distinct modulation timescales for speech and music could facilitate their perceptual analysis and its neural processing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Building Searchable Collections of Enterprise Speech Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, James W.; Viswanathan, Mahesh; Byron, Donna; Chan, Margaret

The study has applied speech recognition and text-mining technologies to a set of recorded outbound marketing calls and analyzed the results. Since speaker-independent speech recognition technology results in a significantly lower recognition rate than that found when the recognizer is trained for a particular speaker, a number of post-processing…

ACOUSTIC SPEECH RECOGNITION FOR MARATHI LANGUAGE USING SPHINX

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Aman Ankit

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Speech recognition or speech to text processing, is a process of recognizing human speech by the computer and converting into text. In speech recognition, transcripts are created by taking recordings of speech as audio and their text transcriptions. Speech based applications which include Natural Language Processing (NLP techniques are popular and an active area of research. Input to such applications is in natural language and output is obtained in natural language. Speech recognition mostly revolves around three approaches namely Acoustic phonetic approach, Pattern recognition approach and Artificial intelligence approach. Creation of acoustic model requires a large database of speech and training algorithms. The output of an ASR system is recognition and translation of spoken language into text by computers and computerized devices. ASR today finds enormous application in tasks that require human machine interfaces like, voice dialing, and etc. Our key contribution in this paper is to create corpora for Marathi language and explore the use of Sphinx engine for automatic speech recognition

Automatic Speech Recognition Systems for the Evaluation of Voice and Speech Disorders in Head and Neck Cancer

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Andreas Maier

2010-01-01

Full Text Available In patients suffering from head and neck cancer, speech intelligibility is often restricted. For assessment and outcome measurements, automatic speech recognition systems have previously been shown to be appropriate for objective and quick evaluation of intelligibility. In this study we investigate the applicability of the method to speech disorders caused by head and neck cancer. Intelligibility was quantified by speech recognition on recordings of a standard text read by 41 German laryngectomized patients with cancer of the larynx or hypopharynx and 49 German patients who had suffered from oral cancer. The speech recognition provides the percentage of correctly recognized words of a sequence, that is, the word recognition rate. Automatic evaluation was compared to perceptual ratings by a panel of experts and to an age-matched control group. Both patient groups showed significantly lower word recognition rates than the control group. Automatic speech recognition yielded word recognition rates which complied with experts' evaluation of intelligibility on a significant level. Automatic speech recognition serves as a good means with low effort to objectify and quantify the most important aspect of pathologic speech—the intelligibility. The system was successfully applied to voice and speech disorders.

Speech-to-Speech Relay Service

Science.gov (United States)

Consumer Guide Speech to Speech Relay Service Speech-to-Speech (STS) is one form of Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS). TRS is a service that allows persons with hearing and speech disabilities ...

Error analysis to improve the speech recognition accuracy on ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

dictionary plays a key role in the speech recognition accuracy. .... Sophisticated microphone is used for the recording speech corpus in a noise free environment. .... values, word error rate (WER) and error-rate will be calculated as follows:.

Cortical activity patterns predict robust speech discrimination ability in noise

Science.gov (United States)

Shetake, Jai A.; Wolf, Jordan T.; Cheung, Ryan J.; Engineer, Crystal T.; Ram, Satyananda K.; Kilgard, Michael P.

2012-01-01

The neural mechanisms that support speech discrimination in noisy conditions are poorly understood. In quiet conditions, spike timing information appears to be used in the discrimination of speech sounds. In this study, we evaluated the hypothesis that spike timing is also used to distinguish between speech sounds in noisy conditions that significantly degrade neural responses to speech sounds. We tested speech sound discrimination in rats and recorded primary auditory cortex (A1) responses to speech sounds in background noise of different intensities and spectral compositions. Our behavioral results indicate that rats, like humans, are able to accurately discriminate consonant sounds even in the presence of background noise that is as loud as the speech signal. Our neural recordings confirm that speech sounds evoke degraded but detectable responses in noise. Finally, we developed a novel neural classifier that mimics behavioral discrimination. The classifier discriminates between speech sounds by comparing the A1 spatiotemporal activity patterns evoked on single trials with the average spatiotemporal patterns evoked by known sounds. Unlike classifiers in most previous studies, this classifier is not provided with the stimulus onset time. Neural activity analyzed with the use of relative spike timing was well correlated with behavioral speech discrimination in quiet and in noise. Spike timing information integrated over longer intervals was required to accurately predict rat behavioral speech discrimination in noisy conditions. The similarity of neural and behavioral discrimination of speech in noise suggests that humans and rats may employ similar brain mechanisms to solve this problem. PMID:22098331

Características iniciais da comunicação verbal de pré-escolares com Alterações Específicas do Desenvolvimento da Linguagem em fala espontânea Primary characteristics of the verbal communication of preschoolers with Specific Language Impairment in spontaneous speech

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Debora Maria Befi-Lopes

2010-01-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Verificar desempenho fonológico de pré-escolares com Alterações Específicas do Desenvolvimento da Linguagem (AEDL em fala espontânea. MÉTODOS: Foram sujeitos 27 crianças com AEDL, entre três anos e cinco anos e 11 meses, em tratamento fonoaudiológico. Foram selecionados aqueles que realizaram ao menos 50% da avaliação da fonologia a partir de provas de nomeação e imitação de palavras, ou que apresentaram inteligibilidade de fala passível de análise. Foram coletadas amostras de fala na prova de pragmática e no discurso eliciado por figuras. Foram realizadas análises a partir da utilização de processos fonológicos do desenvolvimento de linguagem (PD e idiossincráticos (PI. RESULTADOS: A estatística descritiva (médias de PD e PI indicou grande variabilidade intra-grupos. Não houve variação em número de processos conforme a idade (PD: p=0,38; PI: p=0,72, porém houve predominância de PD em todas as idades, nas duas provas aplicadas (Z=-6,327; pPURPOSE: To verify the phonological performance of preschoolers with Specific Language Impairment (SLI in spontaneous speech. METHODS: The subjects were 27 children with SLI with ages between three years and five years and 11 months, who attended Speech-Language Pathology therapy. The subjects who carried out at least 50% of the phonological assessment or who had speech intelligibility that allowed analysis were selected. Speech samples were obtained from a pragmatics evaluation and from elicited discourse. Analyses considered the use of developmental (DP and idiossyncratic phonological processes (IP in spontaneous speech. RESULTS: The descriptive statistics (mean DP and IP showed large within-group variability. There was no variation in the number of processes according to age (DP: p=0.38; IP: p=0.72, but there was a prevalence of DP in all ages, in both tests (Z=-6.327; p<0.001. The occurrence of DP and IP was higher in the pragmatics evaluation (p<0.001, situation in

Acoustic and temporal analysis of speech: A potential biomarker for schizophrenia.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Rapcan, Viliam

2010-11-01

Currently, there are no established objective biomarkers for the diagnosis or monitoring of schizophrenia. It has been previously reported that there are notable qualitative differences in the speech of schizophrenics. The objective of this study was to determine whether a quantitative acoustic and temporal analysis of speech may be a potential biomarker for schizophrenia. In this study, 39 schizophrenic patients and 18 controls were digitally recorded reading aloud an emotionally neutral text passage from a children\\'s story. Temporal, energy and vocal pitch features were automatically extracted from the recordings. A classifier based on linear discriminant analysis was employed to differentiate between controls and schizophrenic subjects. Processing the recordings with the algorithm developed demonstrated that it is possible to differentiate schizophrenic patients and controls with a classification accuracy of 79.4% (specificity=83.6%, sensitivity=75.2%) based on speech pause related parameters extracted from recordings carried out in standard office (non-studio) environments. Acoustic and temporal analysis of speech may represent a potential tool for the objective analysis in schizophrenia.

Speaking with a mirror: engagement of mirror neurons via choral speech and its derivatives induces stuttering inhibition.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalinowski, Joseph; Saltuklaroglu, Tim

2003-04-01

'Choral speech', 'unison speech', or 'imitation speech' has long been known to immediately induce reflexive, spontaneous, and natural sounding fluency, even the most severe cases of stuttering. Unlike typical post-therapeutic speech, a hallmark characteristic of choral speech is the sense of 'invulnerability' to stuttering, regardless of phonetic context, situational environment, or audience size. We suggest that choral speech immediately inhibits stuttering by engaging mirror systems of neurons, innate primitive neuronal substrates that dominate the initial phases of language development due to their predisposition to reflexively imitate gestural action sequences in a fluent manner. Since mirror systems are primordial in nature, they take precedence over the much later developing stuttering pathology. We suggest that stuttering may best be ameliorated by reengaging mirror neurons via choral speech or one of its derivatives (using digital signal processing technology) to provide gestural mirrors, that are nature's way of immediately overriding the central stuttering block. Copyright 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Mapping Speech Spectra from Throat Microphone to Close-Speaking Microphone: A Neural Network Approach

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B. Yegnanarayana

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Speech recorded from a throat microphone is robust to the surrounding noise, but sounds unnatural unlike the speech recorded from a close-speaking microphone. This paper addresses the issue of improving the perceptual quality of the throat microphone speech by mapping the speech spectra from the throat microphone to the close-speaking microphone. A neural network model is used to capture the speaker-dependent functional relationship between the feature vectors (cepstral coefficients of the two speech signals. A method is proposed to ensure the stability of the all-pole synthesis filter. Objective evaluations indicate the effectiveness of the proposed mapping scheme. The advantage of this method is that the model gives a smooth estimate of the spectra of the close-speaking microphone speech. No distortions are perceived in the reconstructed speech. This mapping technique is also used for bandwidth extension of telephone speech.

Rhythmic patterning in Malaysian and Singapore English.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Rachel Siew Kuang; Low, Ee-Ling

2014-06-01

Previous work on the rhythm of Malaysian English has been based on impressionistic observations. This paper utilizes acoustic analysis to measure the rhythmic patterns of Malaysian English. Recordings of the read speech and spontaneous speech of 10 Malaysian English speakers were analyzed and compared with recordings of an equivalent sample of Singaporean English speakers. Analysis was done using two rhythmic indexes, the PVI and VarcoV. It was found that although the rhythm of read speech of the Singaporean speakers was syllable-based as described by previous studies, the rhythm of the Malaysian speakers was even more syllable-based. Analysis of the syllables in specific utterances showed that Malaysian speakers did not reduce vowels as much as Singaporean speakers in cases of syllables in utterances. Results of the spontaneous speech confirmed the findings for the read speech; that is, the same rhythmic patterning was found which normally triggers vowel reductions.

The politeness prosody of the Javanese directive speech

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F.X. Rahyono

2009-10-01

Full Text Available This experimental phonetic research deals with the prosodies of directive speech in Javanese. The research procedures were: (1 speech production, (2 acoustic analysis, and (3 perception test. The data investigated are three directive utterances, in the form of statements, commands, and questions. The data were obtained by recording dialogues that present polite as well as impolite speech. Three acoustic experiments were conducted for statements, commands, and questions in directive speech: (1 modifications of duration, (2 modifications of contour, and (3 modifications of fundamental frequency. The result of the subsequent perception tests to 90 stimuli with 24 subjects were analysed statistically with ANOVA (Analysis of Variant. Based on this statistic analysis, the prosodic characteristics of polite and impolite speech were identified.

Effects of the Utterance length on Fluency of Conversational Speech in Stuttering Persian-Speaker Children and Adults

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Tabassom A'zimi

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Objective: recently, researchers have increasingly turned to study the relation between stuttering and utterance length. This study investigates the effect of utterance length on the amount of speech dysfluency in stuttering Persian-speaking children and adults in conversational speech. The obtained results can pave the way to reach a better understanding of stuttering of child and adults, as well as finding more appropriate treatments. Materials & Methods: in this descriptive- analysis study, the participants were 15 stuttering Persian- speaker adults, upper from 15 years old, and 15 stuttering Persian- speaker children in the age range of 4-6. In this study, first 30 minutes sample of adults and child's spontaneous speech was provided and then utterances of each person studied for the amount of dysfluency and utterance length. The obtained information intered to computer via spss software and analyzed using paired T test. Results: In both groups of stuttering children and adults, with increase of utterance length, there was a significant increase in the amount of dysfluency. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that by increase of utterance length at the spontaneous speech level, stuttering children and adults had more dysfluency amount. Also, by increase of utterance length, dysfluency amount of stuttering children and adults increased samely.

Language modeling for automatic speech recognition of inflective languages an applications-oriented approach using lexical data

CERN Document Server

Donaj, Gregor

2017-01-01

This book covers language modeling and automatic speech recognition for inflective languages (e.g. Slavic languages), which represent roughly half of the languages spoken in Europe. These languages do not perform as well as English in speech recognition systems and it is therefore harder to develop an application with sufficient quality for the end user. The authors describe the most important language features for the development of a speech recognition system. This is then presented through the analysis of errors in the system and the development of language models and their inclusion in speech recognition systems, which specifically address the errors that are relevant for targeted applications. The error analysis is done with regard to morphological characteristics of the word in the recognized sentences. The book is oriented towards speech recognition with large vocabularies and continuous and even spontaneous speech. Today such applications work with a rather small number of languages compared to the nu...

One approach to design of speech emotion database

Science.gov (United States)

Uhrin, Dominik; Chmelikova, Zdenka; Tovarek, Jaromir; Partila, Pavol; Voznak, Miroslav

2016-05-01

This article describes a system for evaluating the credibility of recordings with emotional character. Sound recordings form Czech language database for training and testing systems of speech emotion recognition. These systems are designed to detect human emotions in his voice. The emotional state of man is useful in the security forces and emergency call service. Man in action (soldier, police officer and firefighter) is often exposed to stress. Information about the emotional state (his voice) will help to dispatch to adapt control commands for procedure intervention. Call agents of emergency call service must recognize the mental state of the caller to adjust the mood of the conversation. In this case, the evaluation of the psychological state is the key factor for successful intervention. A quality database of sound recordings is essential for the creation of the mentioned systems. There are quality databases such as Berlin Database of Emotional Speech or Humaine. The actors have created these databases in an audio studio. It means that the recordings contain simulated emotions, not real. Our research aims at creating a database of the Czech emotional recordings of real human speech. Collecting sound samples to the database is only one of the tasks. Another one, no less important, is to evaluate the significance of recordings from the perspective of emotional states. The design of a methodology for evaluating emotional recordings credibility is described in this article. The results describe the advantages and applicability of the developed method.

Baby Sign but Not Spontaneous Gesture Predicts Later Vocabulary in Children with Down Syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

Özçaliskan, Seyda; Adamson, Lauren B.; Dimitrova, Nevena; Bailey, Jhonelle; Schmuck, Lauren

2016-01-01

Early spontaneous gesture, specifically deictic gesture, predicts subsequent vocabulary development in typically developing (TD) children. Here, we ask whether deictic gesture plays a similar role in predicting later vocabulary size in children with Down Syndrome (DS), who have been shown to have difficulties in speech production, but strengths in…

Lexical Access in Persian Normal Speakers: Picture Naming, Verbal Fluency and Spontaneous Speech

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Zahra Sadat Ghoreishi

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Lexical access is the process by which the basic conceptual, syntactical and morpho-phonological information of words are activated. Most studies of lexical access have focused on picture naming. There is hardly any previous research on other parameters of lexical access such as verbal fluency and analysis of connected speech in Persian normal participants. This study investigates the lexical access performance in normal speakers in different issues such as age, sex and education. Methods: The performance of 120 adult Persian speakers in three tasks including picture naming, verbal fluency and connected speech, was examined using "Persian Lexical Access Assessment Package”. The performance of participants between two gender groups (male/female, three education groups (below 5 years, above 12 years, between 5 and 12 years and three age groups (18-35 years, 36-55 years, 56-75 years were compared. Results: According to findings, picture naming increased with increasing education and decreased with increasing age. The performance of participants in phonological and semantic verbal fluency showed improvement with age and education. No significant difference was seen between males and females in verbal fluency task. In the analysis of connected speech there were no significant differences between different age and education groups and just mean length of utterance in males was significantly higher than females. Discussion: The findings could be a primitive scale for comparison between normal subjects and patients in lexical access tasks, furthermore it could be a horizon for planning of treatment goals in patients with word finding problem according to age, gender and education.

Compressed Speech: Potential Application for Air Force Technical Training. Final Report, August 73-November 73.

Science.gov (United States)

Dailey, K. Anne

Time-compressed speech (also called compressed speech, speeded speech, or accelerated speech) is an extension of the normal recording procedure for reproducing the spoken word. Compressed speech can be used to achieve dramatic reductions in listening time without significant loss in comprehension. The implications of such temporal reductions in…

Microscopic prediction of speech intelligibility in spatially distributed speech-shaped noise for normal-hearing listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Geravanchizadeh, Masoud; Fallah, Ali

2015-12-01

A binaural and psychoacoustically motivated intelligibility model, based on a well-known monaural microscopic model is proposed. This model simulates a phoneme recognition task in the presence of spatially distributed speech-shaped noise in anechoic scenarios. In the proposed model, binaural advantage effects are considered by generating a feature vector for a dynamic-time-warping speech recognizer. This vector consists of three subvectors incorporating two monaural subvectors to model the better-ear hearing, and a binaural subvector to simulate the binaural unmasking effect. The binaural unit of the model is based on equalization-cancellation theory. This model operates blindly, which means separate recordings of speech and noise are not required for the predictions. Speech intelligibility tests were conducted with 12 normal hearing listeners by collecting speech reception thresholds (SRTs) in the presence of single and multiple sources of speech-shaped noise. The comparison of the model predictions with the measured binaural SRTs, and with the predictions of a macroscopic binaural model called extended equalization-cancellation, shows that this approach predicts the intelligibility in anechoic scenarios with good precision. The square of the correlation coefficient (r(2)) and the mean-absolute error between the model predictions and the measurements are 0.98 and 0.62 dB, respectively.

Memory for speech and speech for memory.

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Locke, J L; Kutz, K J

1975-03-01

Thirty kindergarteners, 15 who substituted /w/ for /r/ and 15 with correct articulation, received two perception tests and a memory test that included /w/ and /r/ in minimally contrastive syllables. Although both groups had nearly perfect perception of the experimenter's productions of /w/ and /r/, misarticulating subjects perceived their own tape-recorded w/r productions as /w/. In the memory task these same misarticulating subjects committed significantly more /w/-/r/ confusions in unspoken recall. The discussion considers why people subvocally rehearse; a developmental period in which children do not rehearse; ways subvocalization may aid recall, including motor and acoustic encoding; an echoic store that provides additional recall support if subjects rehearse vocally, and perception of self- and other- produced phonemes by misarticulating children-including its relevance to a motor theory of perception. Evidence is presented that speech for memory can be sufficiently impaired to cause memory disorder. Conceptions that restrict speech disorder to an impairment of communication are challenged.

Speech-Based Human and Service Robot Interaction: An Application for Mexican Dysarthric People

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Santiago Omar Caballero Morales

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder due to weakness or poor coordination of the speech muscles. This condition can be caused by a stroke, traumatic brain injury, or by a degenerative neurological disease. Commonly, people with this disorder also have muscular dystrophy, which restricts their use of switches or keyboards for communication or control of assistive devices (i.e., an electric wheelchair or a service robot. In this case, speech recognition is an attractive alternative for interaction and control of service robots, despite the difficulty of achieving robust recognition performance. In this paper we present a speech recognition system for human and service robot interaction for Mexican Spanish dysarthric speakers. The core of the system consisted of a Speaker Adaptive (SA recognition system trained with normal-speech. Features such as on-line control of the language model perplexity and the adding of vocabulary, contribute to high recognition performance. Others, such as assessment and text-to-speech (TTS synthesis, contribute to a more complete interaction with a service robot. Live tests were performed with two mild dysarthric speakers, achieving recognition accuracies of 90–95% for spontaneous speech and 95–100% of accomplished simulated service robot tasks.

Atypical speech versus non-speech detection and discrimination in 4- to 6- yr old children with autism spectrum disorder: An ERP study.

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Alena Galilee

Full Text Available Previous event-related potential (ERP research utilizing oddball stimulus paradigms suggests diminished processing of speech versus non-speech sounds in children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD. However, brain mechanisms underlying these speech processing abnormalities, and to what extent they are related to poor language abilities in this population remain unknown. In the current study, we utilized a novel paired repetition paradigm in order to investigate ERP responses associated with the detection and discrimination of speech and non-speech sounds in 4- to 6-year old children with ASD, compared with gender and verbal age matched controls. ERPs were recorded while children passively listened to pairs of stimuli that were either both speech sounds, both non-speech sounds, speech followed by non-speech, or non-speech followed by speech. Control participants exhibited N330 match/mismatch responses measured from temporal electrodes, reflecting speech versus non-speech detection, bilaterally, whereas children with ASD exhibited this effect only over temporal electrodes in the left hemisphere. Furthermore, while the control groups exhibited match/mismatch effects at approximately 600 ms (central N600, temporal P600 when a non-speech sound was followed by a speech sound, these effects were absent in the ASD group. These findings suggest that children with ASD fail to activate right hemisphere mechanisms, likely associated with social or emotional aspects of speech detection, when distinguishing non-speech from speech stimuli. Together, these results demonstrate the presence of atypical speech versus non-speech processing in children with ASD when compared with typically developing children matched on verbal age.

Atypical speech versus non-speech detection and discrimination in 4- to 6- yr old children with autism spectrum disorder: An ERP study.

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Galilee, Alena; Stefanidou, Chrysi; McCleery, Joseph P

2017-01-01

Previous event-related potential (ERP) research utilizing oddball stimulus paradigms suggests diminished processing of speech versus non-speech sounds in children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, brain mechanisms underlying these speech processing abnormalities, and to what extent they are related to poor language abilities in this population remain unknown. In the current study, we utilized a novel paired repetition paradigm in order to investigate ERP responses associated with the detection and discrimination of speech and non-speech sounds in 4- to 6-year old children with ASD, compared with gender and verbal age matched controls. ERPs were recorded while children passively listened to pairs of stimuli that were either both speech sounds, both non-speech sounds, speech followed by non-speech, or non-speech followed by speech. Control participants exhibited N330 match/mismatch responses measured from temporal electrodes, reflecting speech versus non-speech detection, bilaterally, whereas children with ASD exhibited this effect only over temporal electrodes in the left hemisphere. Furthermore, while the control groups exhibited match/mismatch effects at approximately 600 ms (central N600, temporal P600) when a non-speech sound was followed by a speech sound, these effects were absent in the ASD group. These findings suggest that children with ASD fail to activate right hemisphere mechanisms, likely associated with social or emotional aspects of speech detection, when distinguishing non-speech from speech stimuli. Together, these results demonstrate the presence of atypical speech versus non-speech processing in children with ASD when compared with typically developing children matched on verbal age.

Recognizing intentions in infant-directed speech: evidence for universals.

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Bryant, Gregory A; Barrett, H Clark

2007-08-01

In all languages studied to date, distinct prosodic contours characterize different intention categories of infant-directed (ID) speech. This vocal behavior likely exists universally as a species-typical trait, but little research has examined whether listeners can accurately recognize intentions in ID speech using only vocal cues, without access to semantic information. We recorded native-English-speaking mothers producing four intention categories of utterances (prohibition, approval, comfort, and attention) as both ID and adult-directed (AD) speech, and we then presented the utterances to Shuar adults (South American hunter-horticulturalists). Shuar subjects were able to reliably distinguish ID from AD speech and were able to reliably recognize the intention categories in both types of speech, although performance was significantly better with ID speech. This is the first demonstration that adult listeners in an indigenous, nonindustrialized, and nonliterate culture can accurately infer intentions from both ID speech and AD speech in a language they do not speak.

An analysis of machine translation and speech synthesis in speech-to-speech translation system

OpenAIRE

Hashimoto, K.; Yamagishi, J.; Byrne, W.; King, S.; Tokuda, K.

2011-01-01

This paper provides an analysis of the impacts of machine translation and speech synthesis on speech-to-speech translation systems. The speech-to-speech translation system consists of three components: speech recognition, machine translation and speech synthesis. Many techniques for integration of speech recognition and machine translation have been proposed. However, speech synthesis has not yet been considered. Therefore, in this paper, we focus on machine translation and speech synthesis, ...

Silent reading of direct versus indirect speech activates voice-selective areas in the auditory cortex.

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Yao, Bo; Belin, Pascal; Scheepers, Christoph

2011-10-01

In human communication, direct speech (e.g., Mary said: "I'm hungry") is perceived to be more vivid than indirect speech (e.g., Mary said [that] she was hungry). However, for silent reading, the representational consequences of this distinction are still unclear. Although many of us share the intuition of an "inner voice," particularly during silent reading of direct speech statements in text, there has been little direct empirical confirmation of this experience so far. Combining fMRI with eye tracking in human volunteers, we show that silent reading of direct versus indirect speech engenders differential brain activation in voice-selective areas of the auditory cortex. This suggests that readers are indeed more likely to engage in perceptual simulations (or spontaneous imagery) of the reported speaker's voice when reading direct speech as opposed to meaning-equivalent indirect speech statements as part of a more vivid representation of the former. Our results may be interpreted in line with embodied cognition and form a starting point for more sophisticated interdisciplinary research on the nature of auditory mental simulation during reading.

Toward a Quantitative Basis for Assessment and Diagnosis of Apraxia of Speech

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Haley, Katarina L.; Jacks, Adam; de Riesthal, Michael; Abou-Khalil, Rima; Roth, Heidi L.

2012-01-01

Purpose: We explored the reliability and validity of 2 quantitative approaches to document presence and severity of speech properties associated with apraxia of speech (AOS). Method: A motor speech evaluation was administered to 39 individuals with aphasia. Audio-recordings of the evaluation were presented to 3 experienced clinicians to determine…

VOCAL DEVELOPMENT AS A MAIN CONDITION IN EARLY SPEECH AND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

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Marianne HOLM

2005-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this research is the evident positive vocal development in pre-lingual deaf children, who underwent a Cochlea Implantation in early age. The presented research compares the vocal speech expressions of three hearing impaired children and two children with normal hearing from 10 months to 5 years. Comparisons of the spontaneous vocal expressions were conducted by sonagraphic analyses. The awareness of the own voice as well as the voices of others is essential for the child’s continuous vocal development from crying to speech. Supra-segmental factors, such as rhythm, dynamics and melody play a very important role in this development.

Spontaneity and international marketing performance

OpenAIRE

Souchon, Anne L.; Hughes, Paul; Farrell, Andrew M.; Nemkova, Ekaterina; Oliveira, Joao S.

2016-01-01

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to ascertain how today’s international marketers can perform better on the global scene by harnessing spontaneity. Design/methodology/approach – The authors draw on contingency theory to develop a model of the spontaneity – international marketing performance relationship, and identify three potential m...

Freedom of racist speech: Ego and expressive threats.

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White, Mark H; Crandall, Christian S

2017-09-01

Do claims of "free speech" provide cover for prejudice? We investigate whether this defense of racist or hate speech serves as a justification for prejudice. In a series of 8 studies (N = 1,624), we found that explicit racial prejudice is a reliable predictor of the "free speech defense" of racist expression. Participants endorsed free speech values for singing racists songs or posting racist comments on social media; people high in prejudice endorsed free speech more than people low in prejudice (meta-analytic r = .43). This endorsement was not principled-high levels of prejudice did not predict endorsement of free speech values when identical speech was directed at coworkers or the police. Participants low in explicit racial prejudice actively avoided endorsing free speech values in racialized conditions compared to nonracial conditions, but participants high in racial prejudice increased their endorsement of free speech values in racialized conditions. Three experiments failed to find evidence that defense of racist speech by the highly prejudiced was based in self-relevant or self-protective motives. Two experiments found evidence that the free speech argument protected participants' own freedom to express their attitudes; the defense of other's racist speech seems motivated more by threats to autonomy than threats to self-regard. These studies serve as an elaboration of the Justification-Suppression Model (Crandall & Eshleman, 2003) of prejudice expression. The justification of racist speech by endorsing fundamental political values can serve to buffer racial and hate speech from normative disapproval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Effect of speech therapy and pharmacological treatment in prosody of parkinsonians

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Luciana Lemos de Azevedo

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective Parkinsonian patients usually present speech impairment. The aim of this study was to verify the influence of levodopa and of the adapted Lee Silverman Vocal Treatment® method on prosodic parameters employed by parkinsonian patients. Method Ten patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease using levodopa underwent recording of utterances produced in four stages: expressing attitudes of certainty and doubt and declarative and interrogative modalities. The sentences were recorded under the effect of levodopa (on, without the effect of levodopa (off; before and after speech therapy during the on and off periods. Results The speech therapy and its association with drug treatment promoted the improvement of prosodic parameters: increase of fundamental frequency measures, reduction of measures of duration and greater intensity. Conclusion The association of speech therapy to medication treatment is of great value in improving the communication of parkinsonian patients.

Speech and non-speech processing in children with phonological disorders: an electrophysiological study

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Isabela Crivellaro Gonçalves

2011-01-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To determine whether neurophysiological auditory brainstem responses to clicks and repeated speech stimuli differ between typically developing children and children with phonological disorders. INTRODUCTION: Phonological disorders are language impairments resulting from inadequate use of adult phonological language rules and are among the most common speech and language disorders in children (prevalence: 8 - 9%. Our hypothesis is that children with phonological disorders have basic differences in the way that their brains encode acoustic signals at brainstem level when compared to normal counterparts. METHODS: We recorded click and speech evoked auditory brainstem responses in 18 typically developing children (control group and in 18 children who were clinically diagnosed with phonological disorders (research group. The age range of the children was from 7-11 years. RESULTS: The research group exhibited significantly longer latency responses to click stimuli (waves I, III and V and speech stimuli (waves V and A when compared to the control group. DISCUSSION: These results suggest that the abnormal encoding of speech sounds may be a biological marker of phonological disorders. However, these results cannot define the biological origins of phonological problems. We also observed that speech-evoked auditory brainstem responses had a higher specificity/sensitivity for identifying phonological disorders than click-evoked auditory brainstem responses. CONCLUSIONS: Early stages of the auditory pathway processing of an acoustic stimulus are not similar in typically developing children and those with phonological disorders. These findings suggest that there are brainstem auditory pathway abnormalities in children with phonological disorders.

Spontaneous regression of intracranial malignant lymphoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kojo, Nobuto; Tokutomi, Takashi; Eguchi, Gihachirou; Takagi, Shigeyuki; Matsumoto, Tomie; Sasaguri, Yasuyuki; Shigemori, Minoru.

1988-01-01

In a 46-year-old female with a 1-month history of gait and speech disturbances, computed tomography (CT) demonstrated mass lesions of slightly high density in the left basal ganglia and left frontal lobe. The lesions were markedly enhanced by contrast medium. The patient received no specific treatment, but her clinical manifestations gradually abated and the lesions decreased in size. Five months after her initial examination, the lesions were absent on CT scans; only a small area of low density remained. Residual clinical symptoms included mild right hemiparesis and aphasia. After 14 months the patient again deteriorated, and a CT scan revealed mass lesions in the right frontal lobe and the pons. However, no enhancement was observed in the previously affected regions. A biopsy revealed malignant lymphoma. Despite treatment with steroids and radiation, the patient's clinical status progressively worsened and she died 27 months after initial presentation. Seven other cases of spontaneous regression of primary malignant lymphoma have been reported. In this case, the mechanism of the spontaneous regression was not clear, but changes in immunologic status may have been involved. (author)

Live Speech Driven Head-and-Eye Motion Generators.

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Le, Binh H; Ma, Xiaohan; Deng, Zhigang

2012-11-01

This paper describes a fully automated framework to generate realistic head motion, eye gaze, and eyelid motion simultaneously based on live (or recorded) speech input. Its central idea is to learn separate yet interrelated statistical models for each component (head motion, gaze, or eyelid motion) from a prerecorded facial motion data set: 1) Gaussian Mixture Models and gradient descent optimization algorithm are employed to generate head motion from speech features; 2) Nonlinear Dynamic Canonical Correlation Analysis model is used to synthesize eye gaze from head motion and speech features, and 3) nonnegative linear regression is used to model voluntary eye lid motion and log-normal distribution is used to describe involuntary eye blinks. Several user studies are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed speech-driven head and eye motion generator using the well-established paired comparison methodology. Our evaluation results clearly show that this approach can significantly outperform the state-of-the-art head and eye motion generation algorithms. In addition, a novel mocap+video hybrid data acquisition technique is introduced to record high-fidelity head movement, eye gaze, and eyelid motion simultaneously.

A Technique for Estimating Intensity of Emotional Expressions and Speaking Styles in Speech Based on Multiple-Regression HSMM

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Nose, Takashi; Kobayashi, Takao

In this paper, we propose a technique for estimating the degree or intensity of emotional expressions and speaking styles appearing in speech. The key idea is based on a style control technique for speech synthesis using a multiple regression hidden semi-Markov model (MRHSMM), and the proposed technique can be viewed as the inverse of the style control. In the proposed technique, the acoustic features of spectrum, power, fundamental frequency, and duration are simultaneously modeled using the MRHSMM. We derive an algorithm for estimating explanatory variables of the MRHSMM, each of which represents the degree or intensity of emotional expressions and speaking styles appearing in acoustic features of speech, based on a maximum likelihood criterion. We show experimental results to demonstrate the ability of the proposed technique using two types of speech data, simulated emotional speech and spontaneous speech with different speaking styles. It is found that the estimated values have correlation with human perception.

Indonesian Text-To-Speech System Using Diphone Concatenative Synthesis

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Sutarman

2015-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we describe the design and develop a database of Indonesian diphone synthesis using speech segment of recorded voice to be converted from text to speech and save it as audio file like WAV or MP3. In designing and develop a database of Indonesian diphone there are several steps to follow; First, developed Diphone database includes: create a list of sample of words consisting of diphones organized by prioritizing looking diphone located in the middle of a word if not at the beginning or end; recording the samples of words by segmentation. ;create diphones made with a tool Diphone Studio 1.3. Second, develop system using Microsoft Visual Delphi 6.0, includes: the conversion system from the input of numbers, acronyms, words, and sentences into representations diphone. There are two kinds of conversion (process alleged in analyzing the Indonesian text-to-speech system. One is to convert the text to be sounded to phonem and two, to convert the phonem to speech. Method used in this research is called Diphone Concatenative synthesis, in which recorded sound segments are collected. Every segment consists of a diphone (2 phonems. This synthesizer may produce voice with high level of naturalness. The Indonesian Text to Speech system can differentiate special phonemes like in ‘Beda’ and ‘Bedak’ but sample of other spesific words is necessary to put into the system. This Indonesia TTS system can handle texts with abbreviation, there is the facility to add such words.

Multimicrophone Speech Dereverberation: Experimental Validation

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Marc Moonen

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Dereverberation is required in various speech processing applications such as handsfree telephony and voice-controlled systems, especially when signals are applied that are recorded in a moderately or highly reverberant environment. In this paper, we compare a number of classical and more recently developed multimicrophone dereverberation algorithms, and validate the different algorithmic settings by means of two performance indices and a speech recognition system. It is found that some of the classical solutions obtain a moderate signal enhancement. More advanced subspace-based dereverberation techniques, on the other hand, fail to enhance the signals despite their high-computational load.

Neural Entrainment to Speech Modulates Speech Intelligibility

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Riecke, Lars; Formisano, Elia; Sorger, Bettina; Baskent, Deniz; Gaudrain, Etienne

2018-01-01

Speech is crucial for communication in everyday life. Speech-brain entrainment, the alignment of neural activity to the slow temporal fluctuations (envelope) of acoustic speech input, is a ubiquitous element of current theories of speech processing. Associations between speech-brain entrainment and

Speech Adaptation to Kinematic Recording Sensors: Perceptual and Acoustic Findings

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Dromey, Christopher; Hunter, Elise; Nissen, Shawn L.

2018-01-01

Purpose: This study used perceptual and acoustic measures to examine the time course of speech adaptation after the attachment of electromagnetic sensor coils to the tongue, lips, and jaw. Method: Twenty native English speakers read aloud stimulus sentences before the attachment of the sensors, immediately after attachment, and again 5, 10, 15,…

Speaking-related changes in cortical functional connectivity associated with assisted and spontaneous recovery from developmental stuttering.

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Kell, Christian A; Neumann, Katrin; Behrens, Marion; von Gudenberg, Alexander W; Giraud, Anne-Lise

2018-03-01

We previously reported speaking-related activity changes associated with assisted recovery induced by a fluency shaping therapy program and unassisted recovery from developmental stuttering (Kell et al., Brain 2009). While assisted recovery re-lateralized activity to the left hemisphere, unassisted recovery was specifically associated with the activation of the left BA 47/12 in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex. These findings suggested plastic changes in speaking-related functional connectivity between left hemispheric speech network nodes. We reanalyzed these data involving 13 stuttering men before and after fluency shaping, 13 men who recovered spontaneously from their stuttering, and 13 male control participants, and examined functional connectivity during overt vs. covert reading by means of psychophysiological interactions computed across left cortical regions involved in articulation control. Persistent stuttering was associated with reduced auditory-motor coupling and enhanced integration of somatosensory feedback between the supramarginal gyrus and the prefrontal cortex. Assisted recovery reduced this hyper-connectivity and increased functional connectivity between the articulatory motor cortex and the auditory feedback processing anterior superior temporal gyrus. In spontaneous recovery, both auditory-motor coupling and integration of somatosensory feedback were normalized. In addition, activity in the left orbitofrontal cortex and superior cerebellum appeared uncoupled from the rest of the speech production network. These data suggest that therapy and spontaneous recovery normalizes the left hemispheric speaking-related activity via an improvement of auditory-motor mapping. By contrast, long-lasting unassisted recovery from stuttering is additionally supported by a functional isolation of the superior cerebellum from the rest of the speech production network, through the pivotal left BA 47/12. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Real-Time Control of an Articulatory-Based Speech Synthesizer for Brain Computer Interfaces.

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Florent Bocquelet

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Restoring natural speech in paralyzed and aphasic people could be achieved using a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI controlling a speech synthesizer in real-time. To reach this goal, a prerequisite is to develop a speech synthesizer producing intelligible speech in real-time with a reasonable number of control parameters. We present here an articulatory-based speech synthesizer that can be controlled in real-time for future BCI applications. This synthesizer converts movements of the main speech articulators (tongue, jaw, velum, and lips into intelligible speech. The articulatory-to-acoustic mapping is performed using a deep neural network (DNN trained on electromagnetic articulography (EMA data recorded on a reference speaker synchronously with the produced speech signal. This DNN is then used in both offline and online modes to map the position of sensors glued on different speech articulators into acoustic parameters that are further converted into an audio signal using a vocoder. In offline mode, highly intelligible speech could be obtained as assessed by perceptual evaluation performed by 12 listeners. Then, to anticipate future BCI applications, we further assessed the real-time control of the synthesizer by both the reference speaker and new speakers, in a closed-loop paradigm using EMA data recorded in real time. A short calibration period was used to compensate for differences in sensor positions and articulatory differences between new speakers and the reference speaker. We found that real-time synthesis of vowels and consonants was possible with good intelligibility. In conclusion, these results open to future speech BCI applications using such articulatory-based speech synthesizer.

The retrieval and inflection of verbs in the spontaneous speech of fluent aphasic speakers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bastiaanse, Y.R.M.

Fluent aphasia of the anomic and Wernicke's type is characterized by word retrieval difficulties. However, in fluent aphasic speech, grammatical deviations have been observed as well. There is debate as to whether these grammatical problems are caused by the word retrieval deficit, by an additional

An investigation of co-speech gesture production during action description in Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Cleary, Rebecca A; Poliakoff, Ellen; Galpin, Adam; Dick, Jeremy P R; Holler, Judith

2011-12-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) can impact enormously on speech communication. One aspect of non-verbal behaviour closely tied to speech is co-speech gesture production. In healthy people, co-speech gestures can add significant meaning and emphasis to speech. There is, however, little research into how this important channel of communication is affected in PD. The present study provides a systematic analysis of co-speech gestures which spontaneously accompany the description of actions in a group of PD patients (N = 23, Hoehn and Yahr Stage III or less) and age-matched healthy controls (N = 22). The analysis considers different co-speech gesture types, using established classification schemes from the field of gesture research. The analysis focuses on the rate of these gestures as well as on their qualitative nature. In doing so, the analysis attempts to overcome several methodological shortcomings of research in this area. Contrary to expectation, gesture rate was not significantly affected in our patient group, with relatively mild PD. This indicates that co-speech gestures could compensate for speech problems. However, while gesture rate seems unaffected, the qualitative precision of gestures representing actions was significantly reduced. This study demonstrates the feasibility of carrying out fine-grained, detailed analyses of gestures in PD and offers insights into an as yet neglected facet of communication in patients with PD. Based on the present findings, an important next step is the closer investigation of the qualitative changes in gesture (including different communicative situations) and an analysis of the heterogeneity in co-speech gesture production in PD. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Use of digital speech recognition in diagnostics radiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arndt, H.; Stockheim, D.; Mutze, S.; Petersein, J.; Gregor, P.; Hamm, B.

1999-01-01

Purpose: Applicability and benefits of digital speech recognition in diagnostic radiology were tested using the speech recognition system SP 6000. Methods: The speech recognition system SP 6000 was integrated into the network of the institute and connected to the existing Radiological Information System (RIS). Three subjects used this system for writing 2305 findings from dictation. After the recognition process the date, length of dictation, time required for checking/correction, kind of examination and error rate were recorded for every dictation. With the same subjects, a correlation was performed with 625 conventionally written finding. Results: After an 1-hour initial training the average error rates were 8.4 to 13.3%. The first adaptation of the speech recognition system (after nine days) decreased the average error rates to 2.4 to 10.7% due to the ability of the program to learn. The 2 nd and 3 rd adaptations resulted only in small changes of the error rate. An individual comparison of the error rate developments in the same kind of investigation showed the relative independence of the error rate on the individual user. Conclusion: The results show that the speech recognition system SP 6000 can be evaluated as an advantageous alternative for quickly recording radiological findings. A comparison between manually writing and dictating the findings verifies the individual differences of the writing speeds and shows the advantage of the application of voice recognition when faced with normal keyboard performance. (orig.) [de

Detecting Parkinson's disease from sustained phonation and speech signals.

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Evaldas Vaiciukynas

Full Text Available This study investigates signals from sustained phonation and text-dependent speech modalities for Parkinson's disease screening. Phonation corresponds to the vowel /a/ voicing task and speech to the pronunciation of a short sentence in Lithuanian language. Signals were recorded through two channels simultaneously, namely, acoustic cardioid (AC and smart phone (SP microphones. Additional modalities were obtained by splitting speech recording into voiced and unvoiced parts. Information in each modality is summarized by 18 well-known audio feature sets. Random forest (RF is used as a machine learning algorithm, both for individual feature sets and for decision-level fusion. Detection performance is measured by the out-of-bag equal error rate (EER and the cost of log-likelihood-ratio. Essentia audio feature set was the best using the AC speech modality and YAAFE audio feature set was the best using the SP unvoiced modality, achieving EER of 20.30% and 25.57%, respectively. Fusion of all feature sets and modalities resulted in EER of 19.27% for the AC and 23.00% for the SP channel. Non-linear projection of a RF-based proximity matrix into the 2D space enriched medical decision support by visualization.

Inner Speech's Relationship With Overt Speech in Poststroke Aphasia.

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Stark, Brielle C; Geva, Sharon; Warburton, Elizabeth A

2017-09-18

Relatively preserved inner speech alongside poor overt speech has been documented in some persons with aphasia (PWA), but the relationship of overt speech with inner speech is still largely unclear, as few studies have directly investigated these factors. The present study investigates the relationship of relatively preserved inner speech in aphasia with selected measures of language and cognition. Thirty-eight persons with chronic aphasia (27 men, 11 women; average age 64.53 ± 13.29 years, time since stroke 8-111 months) were classified as having relatively preserved inner and overt speech (n = 21), relatively preserved inner speech with poor overt speech (n = 8), or not classified due to insufficient measurements of inner and/or overt speech (n = 9). Inner speech scores (by group) were correlated with selected measures of language and cognition from the Comprehensive Aphasia Test (Swinburn, Porter, & Al, 2004). The group with poor overt speech showed a significant relationship of inner speech with overt naming (r = .95, p speech and language and cognition factors were not significant for the group with relatively good overt speech. As in previous research, we show that relatively preserved inner speech is found alongside otherwise severe production deficits in PWA. PWA with poor overt speech may rely more on preserved inner speech for overt picture naming (perhaps due to shared resources with verbal working memory) and for written picture description (perhaps due to reliance on inner speech due to perceived task difficulty). Assessments of inner speech may be useful as a standard component of aphasia screening, and therapy focused on improving and using inner speech may prove clinically worthwhile. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5303542.

Silent Speech Recognition as an Alternative Communication Device for Persons with Laryngectomy.

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Meltzner, Geoffrey S; Heaton, James T; Deng, Yunbin; De Luca, Gianluca; Roy, Serge H; Kline, Joshua C

2017-12-01

Each year thousands of individuals require surgical removal of their larynx (voice box) due to trauma or disease, and thereby require an alternative voice source or assistive device to verbally communicate. Although natural voice is lost after laryngectomy, most muscles controlling speech articulation remain intact. Surface electromyographic (sEMG) activity of speech musculature can be recorded from the neck and face, and used for automatic speech recognition to provide speech-to-text or synthesized speech as an alternative means of communication. This is true even when speech is mouthed or spoken in a silent (subvocal) manner, making it an appropriate communication platform after laryngectomy. In this study, 8 individuals at least 6 months after total laryngectomy were recorded using 8 sEMG sensors on their face (4) and neck (4) while reading phrases constructed from a 2,500-word vocabulary. A unique set of phrases were used for training phoneme-based recognition models for each of the 39 commonly used phonemes in English, and the remaining phrases were used for testing word recognition of the models based on phoneme identification from running speech. Word error rates were on average 10.3% for the full 8-sensor set (averaging 9.5% for the top 4 participants), and 13.6% when reducing the sensor set to 4 locations per individual (n=7). This study provides a compelling proof-of-concept for sEMG-based alaryngeal speech recognition, with the strong potential to further improve recognition performance.

Musician advantage for speech-on-speech perception

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Başkent, Deniz; Gaudrain, Etienne

Evidence for transfer of musical training to better perception of speech in noise has been mixed. Unlike speech-in-noise, speech-on-speech perception utilizes many of the skills that musical training improves, such as better pitch perception and stream segregation, as well as use of higher-level

Improving Understanding of Emotional Speech Acoustic Content

Science.gov (United States)

Tinnemore, Anna

Children with cochlear implants show deficits in identifying emotional intent of utterances without facial or body language cues. A known limitation to cochlear implants is the inability to accurately portray the fundamental frequency contour of speech which carries the majority of information needed to identify emotional intent. Without reliable access to the fundamental frequency, other methods of identifying vocal emotion, if identifiable, could be used to guide therapies for training children with cochlear implants to better identify vocal emotion. The current study analyzed recordings of adults speaking neutral sentences with a set array of emotions in a child-directed and adult-directed manner. The goal was to identify acoustic cues that contribute to emotion identification that may be enhanced in child-directed speech, but are also present in adult-directed speech. Results of this study showed that there were significant differences in the variation of the fundamental frequency, the variation of intensity, and the rate of speech among emotions and between intended audiences.

The first Malay language storytelling text-to-speech (TTS) corpus for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

speech annotations are described in detail in accordance to baseline work. The stories were recorded in two speaking styles that are neutral and storytelling speaking style. The first. Malay language storytelling corpus is not only necessary for the development of a storytelling text-to-speech (TTS) synthesis. It is also ...

A chimpanzee recognizes synthetic speech with significantly reduced acoustic cues to phonetic content.

Science.gov (United States)

Heimbauer, Lisa A; Beran, Michael J; Owren, Michael J

2011-07-26

A long-standing debate concerns whether humans are specialized for speech perception, which some researchers argue is demonstrated by the ability to understand synthetic speech with significantly reduced acoustic cues to phonetic content. We tested a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) that recognizes 128 spoken words, asking whether she could understand such speech. Three experiments presented 48 individual words, with the animal selecting a corresponding visuographic symbol from among four alternatives. Experiment 1 tested spectrally reduced, noise-vocoded (NV) synthesis, originally developed to simulate input received by human cochlear-implant users. Experiment 2 tested "impossibly unspeechlike" sine-wave (SW) synthesis, which reduces speech to just three moving tones. Although receiving only intermittent and noncontingent reward, the chimpanzee performed well above chance level, including when hearing synthetic versions for the first time. Recognition of SW words was least accurate but improved in experiment 3 when natural words in the same session were rewarded. The chimpanzee was more accurate with NV than SW versions, as were 32 human participants hearing these items. The chimpanzee's ability to spontaneously recognize acoustically reduced synthetic words suggests that experience rather than specialization is critical for speech-perception capabilities that some have suggested are uniquely human. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Variability and Intelligibility of Clarified Speech to Different Listener Groups

Science.gov (United States)

Silber, Ronnie F.

Two studies examined the modifications that adult speakers make in speech to disadvantaged listeners. Previous research that has focused on speech to the deaf individuals and to young children has shown that adults clarify speech when addressing these two populations. Acoustic measurements suggest that the signal undergoes similar changes for both populations. Perceptual tests corroborate these results for the deaf population, but are nonsystematic in developmental studies. The differences in the findings for these populations and the nonsystematic results in the developmental literature may be due to methodological factors. The present experiments addressed these methodological questions. Studies of speech to hearing impaired listeners have used read, nonsense, sentences, for which speakers received explicit clarification instructions and feedback, while in the child literature, excerpts of real-time conversations were used. Therefore, linguistic samples were not precisely matched. In this study, experiments used various linguistic materials. Experiment 1 used a children's story; experiment 2, nonsense sentences. Four mothers read both types of material in four ways: (1) in "normal" adult speech, (2) in "babytalk," (3) under the clarification instructions used in the "hearing impaired studies" (instructed clear speech) and (4) in (spontaneous) clear speech without instruction. No extra practice or feedback was given. Sentences were presented to 40 normal hearing college students with and without simultaneous masking noise. Results were separately tabulated for content and function words, and analyzed using standard statistical tests. The major finding in the study was individual variation in speaker intelligibility. "Real world" speakers vary in their baseline intelligibility. The four speakers also showed unique patterns of intelligibility as a function of each independent variable. Results were as follows. Nonsense sentences were less intelligible than story

INTEGRATING MACHINE TRANSLATION AND SPEECH SYNTHESIS COMPONENT FOR ENGLISH TO DRAVIDIAN LANGUAGE SPEECH TO SPEECH TRANSLATION SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. SANGEETHA

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This paper provides an interface between the machine translation and speech synthesis system for converting English speech to Tamil text in English to Tamil speech to speech translation system. The speech translation system consists of three modules: automatic speech recognition, machine translation and text to speech synthesis. Many procedures for incorporation of speech recognition and machine translation have been projected. Still speech synthesis system has not yet been measured. In this paper, we focus on integration of machine translation and speech synthesis, and report a subjective evaluation to investigate the impact of speech synthesis, machine translation and the integration of machine translation and speech synthesis components. Here we implement a hybrid machine translation (combination of rule based and statistical machine translation and concatenative syllable based speech synthesis technique. In order to retain the naturalness and intelligibility of synthesized speech Auto Associative Neural Network (AANN prosody prediction is used in this work. The results of this system investigation demonstrate that the naturalness and intelligibility of the synthesized speech are strongly influenced by the fluency and correctness of the translated text.

Prevalence of Speech Disorders in Arak Primary School Students, 2014-2015

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Abdoreza Yavari

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background: The speech disorders may produce irreparable damage to childs speech and language development in the psychosocial view. The voice, speech sound production and fluency disorders are speech disorders, that may result from delay or impairment in speech motor control mechanism, central neuron system disorders, improper language stimulation or voice abuse. Materials and Methods: This study examined the prevalence of speech disorders in 1393 Arakian students at 1 to 6th grades of primary school. After collecting continuous speech samples, picture description, passage reading and phonetic test, we recorded the pathological signs of stuttering, articulation disorder and voice disorders in a special sheet. Results: The prevalence of articulation, voice and stuttering disorders was 8%, 3.5% and%1 and the prevalence of speech disorders was 11.9%. The prevalence of speech disorders was decreasing with increasing of student’s grade. 12.2% of boy students and 11.7% of girl students of primary school in Arak had speech disorders. Conclusion: The prevalence of speech disorders of primary school students in Arak is similar to the prevalence of speech disorders in Kermanshah, but the prevalence of speech disorders in this research is smaller than many similar researches in Iran. It seems that racial and cultural diversity has some effect on increasing the prevalence of speech disorders in Arak city.

The effect of vowel height on Voice Onset Time in stop consonants in CV sequences in spontaneous Danish

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Johannes; Tøndering, John

2013-01-01

Voice onset time has been reported to vary with the height of vowels following the stop consonant. This paper investigates the effects of vowel height on VOT in Danish CV sequences with stop consonants in Danish spontaneous speech. A significant effect of vowel height on VOT was found...

THE DIRECTIVE SPEECH ACTS USED IN ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASS

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Muhammad Khatib Bayanuddin

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This research discusses about an analysis of the directive speech acts used in english speaking class at the third semester of english speaking class of english study program of IAIN STS Jambi. The aims of this research are to describe the types of directive speech acts and politeness strategies that found in English speaking class. This research used descriptive qualitative method. This method used to describe clearly about the types and politeness strategies of directive speech acts based on the data in English speaking class. The result showed that in English speaking class that there are some types and politeness strategies of directive speech acts, such as: requestives, questions, requirements, prohibitives, permissives, and advisores as types, as well as on-record indirect strategies (prediction statement, strong obligation statement, possibility statement, weaker obligation statement, volitional statement, direct strategies (imperative, performative, and nonsentential strategies as politeness strategies. The achievement of this research are hoped can be additional knowledge about linguistics study, especially in directive speech acts and can be developed for future researches. Key words: directive speech acts, types, politeness strategies.

Audio Recording of Children with Dyslalia

OpenAIRE

Stefan Gheorghe Pentiuc; Maria D. Schipor; Ovidiu A. Schipor

2008-01-01

In this paper we present our researches regarding automat parsing of audio recordings. These recordings are obtained from children with dyslalia and are necessary for an accurate identification of speech problems. We develop a software application that helps parsing audio, real time, recordings.

Characterizing Intonation Deficit in Motor Speech Disorders: An Autosegmental-Metrical Analysis of Spontaneous Speech in Hypokinetic Dysarthria, Ataxic Dysarthria, and Foreign Accent Syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

Lowit, Anja; Kuschmann, Anja

2012-01-01

Purpose: The autosegmental-metrical (AM) framework represents an established methodology for intonational analysis in unimpaired speaker populations but has found little application in describing intonation in motor speech disorders (MSDs). This study compared the intonation patterns of unimpaired participants (CON) and those with Parkinson's…

Speech endpoint detection with non-language speech sounds for generic speech processing applications

Science.gov (United States)

McClain, Matthew; Romanowski, Brian

2009-05-01

Non-language speech sounds (NLSS) are sounds produced by humans that do not carry linguistic information. Examples of these sounds are coughs, clicks, breaths, and filled pauses such as "uh" and "um" in English. NLSS are prominent in conversational speech, but can be a significant source of errors in speech processing applications. Traditionally, these sounds are ignored by speech endpoint detection algorithms, where speech regions are identified in the audio signal prior to processing. The ability to filter NLSS as a pre-processing step can significantly enhance the performance of many speech processing applications, such as speaker identification, language identification, and automatic speech recognition. In order to be used in all such applications, NLSS detection must be performed without the use of language models that provide knowledge of the phonology and lexical structure of speech. This is especially relevant to situations where the languages used in the audio are not known apriori. We present the results of preliminary experiments using data from American and British English speakers, in which segments of audio are classified as language speech sounds (LSS) or NLSS using a set of acoustic features designed for language-agnostic NLSS detection and a hidden-Markov model (HMM) to model speech generation. The results of these experiments indicate that the features and model used are capable of detection certain types of NLSS, such as breaths and clicks, while detection of other types of NLSS such as filled pauses will require future research.

Speech spectrum's correlation with speakers' Eysenck personality traits.

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Chao Hu

Full Text Available The current study explored the correlation between speakers' Eysenck personality traits and speech spectrum parameters. Forty-six subjects completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. They were instructed to verbally answer the questions shown on a computer screen and their responses were recorded by the computer. Spectrum parameters of /sh/ and /i/ were analyzed by Praat voice software. Formant frequencies of the consonant /sh/ in lying responses were significantly lower than that in truthful responses, whereas no difference existed on the vowel /i/ speech spectrum. The second formant bandwidth of the consonant /sh/ speech spectrum was significantly correlated with the personality traits of Psychoticism, Extraversion, and Neuroticism, and the correlation differed between truthful and lying responses, whereas the first formant frequency of the vowel /i/ speech spectrum was negatively correlated with Neuroticism in both response types. The results suggest that personality characteristics may be conveyed through the human voice, although the extent to which these effects are due to physiological differences in the organs associated with speech or to a general Pygmalion effect is yet unknown.

Spontaneous and visually-driven high-frequency oscillations in the occipital cortex: Intracranial recording in epileptic patients

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Nagasawa, Tetsuro; Juhász, Csaba; Rothermel, Robert; Hoechstetter, Karsten; Sood, Sandeep; Asano, Eishi

2011-01-01

SUMMARY High-frequency oscillations (HFOs) at ≧80 Hz of nonepileptic nature spontaneously emerge from human cerebral cortex. In 10 patients with extra-occipital lobe epilepsy, we compared the spectral-spatial characteristics of HFOs spontaneously arising from the nonepileptic occipital cortex with those of HFOs driven by a visual task as well as epileptogenic HFOs arising from the extra-occipital seizure focus. We identified spontaneous HFOs at ≧80 Hz with a mean duration of 330 msec intermittently emerging from the occipital cortex during interictal slow-wave sleep. The spectral frequency band of spontaneous occipital HFOs was similar to that of visually-driven HFOs. Spontaneous occipital HFOs were spatially sparse and confined to smaller areas, whereas visually-driven HFOs involved the larger areas including the more rostral sites. Neither spectral frequency band nor amplitude of spontaneous occipital HFOs significantly differed from those of epileptogenic HFOs. Spontaneous occipital HFOs were strongly locked to the phase of delta activity, but the strength of delta-phase coupling decayed from 1 to 3 Hz. Conversely, epileptogenic extra-occipital HFOs were locked to the phase of delta activity about equally in the range from 1 to 3 Hz. The occipital cortex spontaneously generates physiological HFOs which may stand out on electrocorticography traces as prominently as pathological HFOs arising from elsewhere; this observation should be taken into consideration during presurgical evaluation. Coupling of spontaneous delta and HFOs may increase the understanding of significance of delta-oscillations during slow-wave sleep. Further studies are warranted to determine whether delta-phase coupling distinguishes physiological from pathological HFOs or simply differs across anatomical locations. PMID:21432945

Visually Evoked Spiking Evolves While Spontaneous Ongoing Dynamics Persist

Science.gov (United States)

Huys, Raoul; Jirsa, Viktor K.; Darokhan, Ziauddin; Valentiniene, Sonata; Roland, Per E.

2016-01-01

Neurons in the primary visual cortex spontaneously spike even when there are no visual stimuli. It is unknown whether the spiking evoked by visual stimuli is just a modification of the spontaneous ongoing cortical spiking dynamics or whether the spontaneous spiking state disappears and is replaced by evoked spiking. This study of laminar recordings of spontaneous spiking and visually evoked spiking of neurons in the ferret primary visual cortex shows that the spiking dynamics does not change: the spontaneous spiking as well as evoked spiking is controlled by a stable and persisting fixed point attractor. Its existence guarantees that evoked spiking return to the spontaneous state. However, the spontaneous ongoing spiking state and the visual evoked spiking states are qualitatively different and are separated by a threshold (separatrix). The functional advantage of this organization is that it avoids the need for a system reorganization following visual stimulation, and impedes the transition of spontaneous spiking to evoked spiking and the propagation of spontaneous spiking from layer 4 to layers 2–3. PMID:26778982

Fidelity of Automatic Speech Processing for Adult and Child Talker Classifications.

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Mark VanDam

Full Text Available Automatic speech processing (ASP has recently been applied to very large datasets of naturalistically collected, daylong recordings of child speech via an audio recorder worn by young children. The system developed by the LENA Research Foundation analyzes children's speech for research and clinical purposes, with special focus on of identifying and tagging family speech dynamics and the at-home acoustic environment from the auditory perspective of the child. A primary issue for researchers, clinicians, and families using the Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA system is to what degree the segment labels are valid. This classification study evaluates the performance of the computer ASP output against 23 trained human judges who made about 53,000 judgements of classification of segments tagged by the LENA ASP. Results indicate performance consistent with modern ASP such as those using HMM methods, with acoustic characteristics of fundamental frequency and segment duration most important for both human and machine classifications. Results are likely to be important for interpreting and improving ASP output.

Recovering With Acquired Apraxia of Speech: The First 2 Years.

Science.gov (United States)

Haley, Katarina L; Shafer, Jennifer N; Harmon, Tyson G; Jacks, Adam

2016-12-01

This study was intended to document speech recovery for 1 person with acquired apraxia of speech quantitatively and on the basis of her lived experience. The second author sustained a traumatic brain injury that resulted in acquired apraxia of speech. Over a 2-year period, she documented her recovery through 22 video-recorded monologues. We analyzed these monologues using a combination of auditory perceptual, acoustic, and qualitative methods. Recovery was evident for all quantitative variables examined. For speech sound production, the recovery was most prominent during the first 3 months, but slower improvement was evident for many months. Measures of speaking rate, fluency, and prosody changed more gradually throughout the entire period. A qualitative analysis of topics addressed in the monologues was consistent with the quantitative speech recovery and indicated a subjective dynamic relationship between accuracy and rate, an observation that several factors made speech sound production variable, and a persisting need for cognitive effort while speaking. Speech features improved over an extended time, but the recovery trajectories differed, indicating dynamic reorganization of the underlying speech production system. The relationship among speech dimensions should be examined in other cases and in population samples. The combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis methods offers advantages for understanding clinically relevant aspects of recovery.

Out-of-synchrony speech entrainment in developmental dyslexia.

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Molinaro, Nicola; Lizarazu, Mikel; Lallier, Marie; Bourguignon, Mathieu; Carreiras, Manuel

2016-08-01

Developmental dyslexia is a reading disorder often characterized by reduced awareness of speech units. Whether the neural source of this phonological disorder in dyslexic readers results from the malfunctioning of the primary auditory system or damaged feedback communication between higher-order phonological regions (i.e., left inferior frontal regions) and the auditory cortex is still under dispute. Here we recorded magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals from 20 dyslexic readers and 20 age-matched controls while they were listening to ∼10-s-long spoken sentences. Compared to controls, dyslexic readers had (1) an impaired neural entrainment to speech in the delta band (0.5-1 Hz); (2) a reduced delta synchronization in both the right auditory cortex and the left inferior frontal gyrus; and (3) an impaired feedforward functional coupling between neural oscillations in the right auditory cortex and the left inferior frontal regions. This shows that during speech listening, individuals with developmental dyslexia present reduced neural synchrony to low-frequency speech oscillations in primary auditory regions that hinders higher-order speech processing steps. The present findings, thus, strengthen proposals assuming that improper low-frequency acoustic entrainment affects speech sampling. This low speech-brain synchronization has the strong potential to cause severe consequences for both phonological and reading skills. Interestingly, the reduced speech-brain synchronization in dyslexic readers compared to normal readers (and its higher-order consequences across the speech processing network) appears preserved through the development from childhood to adulthood. Thus, the evaluation of speech-brain synchronization could possibly serve as a diagnostic tool for early detection of children at risk of dyslexia. Hum Brain Mapp 37:2767-2783, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Improved Vocabulary Production after Naming Therapy in Aphasia: Can Gains in Picture Naming Generalise to Connected Speech?

Science.gov (United States)

Conroy, Paul; Sage, Karen; Ralph, Matt Lambon

2009-01-01

Background: Naming accuracy for nouns and verbs in aphasia can vary across different elicitation contexts, for example, simple picture naming, composite picture description, narratives, and conversation. For some people with aphasia, naming may be more accurate to simple pictures as opposed to naming in spontaneous, connected speech; for others,…

Tapping Into Rate Flexibility: Musical Training Facilitates Synchronization Around Spontaneous Production Rates

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Scheurich, Rebecca; Zamm, Anna; Palmer, Caroline

2018-01-01

The ability to flexibly adapt one’s behavior is critical for social tasks such as speech and music performance, in which individuals must coordinate the timing of their actions with others. Natural movement frequencies, also called spontaneous rates, constrain synchronization accuracy between partners during duet music performance, whereas musical training enhances synchronization accuracy. We investigated the combined influences of these factors on the flexibility with which individuals can synchronize their actions with sequences at different rates. First, we developed a novel musical task capable of measuring spontaneous rates in both musicians and non-musicians in which participants tapped the rhythm of a familiar melody while hearing the corresponding melody tones. The novel task was validated by similar measures of spontaneous rates generated by piano performance and by the tapping task from the same pianists. We then implemented the novel task with musicians and non-musicians as they synchronized tapping of a familiar melody with a metronome at their spontaneous rates, and at rates proportionally slower and faster than their spontaneous rates. Musicians synchronized more flexibly across rates than non-musicians, indicated by greater synchronization accuracy. Additionally, musicians showed greater engagement of error correction mechanisms than non-musicians. Finally, differences in flexibility were characterized by more recurrent (repetitive) and patterned synchronization in non-musicians, indicative of greater temporal rigidity. PMID:29681872

Tapping Into Rate Flexibility: Musical Training Facilitates Synchronization Around Spontaneous Production Rates

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Rebecca Scheurich

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The ability to flexibly adapt one’s behavior is critical for social tasks such as speech and music performance, in which individuals must coordinate the timing of their actions with others. Natural movement frequencies, also called spontaneous rates, constrain synchronization accuracy between partners during duet music performance, whereas musical training enhances synchronization accuracy. We investigated the combined influences of these factors on the flexibility with which individuals can synchronize their actions with sequences at different rates. First, we developed a novel musical task capable of measuring spontaneous rates in both musicians and non-musicians in which participants tapped the rhythm of a familiar melody while hearing the corresponding melody tones. The novel task was validated by similar measures of spontaneous rates generated by piano performance and by the tapping task from the same pianists. We then implemented the novel task with musicians and non-musicians as they synchronized tapping of a familiar melody with a metronome at their spontaneous rates, and at rates proportionally slower and faster than their spontaneous rates. Musicians synchronized more flexibly across rates than non-musicians, indicated by greater synchronization accuracy. Additionally, musicians showed greater engagement of error correction mechanisms than non-musicians. Finally, differences in flexibility were characterized by more recurrent (repetitive and patterned synchronization in non-musicians, indicative of greater temporal rigidity.

Production Variability and Single Word Intelligibility in Aphasia and Apraxia of Speech

Science.gov (United States)

Haley, Katarina L.; Martin, Gwenyth

2011-01-01

This study was designed to estimate test-retest reliability of orthographic speech intelligibility testing in speakers with aphasia and AOS and to examine its relationship to the consistency of speaker and listener responses. Monosyllabic single word speech samples were recorded from 13 speakers with coexisting aphasia and AOS. These words were…

Audio Recording of Children with Dyslalia

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Stefan Gheorghe Pentiuc

2008-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we present our researches regarding automat parsing of audio recordings. These recordings are obtained from children with dyslalia and are necessary for an accurate identification of speech problems. We develop a software application that helps parsing audio, real time, recordings.

Music and Speech Perception in Children Using Sung Speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Nie, Yingjiu; Galvin, John J; Morikawa, Michael; André, Victoria; Wheeler, Harley; Fu, Qian-Jie

2018-01-01

This study examined music and speech perception in normal-hearing children with some or no musical training. Thirty children (mean age = 11.3 years), 15 with and 15 without formal music training participated in the study. Music perception was measured using a melodic contour identification (MCI) task; stimuli were a piano sample or sung speech with a fixed timbre (same word for each note) or a mixed timbre (different words for each note). Speech perception was measured in quiet and in steady noise using a matrix-styled sentence recognition task; stimuli were naturally intonated speech or sung speech with a fixed pitch (same note for each word) or a mixed pitch (different notes for each word). Significant musician advantages were observed for MCI and speech in noise but not for speech in quiet. MCI performance was significantly poorer with the mixed timbre stimuli. Speech performance in noise was significantly poorer with the fixed or mixed pitch stimuli than with spoken speech. Across all subjects, age at testing and MCI performance were significantly correlated with speech performance in noise. MCI and speech performance in quiet was significantly poorer for children than for adults from a related study using the same stimuli and tasks; speech performance in noise was significantly poorer for young than for older children. Long-term music training appeared to benefit melodic pitch perception and speech understanding in noise in these pediatric listeners.

Apraxia of Speech

Science.gov (United States)

... Health Info » Voice, Speech, and Language Apraxia of Speech On this page: What is apraxia of speech? ... about apraxia of speech? What is apraxia of speech? Apraxia of speech (AOS)—also known as acquired ...

Dysarthric Bengali speech: A neurolinguistic study

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Chakraborty N

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Background and Aims: Dysarthria affects linguistic domains such as respiration, phonation, articulation, resonance and prosody due to upper motor neuron, lower motor neuron, cerebellar or extrapyramidal tract lesions. Although Bengali is one of the major languages globally, dysarthric Bengali speech has not been subjected to neurolinguistic analysis. We attempted such an analysis with the goal of identifying the speech defects in native Bengali speakers in various types of dysarthria encountered in neurological disorders. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted with 66 dysarthric subjects, predominantly middle-aged males, attending the Neuromedicine OPD of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Kolkata. Materials and Methods: After neurological examination, an instrument comprising commonly used Bengali words and a text block covering all Bengali vowels and consonants were used to carry out perceptual analysis of dysarthric speech. From recorded speech, 24 parameters pertaining to five linguistic domains were assessed. The Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance, Chi-square test and Fisher′s exact test were used for analysis. Results: The dysarthria types were spastic (15 subjects, flaccid (10, mixed (12, hypokinetic (12, hyperkinetic (9 and ataxic (8. Of the 24 parameters assessed, 15 were found to occur in one or more types with a prevalence of at least 25%. Imprecise consonant was the most frequently occurring defect in most dysarthrias. The spectrum of defects in each type was identified. Some parameters were capable of distinguishing between types. Conclusions: This perceptual analysis has defined linguistic defects likely to be encountered in dysarthric Bengali speech in neurological disorders. The speech distortion can be described and distinguished by a limited number of parameters. This may be of importance to the speech therapist and neurologist in planning rehabilitation and further management.

Acoustic characteristics of Danish infant directed speech

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bohn, Ocke-Schwen

2013-01-01

speaking to their 18 month old children (infant directed speech - IDS) as opposed to an adult (adult directed speech - ADS). Caregivers were recorded talking about toy animals in conversations with their child and with an adult interlocutor. The toy names were designed to elicit Danish contrasts differing......, the Euclidean F1/F2 differences between vowels, F0 of the stressed (first) syllable in the toy name, as well as the duration of the stressed syllable, the vowels, and the fricatives. Results of the acoustic differences between ADS and IDS were compared to the results of parents' reports on the children...

Dual silent communication system development based on subvocal speech and Raspberry Pi

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José Daniel Ramírez-Corzo

2016-09-01

Additionally, in this article we show the speech subvocal signals’ recording system realization. The average accuracy percentage was 72.5 %, and includes a total of 50 words by class, this is 200 signals. Finally, it demonstrated that using the Raspberry Pi it is possible to set a silent communication system, using subvocal. speech signals.

Common neural substrates support speech and non-speech vocal tract gestures.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Soo-Eun; Kenney, Mary Kay; Loucks, Torrey M J; Poletto, Christopher J; Ludlow, Christy L

2009-08-01

The issue of whether speech is supported by the same neural substrates as non-speech vocal tract gestures has been contentious. In this fMRI study we tested whether producing non-speech vocal tract gestures in humans shares the same functional neuroanatomy as non-sense speech syllables. Production of non-speech vocal tract gestures, devoid of phonological content but similar to speech in that they had familiar acoustic and somatosensory targets, was compared to the production of speech syllables without meaning. Brain activation related to overt production was captured with BOLD fMRI using a sparse sampling design for both conditions. Speech and non-speech were compared using voxel-wise whole brain analyses, and ROI analyses focused on frontal and temporoparietal structures previously reported to support speech production. Results showed substantial activation overlap between speech and non-speech function in regions. Although non-speech gesture production showed greater extent and amplitude of activation in the regions examined, both speech and non-speech showed comparable left laterality in activation for both target perception and production. These findings posit a more general role of the previously proposed "auditory dorsal stream" in the left hemisphere--to support the production of vocal tract gestures that are not limited to speech processing.

Grapheme-to-phoneme Conversion in Theory and Practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Juel Henrichsen, Peter

Tools for mapping between written words and phonetic forms are essential components in many applications of speech technology, such as automatic speech recognition (ASR) and speech synthesis (TTS). Simple converters can be derived from annotated speech corpora using machine learning, and such tools...... are available for almost all European languages and a great number of others. Whereas their performance is adequate for ASR and for low-quality TTS, their lack of precision makes them unfit for linguistic research purposes such as phonetic annotation of spontaneous speech recordings. A common method...

A social feedback loop for speech development and its reduction in autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Warlaumont, Anne S; Richards, Jeffrey A; Gilkerson, Jill; Oller, D Kimbrough

2014-07-01

We analyzed the microstructure of child-adult interaction during naturalistic, daylong, automatically labeled audio recordings (13,836 hr total) of children (8- to 48-month-olds) with and without autism. We found that an adult was more likely to respond when the child's vocalization was speech related rather than not speech related. In turn, a child's vocalization was more likely to be speech related if the child's previous speech-related vocalization had received an immediate adult response rather than no response. Taken together, these results are consistent with the idea that there is a social feedback loop between child and caregiver that promotes speech development. Although this feedback loop applies in both typical development and autism, children with autism produced proportionally fewer speech-related vocalizations, and the responses they received were less contingent on whether their vocalizations were speech related. We argue that such differences will diminish the strength of the social feedback loop and have cascading effects on speech development over time. Differences related to socioeconomic status are also reported. © The Author(s) 2014.

[Intermodal timing cues for audio-visual speech recognition].

Science.gov (United States)

Hashimoto, Masahiro; Kumashiro, Masaharu

2004-06-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the limitations of lip-reading advantages for Japanese young adults by desynchronizing visual and auditory information in speech. In the experiment, audio-visual speech stimuli were presented under the six test conditions: audio-alone, and audio-visually with either 0, 60, 120, 240 or 480 ms of audio delay. The stimuli were the video recordings of a face of a female Japanese speaking long and short Japanese sentences. The intelligibility of the audio-visual stimuli was measured as a function of audio delays in sixteen untrained young subjects. Speech intelligibility under the audio-delay condition of less than 120 ms was significantly better than that under the audio-alone condition. On the other hand, the delay of 120 ms corresponded to the mean mora duration measured for the audio stimuli. The results implied that audio delays of up to 120 ms would not disrupt lip-reading advantage, because visual and auditory information in speech seemed to be integrated on a syllabic time scale. Potential applications of this research include noisy workplace in which a worker must extract relevant speech from all the other competing noises.

Speech Compression

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Jerry D. Gibson

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Speech compression is a key technology underlying digital cellular communications, VoIP, voicemail, and voice response systems. We trace the evolution of speech coding based on the linear prediction model, highlight the key milestones in speech coding, and outline the structures of the most important speech coding standards. Current challenges, future research directions, fundamental limits on performance, and the critical open problem of speech coding for emergency first responders are all discussed.

Motor laterality as an indicator of speech laterality.

Science.gov (United States)

Flowers, Kenneth A; Hudson, John M

2013-03-01

The determination of speech laterality, especially where it is anomalous, is both a theoretical issue and a practical problem for brain surgery. Handedness is commonly thought to be related to speech representation, but exactly how is not clearly understood. This investigation analyzed handedness by preference rating and performance on a reliable task of motor laterality in 34 patients undergoing a Wada test, to see if they could provide an indicator of speech laterality. Hand usage preference ratings divided patients into left, right, and mixed in preference. Between-hand differences in movement time on a pegboard task determined motor laterality. Results were correlated (χ2) with speech representation as determined by a standard Wada test. It was found that patients whose between-hand difference in speed on the motor task was small or inconsistent were the ones whose Wada test speech representation was likely to be ambiguous or anomalous, whereas all those with a consistently large between-hand difference showed clear unilateral speech representation in the hemisphere controlling the better hand (χ2 = 10.45, df = 1, p laterality are related where they both involve a central control of motor output sequencing and that a measure of that aspect of the former will indicate the likely representation of the latter. A between-hand measure of motor laterality based on such a measure may indicate the possibility of anomalous speech representation. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

The impact of language co-activation on L1 and L2 speech fluency.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergmann, Christopher; Sprenger, Simone A; Schmid, Monika S

2015-10-01

Fluent speech depends on the availability of well-established linguistic knowledge and routines for speech planning and articulation. A lack of speech fluency in late second-language (L2) learners may point to a deficiency of these representations, due to incomplete acquisition. Experiments on bilingual language processing have shown, however, that there are strong reasons to believe that multilingual speakers experience co-activation of the languages they speak. We have studied to what degree language co-activation affects fluency in the speech of bilinguals, comparing a monolingual German control group with two bilingual groups: 1) first-language (L1) attriters, who have fully acquired German before emigrating to an L2 English environment, and 2) immersed L2 learners of German (L1: English). We have analysed the temporal fluency and the incidence of disfluency markers (pauses, repetitions and self-corrections) in spontaneous film retellings. Our findings show that learners to speak more slowly than controls and attriters. Also, on each count, the speech of at least one of the bilingual groups contains more disfluency markers than the retellings of the control group. Generally speaking, both bilingual groups-learners and attriters-are equally (dis)fluent and significantly more disfluent than the monolingual speakers. Given that the L1 attriters are unaffected by incomplete acquisition, we interpret these findings as evidence for language competition during speech production. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Applying prosodic speech features in mental health care: An exploratory study in a life-review intervention for depression

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lamers, S.M.A.; Truong, Khiet Phuong; Steunenberg, B.; Steunenberg, B.; de Jong, Franciska M.G.; Westerhof, Gerben Johan

2014-01-01

The present study aims to investigate the application of prosodic speech features in a psychological intervention based on lifereview. Several studies have shown that speech features can be used as indicators of depression severity, but these studies are mainly based on controlled speech recording

An evaluation of the effectiveness of PROMPT therapy in improving speech production accuracy in six children with cerebral palsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, Roslyn; Leitão, Suze; Strauss, Geoff

2014-08-01

This study evaluates perceptual changes in speech production accuracy in six children (3-11 years) with moderate-to-severe speech impairment associated with cerebral palsy before, during, and after participation in a motor-speech intervention program (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets). An A1BCA2 single subject research design was implemented. Subsequent to the baseline phase (phase A1), phase B targeted each participant's first intervention priority on the PROMPT motor-speech hierarchy. Phase C then targeted one level higher. Weekly speech probes were administered, containing trained and untrained words at the two levels of intervention, plus an additional level that served as a control goal. The speech probes were analysed for motor-speech-movement-parameters and perceptual accuracy. Analysis of the speech probe data showed all participants recorded a statistically significant change. Between phases A1-B and B-C 6/6 and 4/6 participants, respectively, recorded a statistically significant increase in performance level on the motor speech movement patterns targeted during the training of that intervention. The preliminary data presented in this study make a contribution to providing evidence that supports the use of a treatment approach aligned with dynamic systems theory to improve the motor-speech movement patterns and speech production accuracy in children with cerebral palsy.

The Hierarchical Cortical Organization of Human Speech Processing.

Science.gov (United States)

de Heer, Wendy A; Huth, Alexander G; Griffiths, Thomas L; Gallant, Jack L; Theunissen, Frédéric E

2017-07-05

Speech comprehension requires that the brain extract semantic meaning from the spectral features represented at the cochlea. To investigate this process, we performed an fMRI experiment in which five men and two women passively listened to several hours of natural narrative speech. We then used voxelwise modeling to predict BOLD responses based on three different feature spaces that represent the spectral, articulatory, and semantic properties of speech. The amount of variance explained by each feature space was then assessed using a separate validation dataset. Because some responses might be explained equally well by more than one feature space, we used a variance partitioning analysis to determine the fraction of the variance that was uniquely explained by each feature space. Consistent with previous studies, we found that speech comprehension involves hierarchical representations starting in primary auditory areas and moving laterally on the temporal lobe: spectral features are found in the core of A1, mixtures of spectral and articulatory in STG, mixtures of articulatory and semantic in STS, and semantic in STS and beyond. Our data also show that both hemispheres are equally and actively involved in speech perception and interpretation. Further, responses as early in the auditory hierarchy as in STS are more correlated with semantic than spectral representations. These results illustrate the importance of using natural speech in neurolinguistic research. Our methodology also provides an efficient way to simultaneously test multiple specific hypotheses about the representations of speech without using block designs and segmented or synthetic speech. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT To investigate the processing steps performed by the human brain to transform natural speech sound into meaningful language, we used models based on a hierarchical set of speech features to predict BOLD responses of individual voxels recorded in an fMRI experiment while subjects listened to

Start/End Delays of Voiced and Unvoiced Speech Signals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herrnstein, A

1999-09-24

Recent experiments using low power EM-radar like sensors (e.g, GEMs) have demonstrated a new method for measuring vocal fold activity and the onset times of voiced speech, as vocal fold contact begins to take place. Similarly the end time of a voiced speech segment can be measured. Secondly it appears that in most normal uses of American English speech, unvoiced-speech segments directly precede or directly follow voiced-speech segments. For many applications, it is useful to know typical duration times of these unvoiced speech segments. A corpus, assembled earlier of spoken ''Timit'' words, phrases, and sentences and recorded using simultaneously measured acoustic and EM-sensor glottal signals, from 16 male speakers, was used for this study. By inspecting the onset (or end) of unvoiced speech, using the acoustic signal, and the onset (or end) of voiced speech using the EM sensor signal, the average duration times for unvoiced segments preceding onset of vocalization were found to be 300ms, and for following segments, 500ms. An unvoiced speech period is then defined in time, first by using the onset of the EM-sensed glottal signal, as the onset-time marker for the voiced speech segment and end marker for the unvoiced segment. Then, by subtracting 300ms from the onset time mark of voicing, the unvoiced speech segment start time is found. Similarly, the times for a following unvoiced speech segment can be found. While data of this nature have proven to be useful for work in our laboratory, a great deal of additional work remains to validate such data for use with general populations of users. These procedures have been useful for applying optimal processing algorithms over time segments of unvoiced, voiced, and non-speech acoustic signals. For example, these data appear to be of use in speaker validation, in vocoding, and in denoising algorithms.

Speech Production and Speech Discrimination by Hearing-Impaired Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Novelli-Olmstead, Tina; Ling, Daniel

1984-01-01

Seven hearing impaired children (five to seven years old) assigned to the Speakers group made highly significant gains in speech production and auditory discrimination of speech, while Listeners made only slight speech production gains and no gains in auditory discrimination. Combined speech and auditory training was more effective than auditory…

Acceptance of speech recognition by physicians: A survey of expectations, experiences, and social influence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alapetite, Alexandre; Andersen, Henning Boje; Hertzum, Morten

2009-01-01

The present study has surveyed physician views and attitudes before and after the introduction of speech technology as a front end to an electronic medical record. At the hospital where the survey was made, speech technology recently (2006–2007) replaced traditional dictation and subsequent secre...

Stuttering Frequency, Speech Rate, Speech Naturalness, and Speech Effort During the Production of Voluntary Stuttering.

Science.gov (United States)

Davidow, Jason H; Grossman, Heather L; Edge, Robin L

2018-05-01

Voluntary stuttering techniques involve persons who stutter purposefully interjecting disfluencies into their speech. Little research has been conducted on the impact of these techniques on the speech pattern of persons who stutter. The present study examined whether changes in the frequency of voluntary stuttering accompanied changes in stuttering frequency, articulation rate, speech naturalness, and speech effort. In total, 12 persons who stutter aged 16-34 years participated. Participants read four 300-syllable passages during a control condition, and three voluntary stuttering conditions that involved attempting to produce purposeful, tension-free repetitions of initial sounds or syllables of a word for two or more repetitions (i.e., bouncing). The three voluntary stuttering conditions included bouncing on 5%, 10%, and 15% of syllables read. Friedman tests and follow-up Wilcoxon signed ranks tests were conducted for the statistical analyses. Stuttering frequency, articulation rate, and speech naturalness were significantly different between the voluntary stuttering conditions. Speech effort did not differ between the voluntary stuttering conditions. Stuttering frequency was significantly lower during the three voluntary stuttering conditions compared to the control condition, and speech effort was significantly lower during two of the three voluntary stuttering conditions compared to the control condition. Due to changes in articulation rate across the voluntary stuttering conditions, it is difficult to conclude, as has been suggested previously, that voluntary stuttering is the reason for stuttering reductions found when using voluntary stuttering techniques. Additionally, future investigations should examine different types of voluntary stuttering over an extended period of time to determine their impact on stuttering frequency, speech rate, speech naturalness, and speech effort.

Comprehension of synthetic speech and digitized natural speech by adults with aphasia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hux, Karen; Knollman-Porter, Kelly; Brown, Jessica; Wallace, Sarah E

2017-09-01

Using text-to-speech technology to provide simultaneous written and auditory content presentation may help compensate for chronic reading challenges if people with aphasia can understand synthetic speech output; however, inherent auditory comprehension challenges experienced by people with aphasia may make understanding synthetic speech difficult. This study's purpose was to compare the preferences and auditory comprehension accuracy of people with aphasia when listening to sentences generated with digitized natural speech, Alex synthetic speech (i.e., Macintosh platform), or David synthetic speech (i.e., Windows platform). The methodology required each of 20 participants with aphasia to select one of four images corresponding in meaning to each of 60 sentences comprising three stimulus sets. Results revealed significantly better accuracy given digitized natural speech than either synthetic speech option; however, individual participant performance analyses revealed three patterns: (a) comparable accuracy regardless of speech condition for 30% of participants, (b) comparable accuracy between digitized natural speech and one, but not both, synthetic speech option for 45% of participants, and (c) greater accuracy with digitized natural speech than with either synthetic speech option for remaining participants. Ranking and Likert-scale rating data revealed a preference for digitized natural speech and David synthetic speech over Alex synthetic speech. Results suggest many individuals with aphasia can comprehend synthetic speech options available on popular operating systems. Further examination of synthetic speech use to support reading comprehension through text-to-speech technology is thus warranted. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Common neural substrates support speech and non-speech vocal tract gestures

OpenAIRE

Chang, Soo-Eun; Kenney, Mary Kay; Loucks, Torrey M.J.; Poletto, Christopher J.; Ludlow, Christy L.

2009-01-01

The issue of whether speech is supported by the same neural substrates as non-speech vocal-tract gestures has been contentious. In this fMRI study we tested whether producing non-speech vocal tract gestures in humans shares the same functional neuroanatomy as non-sense speech syllables. Production of non-speech vocal tract gestures, devoid of phonological content but similar to speech in that they had familiar acoustic and somatosensory targets, were compared to the production of speech sylla...

Conservative treatment of idiopathic spontaneous pneumoperitoneum in a bedridden patient: a case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Ryo; Kameyama, Hitoshi; Nagahashi, Masayuki; Kanda, Tatsuo; Ichikawa, Hiroshi; Hanyu, Takaaki; Ishikawa, Takashi; Kobayashi, Takashi; Sakata, Jun; Kosugi, Shin-Ichi; Wakai, Toshifumi

2015-01-01

Idiopathic spontaneous pneumoperitoneum is a rare condition that is characterized by intraperitoneal gas for which no clear etiology has been identified. We report here a case of idiopathic spontaneous pneumoperitoneum, which was successfully managed by conservative treatment. A 77-year-old woman who was bedridden with speech disability as a sequela of brain hemorrhage presented at our hospital with a 1-day history of abdominal distention. On physical examination, she had stable vital signs and slight epigastric tenderness on deep palpation without any other signs of peritonitis. A chest radiograph and computed tomography showed that a large amount of free gas extended into the upper abdominal cavity. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed no perforation of the upper gastrointestinal tract. The patient was diagnosed with idiopathic spontaneous pneumoperitoneum, and conservative treatment was selected. The abdominal distension rapidly disappeared, and the patient resumed oral intake on the 5th hospital day without deterioration of symptoms. Knowledge of this rare disease and accurate diagnosis with findings of clinical imaging might contribute towards refraining from unnecessary laparotomy.

Comparative Study on Feature Selection and Fusion Schemes for Emotion Recognition from Speech

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Santiago Planet

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The automatic analysis of speech to detect affective states may improve the way users interact with electronic devices. However, the analysis only at the acoustic level could be not enough to determine the emotion of a user in a realistic scenario. In this paper we analyzed the spontaneous speech recordings of the FAU Aibo Corpus at the acoustic and linguistic levels to extract two sets of features. The acoustic set was reduced by a greedy procedure selecting the most relevant features to optimize the learning stage. We compared two versions of this greedy selection algorithm by performing the search of the relevant features forwards and backwards. We experimented with three classification approaches: Naïve-Bayes, a support vector machine and a logistic model tree, and two fusion schemes: decision-level fusion, merging the hard-decisions of the acoustic and linguistic classifiers by means of a decision tree; and feature-level fusion, concatenating both sets of features before the learning stage. Despite the low performance achieved by the linguistic data, a dramatic improvement was achieved after its combination with the acoustic information, improving the results achieved by this second modality on its own. The results achieved by the classifiers using the parameters merged at feature level outperformed the classification results of the decision-level fusion scheme, despite the simplicity of the scheme. Moreover, the extremely reduced set of acoustic features obtained by the greedy forward search selection algorithm improved the results provided by the full set.

Predicting speech intelligibility in conditions with nonlinearly processed noisy speech

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Søren; Dau, Torsten

2013-01-01

The speech-based envelope power spectrum model (sEPSM; [1]) was proposed in order to overcome the limitations of the classical speech transmission index (STI) and speech intelligibility index (SII). The sEPSM applies the signal-tonoise ratio in the envelope domain (SNRenv), which was demonstrated...... to successfully predict speech intelligibility in conditions with nonlinearly processed noisy speech, such as processing with spectral subtraction. Moreover, a multiresolution version (mr-sEPSM) was demonstrated to account for speech intelligibility in various conditions with stationary and fluctuating...

Usability Assessment of Text-to-Speech Synthesis for Additional Detail in an Automated Telephone Banking System

OpenAIRE

Morton , Hazel; Gunson , Nancie; Marshall , Diarmid; McInnes , Fergus; Ayres , Andrea; Jack , Mervyn

2010-01-01

Abstract This paper describes a comprehensive usability evaluation of an automated telephone banking system which employs text-to-speech (TTS) synthesis in offering additional detail on customers? account transactions. The paper describes a series of four experiments in which TTS was employed to offer an extra level of detail to recent transactions listings within an established banking service which otherwise uses recorded speech from a professional recording artist. Results from ...

Methodology for Speech Assessment in the Scandcleft Project-An International Randomized Clinical Trial on Palatal Surgery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Willadsen, Elisabeth

2009-01-01

Objective: To present the methodology for speech assessment in the Scandcleft project and discuss issues from a pilot study. Design: Description of methodology and blinded test for speech assessment. Speech samples and instructions for data collection and analysis for comparisons of speech outcomes...... across five included languages were developed and tested. Participants and Materials: Randomly selected video recordings of 10 5-year-old children from each language (n = 50) were included in the project. Speech material consisted of test consonants in single words, connected speech, and syllable chains......-sum and the overall rating of VPC was 78%. Conclusions: Pooling data of speakers of different languages in the same trial and comparing speech outcome across trials seems possible if the assessment of speech concerns consonants and is confined to speech units that are phonetically similar across languages. Agreed...

Spontaneous abortion and physical strain around implantation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjøllund, Niels Henrik Ingvar; Jensen, T.K.; Bonde, J.P.

2000-01-01

Existing studies of physical strain and spontaneous abortion are mainly retrospective or based only on pregnancies that have survived the first trimester. Furthermore, almost all studies have relied on averaged measures of physical strain, which tend to blur an effect if peak values during short...... pregnancy the women recorded physical strain prospectively in a structured diary. Physical strain around the time of implantation was associated with later spontaneous abortion. The adjusted risk ratio for women who reported physical strain higher than average at day 6 to 9 after the estimated date...

Exploring Australian speech-language pathologists' use and perceptions ofnon-speech oral motor exercises.

Science.gov (United States)

Rumbach, Anna F; Rose, Tanya A; Cheah, Mynn

2018-01-29

To explore Australian speech-language pathologists' use of non-speech oral motor exercises, and rationales for using/not using non-speech oral motor exercises in clinical practice. A total of 124 speech-language pathologists practising in Australia, working with paediatric and/or adult clients with speech sound difficulties, completed an online survey. The majority of speech-language pathologists reported that they did not use non-speech oral motor exercises when working with paediatric or adult clients with speech sound difficulties. However, more than half of the speech-language pathologists working with adult clients who have dysarthria reported using non-speech oral motor exercises with this population. The most frequently reported rationale for using non-speech oral motor exercises in speech sound difficulty management was to improve awareness/placement of articulators. The majority of speech-language pathologists agreed there is no clear clinical or research evidence base to support non-speech oral motor exercise use with clients who have speech sound difficulties. This study provides an overview of Australian speech-language pathologists' reported use and perceptions of non-speech oral motor exercises' applicability and efficacy in treating paediatric and adult clients who have speech sound difficulties. The research findings provide speech-language pathologists with insight into how and why non-speech oral motor exercises are currently used, and adds to the knowledge base regarding Australian speech-language pathology practice of non-speech oral motor exercises in the treatment of speech sound difficulties. Implications for Rehabilitation Non-speech oral motor exercises refer to oral motor activities which do not involve speech, but involve the manipulation or stimulation of oral structures including the lips, tongue, jaw, and soft palate. Non-speech oral motor exercises are intended to improve the function (e.g., movement, strength) of oral structures. The

Why the Left Hemisphere Is Dominant for Speech Production: Connecting the Dots

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Harvey Martin Sussman

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Evidence from seemingly disparate areas of speech/language research is reviewed to form a unified theoretical account for why the left hemisphere is specialized for speech production. Research findings from studies investigating hemispheric lateralization of infant babbling, the primacy of the syllable in phonological structure, rhyming performance in split-brain patients, rhyming ability and phonetic categorization in children diagnosed with developmental apraxia of speech, rules governing exchange errors in spoonerisms, organizational principles of neocortical control of learned motor behaviors, and multi-electrode recordings of human neuronal responses to speech sounds are described and common threads highlighted. It is suggested that the emergence, in developmental neurogenesis, of a hard-wired, syllabically-organized, neural substrate representing the phonemic sound elements of one’s language, particularly the vocalic nucleus, is the crucial factor underlying the left hemisphere’s dominance for speech production.

Validation of second trimester miscarriages and spontaneous deliveries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sundtoft, Iben Blaabjerg; Sneider, Kirstine; Christiansen, Ole Bjarne

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To validate the diagnosis of second trimester miscarriages/deliveries (16+0 weeks to 27+6 weeks of gestation) recorded as miscarriages in the Danish National Patient Registry or spontaneous deliveries in the Danish Medical Birth Registry, and asses the validity of risk factors, pregnancy...... information and calculated positive predictive values of the registry diagnoses stratified by type of registry, as well as sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and kappa coefficients of risk factors, pregnancy complications, and cerclage. RESULTS: Miscarriage/spontaneous delivery in the second......-based information on pregnancy complications need to be improved. We recommend that all pregnancies ending spontaneously beyond the first trimester are included in the national birth registry and described by appropriate variables....

[Improving speech comprehension using a new cochlear implant speech processor].

Science.gov (United States)

Müller-Deile, J; Kortmann, T; Hoppe, U; Hessel, H; Morsnowski, A

2009-06-01

The aim of this multicenter clinical field study was to assess the benefits of the new Freedom 24 sound processor for cochlear implant (CI) users implanted with the Nucleus 24 cochlear implant system. The study included 48 postlingually profoundly deaf experienced CI users who demonstrated speech comprehension performance with their current speech processor on the Oldenburg sentence test (OLSA) in quiet conditions of at least 80% correct scores and who were able to perform adaptive speech threshold testing using the OLSA in noisy conditions. Following baseline measures of speech comprehension performance with their current speech processor, subjects were upgraded to the Freedom 24 speech processor. After a take-home trial period of at least 2 weeks, subject performance was evaluated by measuring the speech reception threshold with the Freiburg multisyllabic word test and speech intelligibility with the Freiburg monosyllabic word test at 50 dB and 70 dB in the sound field. The results demonstrated highly significant benefits for speech comprehension with the new speech processor. Significant benefits for speech comprehension were also demonstrated with the new speech processor when tested in competing background noise.In contrast, use of the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) did not prove to be a suitably sensitive assessment tool for comparative subjective self-assessment of hearing benefits with each processor. Use of the preprocessing algorithm known as adaptive dynamic range optimization (ADRO) in the Freedom 24 led to additional improvements over the standard upgrade map for speech comprehension in quiet and showed equivalent performance in noise. Through use of the preprocessing beam-forming algorithm BEAM, subjects demonstrated a highly significant improved signal-to-noise ratio for speech comprehension thresholds (i.e., signal-to-noise ratio for 50% speech comprehension scores) when tested with an adaptive procedure using the Oldenburg

Speech coding

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ravishankar, C., Hughes Network Systems, Germantown, MD

1998-05-08

Speech is the predominant means of communication between human beings and since the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, speech services have remained to be the core service in almost all telecommunication systems. Original analog methods of telephony had the disadvantage of speech signal getting corrupted by noise, cross-talk and distortion Long haul transmissions which use repeaters to compensate for the loss in signal strength on transmission links also increase the associated noise and distortion. On the other hand digital transmission is relatively immune to noise, cross-talk and distortion primarily because of the capability to faithfully regenerate digital signal at each repeater purely based on a binary decision. Hence end-to-end performance of the digital link essentially becomes independent of the length and operating frequency bands of the link Hence from a transmission point of view digital transmission has been the preferred approach due to its higher immunity to noise. The need to carry digital speech became extremely important from a service provision point of view as well. Modem requirements have introduced the need for robust, flexible and secure services that can carry a multitude of signal types (such as voice, data and video) without a fundamental change in infrastructure. Such a requirement could not have been easily met without the advent of digital transmission systems, thereby requiring speech to be coded digitally. The term Speech Coding is often referred to techniques that represent or code speech signals either directly as a waveform or as a set of parameters by analyzing the speech signal. In either case, the codes are transmitted to the distant end where speech is reconstructed or synthesized using the received set of codes. A more generic term that is applicable to these techniques that is often interchangeably used with speech coding is the term voice coding. This term is more generic in the sense that the

Concurrent Speech Segregation Problems in Hearing Impaired Children

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Hossein Talebi

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Objective: This study was a basic investigation of the ability of concurrent speech segregation in hearing impaired children. Concurrent segregation is one of the fundamental components of auditory scene analysis and plays an important role in speech perception. In the present study, we compared auditory late responses or ALRs between hearing impaired and normal children. Materials & Methods: Auditory late potentials in response to 12 double vowels were recorded in 10 children with moderate to severe sensory neural hearing loss and 10 normal children. Double vowels (pairs of synthetic vowels were presented concurrently and binaurally. Fundamental frequency (F0 of these vowels and the size of the difference in F0 between vowels was 100 Hz and 0.5 semitones respectively. Results: Comparing N1-P2 amplitude showed statistically significant difference in some stimuli between hearing impaired and normal children (P<0.05. This complex indexing the vowel change detection and reflecting central auditory speech representation without active client participation was decreased in hearing impaired children. Conclusion: This study showed problems in concurrent speech segregation in hearing impaired children evidenced by ALRs. This information indicated deficiencies in bottom-up processing of speech characteristics based on F0 and its differences in these children.

Speech recognition in individuals with sensorineural hearing loss

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriana Neves de Andrade

Full Text Available ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: Hearing loss can negatively influence the communication performance of individuals, who should be evaluated with suitable material and in situations of listening close to those found in everyday life. OBJECTIVE: To analyze and compare the performance of patients with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss in speech recognition tests carried out in silence and with noise, according to the variables ear (right and left and type of stimulus presentation. METHODS: The study included 19 right-handed individuals with mild-to-moderate symmetrical bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, submitted to the speech recognition test with words in different modalities and speech test with white noise and pictures. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between right and left ears in any of the tests. The mean number of correct responses in the speech recognition test with pictures, live voice, and recorded monosyllables was 97.1%, 85.9%, and 76.1%, respectively, whereas after the introduction of noise, the performance decreased to 72.6% accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: The best performances in the Speech Recognition Percentage Index were obtained using monosyllabic stimuli, represented by pictures presented in silence, with no significant differences between the right and left ears. After the introduction of competitive noise, there was a decrease in individuals' performance.

Top-down influences of written text on perceived clarity of degraded speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Sohoglu, Ediz; Peelle, Jonathan E; Carlyon, Robert P; Davis, Matthew H

2014-02-01

An unresolved question is how the reported clarity of degraded speech is enhanced when listeners have prior knowledge of speech content. One account of this phenomenon proposes top-down modulation of early acoustic processing by higher-level linguistic knowledge. Alternative, strictly bottom-up accounts argue that acoustic information and higher-level knowledge are combined at a late decision stage without modulating early acoustic processing. Here we tested top-down and bottom-up accounts using written text to manipulate listeners' knowledge of speech content. The effect of written text on the reported clarity of noise-vocoded speech was most pronounced when text was presented before (rather than after) speech (Experiment 1). Fine-grained manipulation of the onset asynchrony between text and speech revealed that this effect declined when text was presented more than 120 ms after speech onset (Experiment 2). Finally, the influence of written text was found to arise from phonological (rather than lexical) correspondence between text and speech (Experiment 3). These results suggest that prior knowledge effects are time-limited by the duration of auditory echoic memory for degraded speech, consistent with top-down modulation of early acoustic processing by linguistic knowledge. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

The analysis of speech acts patterns in two Egyptian inaugural speeches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Imad Hayif Sameer

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The theory of speech acts, which clarifies what people do when they speak, is not about individual words or sentences that form the basic elements of human communication, but rather about particular speech acts that are performed when uttering words. A speech act is the attempt at doing something purely by speaking. Many things can be done by speaking.  Speech acts are studied under what is called speech act theory, and belong to the domain of pragmatics. In this paper, two Egyptian inaugural speeches from El-Sadat and El-Sisi, belonging to different periods were analyzed to find out whether there were differences within this genre in the same culture or not. The study showed that there was a very small difference between these two speeches which were analyzed according to Searle’s theory of speech acts. In El Sadat’s speech, commissives came to occupy the first place. Meanwhile, in El–Sisi’s speech, assertives occupied the first place. Within the speeches of one culture, we can find that the differences depended on the circumstances that surrounded the elections of the Presidents at the time. Speech acts were tools they used to convey what they wanted and to obtain support from their audiences.

Spontaneous regression of intracranial malignant lymphoma. Case report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kojo, Nobuto; Tokutomi, Takashi; Eguchi, Gihachirou; Takagi, Shigeyuki; Matsumoto, Tomie; Sasaguri, Yasuyuki; Shigemori, Minoru.

1988-05-01

In a 46-year-old female with a 1-month history of gait and speech disturbances, computed tomography (CT) demonstrated mass lesions of slightly high density in the left basal ganglia and left frontal lobe. The lesions were markedly enhanced by contrast medium. The patient received no specific treatment, but her clinical manifestations gradually abated and the lesions decreased in size. Five months after her initial examination, the lesions were absent on CT scans; only a small area of low density remained. Residual clinical symptoms included mild right hemiparesis and aphasia. After 14 months the patient again deteriorated, and a CT scan revealed mass lesions in the right frontal lobe and the pons. However, no enhancement was observed in the previously affected regions. A biopsy revealed malignant lymphoma. Despite treatment with steroids and radiation, the patient's clinical status progressively worsened and she died 27 months after initial presentation. Seven other cases of spontaneous regression of primary malignant lymphoma have been reported. In this case, the mechanism of the spontaneous regression was not clear, but changes in immunologic status may have been involved.

Tamsulosin modulates, but does not abolish the spontaneous activity in the guinea pig prostate gland.

Science.gov (United States)

Chakrabarty, Basu; Dey, Anupa; Lam, Michelle; Ventura, Sabatino; Exintaris, Betty

2015-06-01

To examine the effects of the α1A -adrenoceptor antagonist, tamsulosin, on spontaneous contractile and electrical activity in the guinea-pig prostate gland. The effects of tamsulosin (0.1 and 0.3 nM) were investigated in adult and ageing male guinea pig prostate glands using conventional tension recording and electrophysiological intracellular microelectrode recording techniques. Tamsulosin reduced spontaneous activity, and had different age-dependent effects on adult and ageing guinea pigs at different concentrations. 0.1 nM tamsulosin caused a significantly greater reduction of spontaneous contractile and electrical activity in ageing guinea pigs in comparison to adult guinea pigs. In contrast, 0.3 nM tamsulosin had a significantly greater reduction of spontaneous contractile and electrical activity in adult guinea pigs in comparison to ageing guinea pigs. This study demonstrates that tamsulosin can modulate spontaneous myogenic stromal contractility and the underlying spontaneous electrical activity; tamsulosin does not block spontaneous activity. This reduction in spontaneous activity suggests that downstream cellular mechanisms underlying smooth muscle tone are being targeted, and these may represent novel therapeutic targets to better treat benign prostatic hyperplasia. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Speech Problems

Science.gov (United States)

... Staying Safe Videos for Educators Search English Español Speech Problems KidsHealth / For Teens / Speech Problems What's in ... a person's ability to speak clearly. Some Common Speech and Language Disorders Stuttering is a problem that ...

Alternative Speech Communication System for Persons with Severe Speech Disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Selouani, Sid-Ahmed; Sidi Yakoub, Mohammed; O'Shaughnessy, Douglas

2009-12-01

Assistive speech-enabled systems are proposed to help both French and English speaking persons with various speech disorders. The proposed assistive systems use automatic speech recognition (ASR) and speech synthesis in order to enhance the quality of communication. These systems aim at improving the intelligibility of pathologic speech making it as natural as possible and close to the original voice of the speaker. The resynthesized utterances use new basic units, a new concatenating algorithm and a grafting technique to correct the poorly pronounced phonemes. The ASR responses are uttered by the new speech synthesis system in order to convey an intelligible message to listeners. Experiments involving four American speakers with severe dysarthria and two Acadian French speakers with sound substitution disorders (SSDs) are carried out to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed methods. An improvement of the Perceptual Evaluation of the Speech Quality (PESQ) value of 5% and more than 20% is achieved by the speech synthesis systems that deal with SSD and dysarthria, respectively.

A wireless brain-machine interface for real-time speech synthesis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frank H Guenther

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs involving electrodes implanted into the human cerebral cortex have recently been developed in an attempt to restore function to profoundly paralyzed individuals. Current BMIs for restoring communication can provide important capabilities via a typing process, but unfortunately they are only capable of slow communication rates. In the current study we use a novel approach to speech restoration in which we decode continuous auditory parameters for a real-time speech synthesizer from neuronal activity in motor cortex during attempted speech.Neural signals recorded by a Neurotrophic Electrode implanted in a speech-related region of the left precentral gyrus of a human volunteer suffering from locked-in syndrome, characterized by near-total paralysis with spared cognition, were transmitted wirelessly across the scalp and used to drive a speech synthesizer. A Kalman filter-based decoder translated the neural signals generated during attempted speech into continuous parameters for controlling a synthesizer that provided immediate (within 50 ms auditory feedback of the decoded sound. Accuracy of the volunteer's vowel productions with the synthesizer improved quickly with practice, with a 25% improvement in average hit rate (from 45% to 70% and 46% decrease in average endpoint error from the first to the last block of a three-vowel task.Our results support the feasibility of neural prostheses that may have the potential to provide near-conversational synthetic speech output for individuals with severely impaired speech motor control. They also provide an initial glimpse into the functional properties of neurons in speech motor cortical areas.

Strength Is in Numbers: Can Concordant Artificial Listeners Improve Prediction of Emotion from Speech?

Science.gov (United States)

Martinelli, Eugenio; Mencattini, Arianna; Daprati, Elena; Di Natale, Corrado

2016-01-01

Humans can communicate their emotions by modulating facial expressions or the tone of their voice. Albeit numerous applications exist that enable machines to read facial emotions and recognize the content of verbal messages, methods for speech emotion recognition are still in their infancy. Yet, fast and reliable applications for emotion recognition are the obvious advancement of present 'intelligent personal assistants', and may have countless applications in diagnostics, rehabilitation and research. Taking inspiration from the dynamics of human group decision-making, we devised a novel speech emotion recognition system that applies, for the first time, a semi-supervised prediction model based on consensus. Three tests were carried out to compare this algorithm with traditional approaches. Labeling performances relative to a public database of spontaneous speeches are reported. The novel system appears to be fast, robust and less computationally demanding than traditional methods, allowing for easier implementation in portable voice-analyzers (as used in rehabilitation, research, industry, etc.) and for applications in the research domain (such as real-time pairing of stimuli to participants' emotional state, selective/differential data collection based on emotional content, etc.).

Speech Motor Control in Fluent and Dysfluent Speech Production of an Individual with Apraxia of Speech and Broca's Aphasia

Science.gov (United States)

van Lieshout, Pascal H. H. M.; Bose, Arpita; Square, Paula A.; Steele, Catriona M.

2007-01-01

Apraxia of speech (AOS) is typically described as a motor-speech disorder with clinically well-defined symptoms, but without a clear understanding of the underlying problems in motor control. A number of studies have compared the speech of subjects with AOS to the fluent speech of controls, but only a few have included speech movement data and if…

Vowels in infant-directed speech: More breathy and more variable, but not clearer.

Science.gov (United States)

Miyazawa, Kouki; Shinya, Takahito; Martin, Andrew; Kikuchi, Hideaki; Mazuka, Reiko

2017-09-01

Infant-directed speech (IDS) is known to differ from adult-directed speech (ADS) in a number of ways, and it has often been argued that some of these IDS properties facilitate infants' acquisition of language. An influential study in support of this view is Kuhl et al. (1997), which found that vowels in IDS are produced with expanded first and second formants (F1/F2) on average, indicating that the vowels are acoustically further apart in IDS than in ADS. These results have been interpreted to mean that the way vowels are produced in IDS makes infants' task of learning vowel categories easier. The present paper revisits this interpretation by means of a thorough analysis of IDS vowels using a large-scale corpus of Japanese natural utterances. We will show that the expansion of F1/F2 values does occur in spontaneous IDS even when the vowels' prosodic position, lexical pitch accent, and lexical bias are accounted for. When IDS vowels are compared to carefully read speech (CS) by the same mothers, however, larger variability among IDS vowel tokens means that the acoustic distances among vowels are farther apart only in CS, but not in IDS when compared to ADS. Finally, we will show that IDS vowels are significantly more breathy than ADS or CS vowels. Taken together, our results demonstrate that even though expansion of formant values occurs in spontaneous IDS, this expansion cannot be interpreted as an indication that the acoustic distances among vowels are farther apart, as is the case in CS. Instead, we found that IDS vowels are characterized by breathy voice, which has been associated with the communication of emotional affect. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improving the teaching of children with severe speech-language difficulties by introducing an Authoring Concept Mapping Kit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kicken, Ria; Ernes, Elise; Hoogenberg-Engbers, Ilja

2016-01-01

The paper reports on case studies in which an Authoring Concept Mapping Kit was incorporated as a didactic tool in the teaching of children with severe speech-language difficulties. The Kit was introduced to replace methods such as topic webs, or complement others such as conversation exchange......’ practice has been transformed and improved. The children’s perspective on the topic comes through in the teachers’ opinions. Concept mapping turned out to enhance meaning negotiation, active inquiry and collaboration during teaching interactive learning language. Teachers reported that it had great impact...... on children’s language development, vocabulary and spontaneous speech, while it had minimal impact on the way activities were performed in everyday classes....

Communicative performance of adolescents with severe speech impairment: influence of context.

Science.gov (United States)

Dalton, B M; Bedrosian, J L

1989-08-01

The communicative performance of 4 preoperational-level adolescents, using limited speech, gestures, and communication board techniques, was examined in a two-part investigation. In Part 1, each subject participated in an academic interaction with a teacher in a therapy room. Data were transcribed and coded for communication mode, function, and role. Two subjects were found to predominantly use the speech mode, while the remaining 2 predominantly used board and one other mode. The majority of productions consisted of responses to requests, and the initiator role was infrequently occupied. These findings were similar to those reported in previous investigations conducted in classroom settings. In Part 2, another examination of the communicative performance of these subjects was conducted in spontaneous interactions involving speaking and nonspeaking peers in a therapy room. Using the same data analysis procedures, gesture and speech modes predominated for 3 of the subjects in the nonspeaking peer interactions. The remaining subject exhibited minimal interaction. No consistent pattern of mode usage was exhibited across the speaking peer interactions. In the nonspeaking peer interactions, request predominated. In contrast, a variety of communication functions was exhibited in the speaking peer interactions. Both the initiator and the maintainer roles were occupied in the majority of interactions. Pertinent variables and clinical implications are discussed.

Mechanisms of morphine enhancement of spontaneous seizure activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Saboory, Ehsan; Derchansky, Miron; Ismaili, Mohammed; Jahromi, Shokrollah S; Brull, Richard; Carlen, Peter L; El Beheiry, Hossam

2007-12-01

High-dose opioid therapy can precipitate seizures; however, the mechanism of such a dangerous adverse effect remains poorly understood. The aim of our study was to determine whether the neuroexcitatory activity of high-dose morphine is mediated by selective stimulation of opioid receptors. Mice hippocampi were resected intact and bathed in low magnesium artificial cerebrospinal fluid to induce spontaneous seizure-like events recorded from CA1 neurons. Application of morphine had a biphasic effect on the recorded spontaneous seizure-like events. In a low concentration (10 microM), morphine depressed electrographic seizure activity. Higher morphine concentrations (30 and 100 microM) enhanced seizure activity in an apparent dose-dependent manner. Naloxone, a nonselective opiate antagonist blocked the proconvulsant action of morphine. Selective mu and kappa opiate receptor agonists and antagonists enhanced and suppressed the spontaneous seizure activity, respectively. On the contrary, delta opioid receptor ligands did not have an effect. The proseizure effect of morphine is mediated through selective stimulation of mu and kappa opiate receptors but not the activation of the delta receptor system. The observed dose-dependent mechanism of morphine neuroexcitation underscores careful adjustment and individualized opioid dosing in the clinical setting.

Feasibility of automated speech sample collection with stuttering children using interactive voice response (IVR) technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogel, Adam P; Block, Susan; Kefalianos, Elaina; Onslow, Mark; Eadie, Patricia; Barth, Ben; Conway, Laura; Mundt, James C; Reilly, Sheena

2015-04-01

To investigate the feasibility of adopting automated interactive voice response (IVR) technology for remotely capturing standardized speech samples from stuttering children. Participants were 10 6-year-old stuttering children. Their parents called a toll-free number from their homes and were prompted to elicit speech from their children using a standard protocol involving conversation, picture description and games. The automated IVR system was implemented using an off-the-shelf telephony software program and delivered by a standard desktop computer. The software infrastructure utilizes voice over internet protocol. Speech samples were automatically recorded during the calls. Video recordings were simultaneously acquired in the home at the time of the call to evaluate the fidelity of the telephone collected samples. Key outcome measures included syllables spoken, percentage of syllables stuttered and an overall rating of stuttering severity using a 10-point scale. Data revealed a high level of relative reliability in terms of intra-class correlation between the video and telephone acquired samples on all outcome measures during the conversation task. Findings were less consistent for speech samples during picture description and games. Results suggest that IVR technology can be used successfully to automate remote capture of child speech samples.

Mismatch Negativity Responses in Children with a Diagnosis of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)

Science.gov (United States)

Froud, Karen; Khamis-Dakwar, Reem

2012-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate whether a hypothesis suggesting that apraxia of speech results from phonological overspecification could be relevant for childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Method: High-density EEG was recorded from 5 children with CAS and 5 matched controls, ages 5-8 years, with and without CAS, as they listened to randomized sequences of CV…

Does brain injury impair speech and gesture differently?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tilbe Göksun

2016-09-01

Full Text Available People often use spontaneous gestures when talking about space, such as when giving directions. In a recent study from our lab, we examined whether focal brain-injured individuals’ naming motion event components of manner and path (represented in English by verbs and prepositions, respectively are impaired selectively, and whether gestures compensate for impairment in speech. Left or right hemisphere damaged patients and elderly control participants were asked to describe motion events (e.g., walking around depicted in brief videos. Results suggest that producing verbs and prepositions can be separately impaired in the left hemisphere and gesture production compensates for naming impairments when damage involves specific areas in the left temporal cortex.

Acoustical conditions for speech communication in active elementary school classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Hiroshi; Bradley, John

2005-04-01

Detailed acoustical measurements were made in 34 active elementary school classrooms with typical rectangular room shape in schools near Ottawa, Canada. There was an average of 21 students in classrooms. The measurements were made to obtain accurate indications of the acoustical quality of conditions for speech communication during actual teaching activities. Mean speech and noise levels were determined from the distribution of recorded sound levels and the average speech-to-noise ratio was 11 dBA. Measured mid-frequency reverberation times (RT) during the same occupied conditions varied from 0.3 to 0.6 s, and were a little less than for the unoccupied rooms. RT values were not related to noise levels. Octave band speech and noise levels, useful-to-detrimental ratios, and Speech Transmission Index values were also determined. Key results included: (1) The average vocal effort of teachers corresponded to louder than Pearsons Raised voice level; (2) teachers increase their voice level to overcome ambient noise; (3) effective speech levels can be enhanced by up to 5 dB by early reflection energy; and (4) student activity is seen to be the dominant noise source, increasing average noise levels by up to 10 dBA during teaching activities. [Work supported by CLLRnet.

What does learner speech sound like? A case study on adult learners of isiXhosa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Badenhorst, Jaco

2016-12-01

Full Text Available moved during recording or by a sound/beep that results from the press of a button and an obstruction of the device microphone. • Low volume: Speech is too soft to understand what is being said. • Whispering: Speaker whispers during recording. • Laughter...-processing categories. If any of these categories were marked for a particular utterance, the utterance was discarded. The event categories were combined as follows: • Option 1: Empty, Whispering, Laughter, Background speech, Transcription mismatch • Option 2: Empty...

A tale of two hands: Children's early gesture use in narrative production predicts later narrative structure in speech

Science.gov (United States)

Demir, Özlem Ece; Levine, Susan C.; Goldin-Meadow, Susan

2014-01-01

Speakers of all ages spontaneously gesture as they talk. These gestures predict children's milestones in vocabulary and sentence structure. We ask whether gesture serves a similar role in the development of narrative skill. Children were asked to retell a story conveyed in a wordless cartoon at age 5 and then again at 6, 7, and 8. Children's narrative structure in speech improved across these ages. At age 5, many of the children expressed a character's viewpoint in gesture, and these children were more likely to tell better-structured stories at the later ages than children who did not produce character-viewpoint gestures at age 5. In contrast, framing narratives from a character's perspective in speech at age 5 did not predict later narrative structure in speech. Gesture thus continues to act as a harbinger of change even as it assumes new roles in relation to discourse. PMID:25088361

Speech recognition in individuals with sensorineural hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

de Andrade, Adriana Neves; Iorio, Maria Cecilia Martinelli; Gil, Daniela

2016-01-01

Hearing loss can negatively influence the communication performance of individuals, who should be evaluated with suitable material and in situations of listening close to those found in everyday life. To analyze and compare the performance of patients with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss in speech recognition tests carried out in silence and with noise, according to the variables ear (right and left) and type of stimulus presentation. The study included 19 right-handed individuals with mild-to-moderate symmetrical bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, submitted to the speech recognition test with words in different modalities and speech test with white noise and pictures. There was no significant difference between right and left ears in any of the tests. The mean number of correct responses in the speech recognition test with pictures, live voice, and recorded monosyllables was 97.1%, 85.9%, and 76.1%, respectively, whereas after the introduction of noise, the performance decreased to 72.6% accuracy. The best performances in the Speech Recognition Percentage Index were obtained using monosyllabic stimuli, represented by pictures presented in silence, with no significant differences between the right and left ears. After the introduction of competitive noise, there was a decrease in individuals' performance. Copyright © 2015 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

A record of spontaneous subduction initiation in the Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arculus, Richard J.; Ishizuka, Osamu; Bogus, Kara A.; Gurnis, Michael; Hickey-Vargas, Rosemary; Aljahdali, Mohammed H.; Bandini-Maeder, Alexandre N.; Barth, Andrew P.; Brandl, Philipp A.; Drab, Laureen; Do Monte Guerra, Rodrigo; Hamada, Morihisa; Jiang, Fuqing; Kanayama, Kyoko; Kender, Sev; Kusano, Yuki; Li, He; Loudin, Lorne C.; Maffione, Marco; Marsaglia, Kathleen M.; McCarthy, Anders; Meffre, Sebastién; Morris, Antony; Neuhaus, Martin; Savov, Ivan P.; Sena, Clara; Tepley, Frank J.; Van Der Land, Cees; Yogodzinski, Gene M.; Zhang, Zhaohui

2015-01-01

The initiation of tectonic plate subduction into the mantle is poorly understood. If subduction is induced by the push of a distant mid-ocean ridge or subducted slab pull, we expect compression and uplift of the overriding plate. In contrast, spontaneous subduction initiation, driven by subsidence

Enhancement of speech signals - with a focus on voiced speech models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørholm, Sidsel Marie

This thesis deals with speech enhancement, i.e., noise reduction in speech signals. This has applications in, e.g., hearing aids and teleconference systems. We consider a signal-driven approach to speech enhancement where a model of the speech is assumed and filters are generated based...... on this model. The basic model used in this thesis is the harmonic model which is a commonly used model for describing the voiced part of the speech signal. We show that it can be beneficial to extend the model to take inharmonicities or the non-stationarity of speech into account. Extending the model...

Spontaneous abortion and physical strain around implantation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjollund, N H; Jensen, Tina Kold; Bonde, Jens Peter

2000-01-01

pregnancy the women recorded physical strain prospectively in a structured diary. Physical strain around the time of implantation was associated with later spontaneous abortion. The adjusted risk ratio for women who reported physical strain higher than average at day 6 to 9 after the estimated date...

Intelligibility for Binaural Speech with Discarded Low-SNR Speech Components.

Science.gov (United States)

Schoenmaker, Esther; van de Par, Steven

2016-01-01

Speech intelligibility in multitalker settings improves when the target speaker is spatially separated from the interfering speakers. A factor that may contribute to this improvement is the improved detectability of target-speech components due to binaural interaction in analogy to the Binaural Masking Level Difference (BMLD). This would allow listeners to hear target speech components within specific time-frequency intervals that have a negative SNR, similar to the improvement in the detectability of a tone in noise when these contain disparate interaural difference cues. To investigate whether these negative-SNR target-speech components indeed contribute to speech intelligibility, a stimulus manipulation was performed where all target components were removed when local SNRs were smaller than a certain criterion value. It can be expected that for sufficiently high criterion values target speech components will be removed that do contribute to speech intelligibility. For spatially separated speakers, assuming that a BMLD-like detection advantage contributes to intelligibility, degradation in intelligibility is expected already at criterion values below 0 dB SNR. However, for collocated speakers it is expected that higher criterion values can be applied without impairing speech intelligibility. Results show that degradation of intelligibility for separated speakers is only seen for criterion values of 0 dB and above, indicating a negligible contribution of a BMLD-like detection advantage in multitalker settings. These results show that the spatial benefit is related to a spatial separation of speech components at positive local SNRs rather than to a BMLD-like detection improvement for speech components at negative local SNRs.

An experimental Dutch keyboard-to-speech system for the speech impaired

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Deliege, R.J.H.

1989-01-01

An experimental Dutch keyboard-to-speech system has been developed to explor the possibilities and limitations of Dutch speech synthesis in a communication aid for the speech impaired. The system uses diphones and a formant synthesizer chip for speech synthesis. Input to the system is in

Lovgoi kai; e[rga : Thucydides and His Speeches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregor Pobežin

2006-12-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with some problems posed by the study of speeches in Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, especially those that result from seeking the so-called historical truth. The historical value of the speeches, which show the unmistakable influence of forensic oratory, has been subject to various interpretations. The efforts seem to be epitomised by the search for an adequate explanation of the so-called “methodological” chapter 1.22, especially the sentence 1.22.1, which has been identified as the most crucial for a proper understanding of Thucydides' use of speeches: wJ~ dÆ a]n ejdovkoun moi e{kastoi peri; tw`n ajei; parovntwn ta; devonta mavlistÆ eijpei`n, ejcomevnw/ o{ti ejgguvtata th`~ xumpavsh~ gnwvmh~ tw`n ajlhqw`~ lecqevntwn, ou{tw~ ei[rhtai . It seems absolutely imperative that this sentence be understood as an authorial manifesto, a statement of the use and arrangement of speeches in the work. To deny the author even the minimum of historical ambition in the speeches included, thus reducing the entire account to a work of largely fictional value, seems highly inadequate. The paper therefore contends that, while there is no actual proof that the speeches available to the reader were recorded in their spoken form (in fact, judging from the term th`~ xumpavsh~ gnwvmh~ , their length may well have been adapted to the needs of a historical narrative, there is similarly no ground for denying their basic historical substance.

Personal Names in Children's Speech: The Process of Acquisition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Galina R. Dobrova

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the process of children’s understanding of the differences between proper and common names. The author emphasizes the role of the anthropocentric approach to personal names, especially when it is based on the study of the ontogenetic development of linguistic capacity focusing on the mechanisms of the formation of mental patterns of proper names, in particular — of personal names, and of their special linguistic status as (relatively “strict” designators. Analyzing recordings of children’s spontaneous speech and experimental data, the author argues that the study of the early stages of personal names acquisition, in comparison with the acquisition of common nouns, highlights such significant features of a child’s developing mind as the ability to distinguish between identifying and generalizing linguistic signs, to construct hyponym/hyperonym relations going from individual to the most generalized designations (from personal name to common nouns of different kinds, including relative, completely depending on the reference point, and reciprocal ones, e. g. kinship terms. Additionally, the author shows that the anthropocentric approach emphasizes such properties of personal names as their coreferentiality, relativity and their capacity to act as semiotic shifters as far as the choice of the form of a name depends on the social relations between the speaker and his addressee and their respective positions in the social hierarchy.

Speech Function and Speech Role in Carl Fredricksen's Dialogue on Up Movie

OpenAIRE

Rehana, Ridha; Silitonga, Sortha

2013-01-01

One aim of this article is to show through a concrete example how speech function and speech role used in movie. The illustrative example is taken from the dialogue of Up movie. Central to the analysis proper form of dialogue on Up movie that contain of speech function and speech role; i.e. statement, offer, question, command, giving, and demanding. 269 dialogue were interpreted by actor, and it was found that the use of speech function and speech role.

Eliciting extra prominence in read-speech tasks: The effects of different text-highlighting methods on acoustic cues to perceived prominence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berger, Stephanie; Niebuhr, Oliver; Fischer, Kerstin

2018-01-01

The research initiative Innovating Speech EliCitation Techniques (INSPECT) aims to describe and quantify how recording methods, situations and materials influence speech produc-tion in lab-speech experiments. On this basis, INSPECT aims to develop methods that reliably stimulate specific patterns...... and styles of speech, like expressive or conversational speech or different types emphatic accents. The present study investigates if and how different text highlighting methods (yellow background, bold, capital letter, italics, and underlining) make speakers reinforce the level of perceived prominence...

Acoustic-Emergent Phonology in the Amplitude Envelope of Child-Directed Speech.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victoria Leong

Full Text Available When acquiring language, young children may use acoustic spectro-temporal patterns in speech to derive phonological units in spoken language (e.g., prosodic stress patterns, syllables, phonemes. Children appear to learn acoustic-phonological mappings rapidly, without direct instruction, yet the underlying developmental mechanisms remain unclear. Across different languages, a relationship between amplitude envelope sensitivity and phonological development has been found, suggesting that children may make use of amplitude modulation (AM patterns within the envelope to develop a phonological system. Here we present the Spectral Amplitude Modulation Phase Hierarchy (S-AMPH model, a set of algorithms for deriving the dominant AM patterns in child-directed speech (CDS. Using Principal Components Analysis, we show that rhythmic CDS contains an AM hierarchy comprising 3 core modulation timescales. These timescales correspond to key phonological units: prosodic stress (Stress AM, ~2 Hz, syllables (Syllable AM, ~5 Hz and onset-rime units (Phoneme AM, ~20 Hz. We argue that these AM patterns could in principle be used by naïve listeners to compute acoustic-phonological mappings without lexical knowledge. We then demonstrate that the modulation statistics within this AM hierarchy indeed parse the speech signal into a primitive hierarchically-organised phonological system comprising stress feet (proto-words, syllables and onset-rime units. We apply the S-AMPH model to two other CDS corpora, one spontaneous and one deliberately-timed. The model accurately identified 72-82% (freely-read CDS and 90-98% (rhythmically-regular CDS stress patterns, syllables and onset-rime units. This in-principle demonstration that primitive phonology can be extracted from speech AMs is termed Acoustic-Emergent Phonology (AEP theory. AEP theory provides a set of methods for examining how early phonological development is shaped by the temporal modulation structure of speech across

Experimental comparison between speech transmission index, rapid speech transmission index, and speech intelligibility index.

Science.gov (United States)

Larm, Petra; Hongisto, Valtteri

2006-02-01

During the acoustical design of, e.g., auditoria or open-plan offices, it is important to know how speech can be perceived in various parts of the room. Different objective methods have been developed to measure and predict speech intelligibility, and these have been extensively used in various spaces. In this study, two such methods were compared, the speech transmission index (STI) and the speech intelligibility index (SII). Also the simplification of the STI, the room acoustics speech transmission index (RASTI), was considered. These quantities are all based on determining an apparent speech-to-noise ratio on selected frequency bands and summing them using a specific weighting. For comparison, some data were needed on the possible differences of these methods resulting from the calculation scheme and also measuring equipment. Their prediction accuracy was also of interest. Measurements were made in a laboratory having adjustable noise level and absorption, and in a real auditorium. It was found that the measurement equipment, especially the selection of the loudspeaker, can greatly affect the accuracy of the results. The prediction accuracy of the RASTI was found acceptable, if the input values for the prediction are accurately known, even though the studied space was not ideally diffuse.

Pattern Recognition Methods and Features Selection for Speech Emotion Recognition System.

Science.gov (United States)

Partila, Pavol; Voznak, Miroslav; Tovarek, Jaromir

2015-01-01

The impact of the classification method and features selection for the speech emotion recognition accuracy is discussed in this paper. Selecting the correct parameters in combination with the classifier is an important part of reducing the complexity of system computing. This step is necessary especially for systems that will be deployed in real-time applications. The reason for the development and improvement of speech emotion recognition systems is wide usability in nowadays automatic voice controlled systems. Berlin database of emotional recordings was used in this experiment. Classification accuracy of artificial neural networks, k-nearest neighbours, and Gaussian mixture model is measured considering the selection of prosodic, spectral, and voice quality features. The purpose was to find an optimal combination of methods and group of features for stress detection in human speech. The research contribution lies in the design of the speech emotion recognition system due to its accuracy and efficiency.

Speech to Text Translation for Malay Language

Science.gov (United States)

Al-khulaidi, Rami Ali; Akmeliawati, Rini

2017-11-01

The speech recognition system is a front end and a back-end process that receives an audio signal uttered by a speaker and converts it into a text transcription. The speech system can be used in several fields including: therapeutic technology, education, social robotics and computer entertainments. In most cases in control tasks, which is the purpose of proposing our system, wherein the speed of performance and response concern as the system should integrate with other controlling platforms such as in voiced controlled robots. Therefore, the need for flexible platforms, that can be easily edited to jibe with functionality of the surroundings, came to the scene; unlike other software programs that require recording audios and multiple training for every entry such as MATLAB and Phoenix. In this paper, a speech recognition system for Malay language is implemented using Microsoft Visual Studio C#. 90 (ninety) Malay phrases were tested by 10 (ten) speakers from both genders in different contexts. The result shows that the overall accuracy (calculated from Confusion Matrix) is satisfactory as it is 92.69%.

Vocal Performance and Speech Intonation: Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Daley

2007-03-01

Full Text Available This article proposes a linguistic analysis of a recorded performance of a single verse of one of Dylan’s most popular songs—the originally released studio recording of “Like A Rolling Stone”—and describes more specifically the ways in which intonation relates to lyrics and performance. This analysis is used as source material for a close reading of the semantic, affective, and “playful” meanings of the performance, and is compared with some published accounts of the song’s reception. The author has drawn on the linguistic methodology formulated by Michael Halliday, who has found speech intonation (which includes pitch movement, timbre, syllabic rhythm, and loudness to be an integral part of English grammar and crucial to the transmission of certain kinds of meaning. Speech intonation is a deeply-rooted and powerfully meaningful aspect of human communication. This article argues that is plausible that a system so powerful in speech might have some bearing on the communication of meaning in sung performance.

Intelligibility of speech of children with speech and sound disorders

OpenAIRE

Ivetac, Tina

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine speech intelligibility of children with primary speech and sound disorders aged 3 to 6 years in everyday life. The research problem is based on the degree to which parents or guardians, immediate family members (sister, brother, grandparents), extended family members (aunt, uncle, cousin), child's friends, other acquaintances, child's teachers and strangers understand the speech of children with speech sound disorders. We examined whether the level ...

Speech disorders - children

Science.gov (United States)

... disorder; Voice disorders; Vocal disorders; Disfluency; Communication disorder - speech disorder; Speech disorder - stuttering ... evaluation tools that can help identify and diagnose speech disorders: Denver Articulation Screening Examination Goldman-Fristoe Test of ...

The Effect of Noise on Relationships Between Speech Intelligibility and Self-Reported Communication Measures in Tracheoesophageal Speakers.

Science.gov (United States)

Eadie, Tanya L; Otero, Devon Sawin; Bolt, Susan; Kapsner-Smith, Mara; Sullivan, Jessica R

2016-08-01

The purpose of this study was to examine how sentence intelligibility relates to self-reported communication in tracheoesophageal speakers when speech intelligibility is measured in quiet and noise. Twenty-four tracheoesophageal speakers who were at least 1 year postlaryngectomy provided audio recordings of 5 sentences from the Sentence Intelligibility Test. Speakers also completed self-reported measures of communication-the Voice Handicap Index-10 and the Communicative Participation Item Bank short form. Speech recordings were presented to 2 groups of inexperienced listeners who heard sentences in quiet or noise. Listeners transcribed the sentences to yield speech intelligibility scores. Very weak relationships were found between intelligibility in quiet and measures of voice handicap and communicative participation. Slightly stronger, but still weak and nonsignificant, relationships were observed between measures of intelligibility in noise and both self-reported measures. However, 12 speakers who were more than 65% intelligible in noise showed strong and statistically significant relationships with both self-reported measures (R2 = .76-.79). Speech intelligibility in quiet is a weak predictor of self-reported communication measures in tracheoesophageal speakers. Speech intelligibility in noise may be a better metric of self-reported communicative function for speakers who demonstrate higher speech intelligibility in noise.

Cortical Representations of Speech in a Multitalker Auditory Scene.

Science.gov (United States)

Puvvada, Krishna C; Simon, Jonathan Z

2017-09-20

The ability to parse a complex auditory scene into perceptual objects is facilitated by a hierarchical auditory system. Successive stages in the hierarchy transform an auditory scene of multiple overlapping sources, from peripheral tonotopically based representations in the auditory nerve, into perceptually distinct auditory-object-based representations in the auditory cortex. Here, using magnetoencephalography recordings from men and women, we investigate how a complex acoustic scene consisting of multiple speech sources is represented in distinct hierarchical stages of the auditory cortex. Using systems-theoretic methods of stimulus reconstruction, we show that the primary-like areas in the auditory cortex contain dominantly spectrotemporal-based representations of the entire auditory scene. Here, both attended and ignored speech streams are represented with almost equal fidelity, and a global representation of the full auditory scene with all its streams is a better candidate neural representation than that of individual streams being represented separately. We also show that higher-order auditory cortical areas, by contrast, represent the attended stream separately and with significantly higher fidelity than unattended streams. Furthermore, the unattended background streams are more faithfully represented as a single unsegregated background object rather than as separated objects. Together, these findings demonstrate the progression of the representations and processing of a complex acoustic scene up through the hierarchy of the human auditory cortex. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Using magnetoencephalography recordings from human listeners in a simulated cocktail party environment, we investigate how a complex acoustic scene consisting of multiple speech sources is represented in separate hierarchical stages of the auditory cortex. We show that the primary-like areas in the auditory cortex use a dominantly spectrotemporal-based representation of the entire auditory

A gravimetric method for the measurement of total spontaneous activity in rats.

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Biesiadecki, B J; Brand, P H; Koch, L G; Britton, S L

1999-10-01

Currently available methods for the measurement of spontaneous activity of laboratory animals require expensive, specialized equipment and may not be suitable for use in low light conditions with nocturnal species. We developed a gravimetric method that uses common laboratory equipment to quantify the total spontaneous activity of rats and is suitable for use in the dark. The rat in its home cage is placed on a top-loading electronic balance interfaced to a computer. Movements are recorded by the balance as changes in weight and transmitted to the computer at 10 Hz. Data are analyzed on-line to derive the absolute value of the difference in weight between consecutive samples, and the one-second average of the absolute values is calculated. The averages are written to file for off-line analysis and summed over the desired observation period to provide a measure of total spontaneous activity. The results of in vitro experiments demonstrated that: 1) recorded weight changes were not influenced by position of the weight on the bottom of the cage, 2) values recorded from a series of weight changes were not significantly different from the calculated values, 3) the constantly decreasing force exerted by a swinging pendulum placed on the balance was accurately recorded, 4) the measurement of activity was not influenced by the evaporation of a fluid such as urine, and 5) the method can detect differences in the activity of sleeping and waking rats over a 10-min period, as well as during 4-hr intervals recorded during active (night-time) and inactive (daytime) periods. These results demonstrate that this method provides an inexpensive, accurate, and noninvasive method to quantitate the spontaneous activity of small animals.

Electrophysiological Correlates of Semantic Dissimilarity Reflect the Comprehension of Natural, Narrative Speech.

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Broderick, Michael P; Anderson, Andrew J; Di Liberto, Giovanni M; Crosse, Michael J; Lalor, Edmund C

2018-03-05

People routinely hear and understand speech at rates of 120-200 words per minute [1, 2]. Thus, speech comprehension must involve rapid, online neural mechanisms that process words' meanings in an approximately time-locked fashion. However, electrophysiological evidence for such time-locked processing has been lacking for continuous speech. Although valuable insights into semantic processing have been provided by the "N400 component" of the event-related potential [3-6], this literature has been dominated by paradigms using incongruous words within specially constructed sentences, with less emphasis on natural, narrative speech comprehension. Building on the discovery that cortical activity "tracks" the dynamics of running speech [7-9] and psycholinguistic work demonstrating [10-12] and modeling [13-15] how context impacts on word processing, we describe a new approach for deriving an electrophysiological correlate of natural speech comprehension. We used a computational model [16] to quantify the meaning carried by words based on how semantically dissimilar they were to their preceding context and then regressed this measure against electroencephalographic (EEG) data recorded from subjects as they listened to narrative speech. This produced a prominent negativity at a time lag of 200-600 ms on centro-parietal EEG channels, characteristics common to the N400. Applying this approach to EEG datasets involving time-reversed speech, cocktail party attention, and audiovisual speech-in-noise demonstrated that this response was very sensitive to whether or not subjects understood the speech they heard. These findings demonstrate that, when successfully comprehending natural speech, the human brain responds to the contextual semantic content of each word in a relatively time-locked fashion. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abnormal speech spectrum and increased pitch variability in young autistic children

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Yoram S Bonneh

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD who can speak often exhibit abnormal voice quality and speech prosody, but the exact nature and underlying mechanisms of these abnormalities, as well as their diagnostic power are currently unknown. Here we quantified speech abnormalities in terms of the properties of the long-term average spectrum (LTAS and pitch variability in speech samples of 83 children (41 with ASD, 42 controls ages 4-6.5 years, recorded while they named a sequence of daily-life pictures for 60 sec. We found a significant difference in the group’s average spectra, with ASD spectra being shallower and exhibiting less harmonic structure. Contrary to the common impression of monotonic speech in autism, the ASD children had a significantly larger pitch range and variability across time. A measure of this variability, optimally tuned for the sample, yielded 86% success (90% specificity, 80% sensitivity in classifying ASD in the sample. These results indicate that speech abnormalities in ASD are reflected in its spectral content and pitch variability. This variability could imply abnormal processing of auditory feedback or elevated noise and instability in the mechanisms that control pitch. The current results are a first step towards developing speech-spectrum-based bio-markers for early diagnosis of ASD.

Electrophysiological evidence for a self-processing advantage during audiovisual speech integration.

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Treille, Avril; Vilain, Coriandre; Kandel, Sonia; Sato, Marc

2017-09-01

Previous electrophysiological studies have provided strong evidence for early multisensory integrative mechanisms during audiovisual speech perception. From these studies, one unanswered issue is whether hearing our own voice and seeing our own articulatory gestures facilitate speech perception, possibly through a better processing and integration of sensory inputs with our own sensory-motor knowledge. The present EEG study examined the impact of self-knowledge during the perception of auditory (A), visual (V) and audiovisual (AV) speech stimuli that were previously recorded from the participant or from a speaker he/she had never met. Audiovisual interactions were estimated by comparing N1 and P2 auditory evoked potentials during the bimodal condition (AV) with the sum of those observed in the unimodal conditions (A + V). In line with previous EEG studies, our results revealed an amplitude decrease of P2 auditory evoked potentials in AV compared to A + V conditions. Crucially, a temporal facilitation of N1 responses was observed during the visual perception of self speech movements compared to those of another speaker. This facilitation was negatively correlated with the saliency of visual stimuli. These results provide evidence for a temporal facilitation of the integration of auditory and visual speech signals when the visual situation involves our own speech gestures.

Acoustic Changes in the Speech of Children with Cerebral Palsy Following an Intensive Program of Dysarthria Therapy

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Pennington, Lindsay; Lombardo, Eftychia; Steen, Nick; Miller, Nick

2018-01-01

Background: The speech intelligibility of children with dysarthria and cerebral palsy has been observed to increase following therapy focusing on respiration and phonation. Aims: To determine if speech intelligibility change following intervention is associated with change in acoustic measures of voice. Methods & Procedures: We recorded 16…

Strength Is in Numbers: Can Concordant Artificial Listeners Improve Prediction of Emotion from Speech?

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Eugenio Martinelli

Full Text Available Humans can communicate their emotions by modulating facial expressions or the tone of their voice. Albeit numerous applications exist that enable machines to read facial emotions and recognize the content of verbal messages, methods for speech emotion recognition are still in their infancy. Yet, fast and reliable applications for emotion recognition are the obvious advancement of present 'intelligent personal assistants', and may have countless applications in diagnostics, rehabilitation and research. Taking inspiration from the dynamics of human group decision-making, we devised a novel speech emotion recognition system that applies, for the first time, a semi-supervised prediction model based on consensus. Three tests were carried out to compare this algorithm with traditional approaches. Labeling performances relative to a public database of spontaneous speeches are reported. The novel system appears to be fast, robust and less computationally demanding than traditional methods, allowing for easier implementation in portable voice-analyzers (as used in rehabilitation, research, industry, etc. and for applications in the research domain (such as real-time pairing of stimuli to participants' emotional state, selective/differential data collection based on emotional content, etc..

The development of co-speech gesture and its semantic integration with speech in 6- to 12-year-old children with autism spectrum disorders.

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So, Wing-Chee; Wong, Miranda Kit-Yi; Lui, Ming; Yip, Virginia

2015-11-01

Previous work leaves open the question of whether children with autism spectrum disorders aged 6-12 years have delay in producing gestures compared to their typically developing peers. This study examined gestural production among school-aged children in a naturalistic context and how their gestures are semantically related to the accompanying speech. Delay in gestural production was found in children with autism spectrum disorders through their middle to late childhood. Compared to their typically developing counterparts, children with autism spectrum disorders gestured less often and used fewer types of gestures, in particular markers, which carry culture-specific meaning. Typically developing children's gestural production was related to language and cognitive skills, but among children with autism spectrum disorders, gestural production was more strongly related to the severity of socio-communicative impairment. Gesture impairment also included the failure to integrate speech with gesture: in particular, supplementary gestures are absent in children with autism spectrum disorders. The findings extend our understanding of gestural production in school-aged children with autism spectrum disorders during spontaneous interaction. The results can help guide new therapies for gestural production for children with autism spectrum disorders in middle and late childhood. © The Author(s) 2014.

Pattern Recognition Methods and Features Selection for Speech Emotion Recognition System

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Pavol Partila

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The impact of the classification method and features selection for the speech emotion recognition accuracy is discussed in this paper. Selecting the correct parameters in combination with the classifier is an important part of reducing the complexity of system computing. This step is necessary especially for systems that will be deployed in real-time applications. The reason for the development and improvement of speech emotion recognition systems is wide usability in nowadays automatic voice controlled systems. Berlin database of emotional recordings was used in this experiment. Classification accuracy of artificial neural networks, k-nearest neighbours, and Gaussian mixture model is measured considering the selection of prosodic, spectral, and voice quality features. The purpose was to find an optimal combination of methods and group of features for stress detection in human speech. The research contribution lies in the design of the speech emotion recognition system due to its accuracy and efficiency.

Effects of Time-Compressed Speech Training on Multiple Functional and Structural Neural Mechanisms Involving the Left Superior Temporal Gyrus.

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Maruyama, Tsukasa; Takeuchi, Hikaru; Taki, Yasuyuki; Motoki, Kosuke; Jeong, Hyeonjeong; Kotozaki, Yuka; Nakagawa, Seishu; Nouchi, Rui; Iizuka, Kunio; Yokoyama, Ryoichi; Yamamoto, Yuki; Hanawa, Sugiko; Araki, Tsuyoshi; Sakaki, Kohei; Sasaki, Yukako; Magistro, Daniele; Kawashima, Ryuta

2018-01-01

Time-compressed speech is an artificial form of rapidly presented speech. Training with time-compressed speech (TCSSL) in a second language leads to adaptation toward TCSSL. Here, we newly investigated the effects of 4 weeks of training with TCSSL on diverse cognitive functions and neural systems using the fractional amplitude of spontaneous low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) with the left superior temporal gyrus (STG), fractional anisotropy (FA), and regional gray matter volume (rGMV) of young adults by magnetic resonance imaging. There were no significant differences in change of performance of measures of cognitive functions or second language skills after training with TCSSL compared with that of the active control group. However, compared with the active control group, training with TCSSL was associated with increased fALFF, RSFC, and FA and decreased rGMV involving areas in the left STG. These results lacked evidence of a far transfer effect of time-compressed speech training on a wide range of cognitive functions and second language skills in young adults. However, these results demonstrated effects of time-compressed speech training on gray and white matter structures as well as on resting-state intrinsic activity and connectivity involving the left STG, which plays a key role in listening comprehension.

Human Superior Temporal Gyrus Organization of Spectrotemporal Modulation Tuning Derived from Speech Stimuli.

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Hullett, Patrick W; Hamilton, Liberty S; Mesgarani, Nima; Schreiner, Christoph E; Chang, Edward F

2016-02-10

The human superior temporal gyrus (STG) is critical for speech perception, yet the organization of spectrotemporal processing of speech within the STG is not well understood. Here, to characterize the spatial organization of spectrotemporal processing of speech across human STG, we use high-density cortical surface field potential recordings while participants listened to natural continuous speech. While synthetic broad-band stimuli did not yield sustained activation of the STG, spectrotemporal receptive fields could be reconstructed from vigorous responses to speech stimuli. We find that the human STG displays a robust anterior-posterior spatial distribution of spectrotemporal tuning in which the posterior STG is tuned for temporally fast varying speech sounds that have relatively constant energy across the frequency axis (low spectral modulation) while the anterior STG is tuned for temporally slow varying speech sounds that have a high degree of spectral variation across the frequency axis (high spectral modulation). This work illustrates organization of spectrotemporal processing in the human STG, and illuminates processing of ethologically relevant speech signals in a region of the brain specialized for speech perception. Considerable evidence has implicated the human superior temporal gyrus (STG) in speech processing. However, the gross organization of spectrotemporal processing of speech within the STG is not well characterized. Here we use natural speech stimuli and advanced receptive field characterization methods to show that spectrotemporal features within speech are well organized along the posterior-to-anterior axis of the human STG. These findings demonstrate robust functional organization based on spectrotemporal modulation content, and illustrate that much of the encoded information in the STG represents the physical acoustic properties of speech stimuli. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/362014-13$15.00/0.

The effect of viewing speech on auditory speech processing is different in the left and right hemispheres.

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Davis, Chris; Kislyuk, Daniel; Kim, Jeesun; Sams, Mikko

2008-11-25

We used whole-head magnetoencephalograpy (MEG) to record changes in neuromagnetic N100m responses generated in the left and right auditory cortex as a function of the match between visual and auditory speech signals. Stimuli were auditory-only (AO) and auditory-visual (AV) presentations of /pi/, /ti/ and /vi/. Three types of intensity matched auditory stimuli were used: intact speech (Normal), frequency band filtered speech (Band) and speech-shaped white noise (Noise). The behavioural task was to detect the /vi/ syllables which comprised 12% of stimuli. N100m responses were measured to averaged /pi/ and /ti/ stimuli. Behavioural data showed that identification of the stimuli was faster and more accurate for Normal than for Band stimuli, and for Band than for Noise stimuli. Reaction times were faster for AV than AO stimuli. MEG data showed that in the left hemisphere, N100m to both AO and AV stimuli was largest for the Normal, smaller for Band and smallest for Noise stimuli. In the right hemisphere, Normal and Band AO stimuli elicited N100m responses of quite similar amplitudes, but N100m amplitude to Noise was about half of that. There was a reduction in N100m for the AV compared to the AO conditions. The size of this reduction for each stimulus type was same in the left hemisphere but graded in the right (being largest to the Normal, smaller to the Band and smallest to the Noise stimuli). The N100m decrease for the Normal stimuli was significantly larger in the right than in the left hemisphere. We suggest that the effect of processing visual speech seen in the right hemisphere likely reflects suppression of the auditory response based on AV cues for place of articulation.

Conversation electrified: ERP correlates of speech act recognition in underspecified utterances.

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Rosa S Gisladottir

Full Text Available The ability to recognize speech acts (verbal actions in conversation is critical for everyday interaction. However, utterances are often underspecified for the speech act they perform, requiring listeners to rely on the context to recognize the action. The goal of this study was to investigate the time-course of auditory speech act recognition in action-underspecified utterances and explore how sequential context (the prior action impacts this process. We hypothesized that speech acts are recognized early in the utterance to allow for quick transitions between turns in conversation. Event-related potentials (ERPs were recorded while participants listened to spoken dialogues and performed an action categorization task. The dialogues contained target utterances that each of which could deliver three distinct speech acts depending on the prior turn. The targets were identical across conditions, but differed in the type of speech act performed and how it fit into the larger action sequence. The ERP results show an early effect of action type, reflected by frontal positivities as early as 200 ms after target utterance onset. This indicates that speech act recognition begins early in the turn when the utterance has only been partially processed. Providing further support for early speech act recognition, actions in highly constraining contexts did not elicit an ERP effect to the utterance-final word. We take this to show that listeners can recognize the action before the final word through predictions at the speech act level. However, additional processing based on the complete utterance is required in more complex actions, as reflected by a posterior negativity at the final word when the speech act is in a less constraining context and a new action sequence is initiated. These findings demonstrate that sentence comprehension in conversational contexts crucially involves recognition of verbal action which begins as soon as it can.

Auditory cortex processes variation in our own speech.

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Kevin R Sitek

Full Text Available As we talk, we unconsciously adjust our speech to ensure it sounds the way we intend it to sound. However, because speech production involves complex motor planning and execution, no two utterances of the same sound will be exactly the same. Here, we show that auditory cortex is sensitive to natural variations in self-produced speech from utterance to utterance. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs from ninety-nine subjects while they uttered "ah" and while they listened to those speech sounds played back. Subjects' utterances were sorted based on their formant deviations from the previous utterance. Typically, the N1 ERP component is suppressed during talking compared to listening. By comparing ERPs to the least and most variable utterances, we found that N1 was less suppressed to utterances that differed greatly from their preceding neighbors. In contrast, an utterance's difference from the median formant values did not affect N1. Trial-to-trial pitch (f0 deviation and pitch difference from the median similarly did not affect N1. We discuss mechanisms that may underlie the change in N1 suppression resulting from trial-to-trial formant change. Deviant utterances require additional auditory cortical processing, suggesting that speaking-induced suppression mechanisms are optimally tuned for a specific production.

Auditory Cortex Processes Variation in Our Own Speech

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Sitek, Kevin R.; Mathalon, Daniel H.; Roach, Brian J.; Houde, John F.; Niziolek, Caroline A.; Ford, Judith M.

2013-01-01

As we talk, we unconsciously adjust our speech to ensure it sounds the way we intend it to sound. However, because speech production involves complex motor planning and execution, no two utterances of the same sound will be exactly the same. Here, we show that auditory cortex is sensitive to natural variations in self-produced speech from utterance to utterance. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) from ninety-nine subjects while they uttered “ah” and while they listened to those speech sounds played back. Subjects' utterances were sorted based on their formant deviations from the previous utterance. Typically, the N1 ERP component is suppressed during talking compared to listening. By comparing ERPs to the least and most variable utterances, we found that N1 was less suppressed to utterances that differed greatly from their preceding neighbors. In contrast, an utterance's difference from the median formant values did not affect N1. Trial-to-trial pitch (f0) deviation and pitch difference from the median similarly did not affect N1. We discuss mechanisms that may underlie the change in N1 suppression resulting from trial-to-trial formant change. Deviant utterances require additional auditory cortical processing, suggesting that speaking-induced suppression mechanisms are optimally tuned for a specific production. PMID:24349399

Longitudinal decline in speech production in Parkinson's disease spectrum disorders.

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Ash, Sharon; Jester, Charles; York, Collin; Kofman, Olga L; Langey, Rachel; Halpin, Amy; Firn, Kim; Dominguez Perez, Sophia; Chahine, Lama; Spindler, Meredith; Dahodwala, Nabila; Irwin, David J; McMillan, Corey; Weintraub, Daniel; Grossman, Murray

2017-08-01

We examined narrative speech production longitudinally in non-demented (n=15) and mildly demented (n=8) patients with Parkinson's disease spectrum disorder (PDSD), and we related increasing impairment to structural brain changes in specific language and motor regions. Patients provided semi-structured speech samples, describing a standardized picture at two time points (mean±SD interval=38±24months). The recorded speech samples were analyzed for fluency, grammar, and informativeness. PDSD patients with dementia exhibited significant decline in their speech, unrelated to changes in overall cognitive or motor functioning. Regression analysis in a subset of patients with MRI scans (n=11) revealed that impaired language performance at Time 2 was associated with reduced gray matter (GM) volume at Time 1 in regions of interest important for language functioning but not with reduced GM volume in motor brain areas. These results dissociate language and motor systems and highlight the importance of non-motor brain regions for declining language in PDSD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Recurrence rate after thoracoscopic surgery for primary spontaneous pneumothorax.

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Dagnegård, Hanna H; Rosén, Alice; Sartipy, Ulrik; Bergman, Per

2017-08-01

There is an on-going discussion regarding the recurrence rate after surgery for primary spontaneous pneumothorax by video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) or by thoracotomy access. This study aimed to describe the recurrence rate, and to identify a possible learning curve, following surgery for primary spontaneous pneumothorax by VATS. All patients who underwent surgery for primary spontaneous pneumothorax by VATS at Karolinska University Hospital 2004-2013 were reviewed. Preoperative and operative characteristics were obtained from medical records. Patients were followed-up through telephone interviews or questionnaires and by review of medical records. The primary outcome of interest was time to recurrence of pneumothorax requiring intervention. Outcomes were compared between patients operated during 2004-June 2010 and July 2010-2013. 219 patients who underwent 234 consecutive procedures were included. The mean follow-up times were 6.3 and 2.9 years in the early and late period, respectively. The postoperative recurrence rate in the early period was 16% (11%-25%), 18% (12%-27%), and 18% (12%-27%), at 1, 3 and 5 years, compared to 1.7% (0.4%-6.8%), 7.6% (3.7%-15%), and 9.8% (4.8%-19%) at 1, 3 and 5 years, in the late period (p = 0.016). We found that the recurrence rate after thoracoscopic surgery for primary spontaneous pneumothorax decreased significantly during the study period. Our results strongly suggest that thoracoscopic surgery for pneumothorax involve a substantial learning curve.

Recording voiceover the spoken word in media

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Blakemore, Tom

2015-01-01

The only book on the market to specifically address its audience, Recording Voiceover is the comprehensive guide for engineers looking to understand the aspects of capturing the spoken word.Discussing all phases of the recording session, Recording Voiceover addresses everything from microphone recommendations for voice recording to pre-production considerations, including setting up the studio, working with and directing the voice talent, and strategies for reducing or eliminating distracting noise elements found in human speech.Recording Voiceover features in-depth, specific recommendations f

Training to Improve Hearing Speech in Noise: Biological Mechanisms

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Song, Judy H.; Skoe, Erika; Banai, Karen

2012-01-01

We investigated training-related improvements in listening in noise and the biological mechanisms mediating these improvements. Training-related malleability was examined using a program that incorporates cognitively based listening exercises to improve speech-in-noise perception. Before and after training, auditory brainstem responses to a speech syllable were recorded in quiet and multitalker noise from adults who ranged in their speech-in-noise perceptual ability. Controls did not undergo training but were tested at intervals equivalent to the trained subjects. Trained subjects exhibited significant improvements in speech-in-noise perception that were retained 6 months later. Subcortical responses in noise demonstrated training-related enhancements in the encoding of pitch-related cues (the fundamental frequency and the second harmonic), particularly for the time-varying portion of the syllable that is most vulnerable to perceptual disruption (the formant transition region). Subjects with the largest strength of pitch encoding at pretest showed the greatest perceptual improvement. Controls exhibited neither neurophysiological nor perceptual changes. We provide the first demonstration that short-term training can improve the neural representation of cues important for speech-in-noise perception. These results implicate and delineate biological mechanisms contributing to learning success, and they provide a conceptual advance to our understanding of the kind of training experiences that can influence sensory processing in adulthood. PMID:21799207

Detection of Clinical Depression in Adolescents’ Speech During Family Interactions

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Low, Lu-Shih Alex; Maddage, Namunu C.; Lech, Margaret; Sheeber, Lisa B.; Allen, Nicholas B.

2013-01-01

The properties of acoustic speech have previously been investigated as possible cues for depression in adults. However, these studies were restricted to small populations of patients and the speech recordings were made during patients’ clinical interviews or fixed-text reading sessions. Symptoms of depression often first appear during adolescence at a time when the voice is changing, in both males and females, suggesting that specific studies of these phenomena in adolescent populations are warranted. This study investigated acoustic correlates of depression in a large sample of 139 adolescents (68 clinically depressed and 71 controls). Speech recordings were made during naturalistic interactions between adolescents and their parents. Prosodic, cepstral, spectral, and glottal features, as well as features derived from the Teager energy operator (TEO), were tested within a binary classification framework. Strong gender differences in classification accuracy were observed. The TEO-based features clearly outperformed all other features and feature combinations, providing classification accuracy ranging between 81%–87% for males and 72%–79% for females. Close, but slightly less accurate, results were obtained by combining glottal features with prosodic and spectral features (67%–69% for males and 70%–75% for females). These findings indicate the importance of nonlinear mechanisms associated with the glottal flow formation as cues for clinical depression. PMID:21075715

Listeners Experience Linguistic Masking Release in Noise-Vocoded Speech-in-Speech Recognition

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Viswanathan, Navin; Kokkinakis, Kostas; Williams, Brittany T.

2018-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether listeners with normal hearing perceiving noise-vocoded speech-in-speech demonstrate better intelligibility of target speech when the background speech was mismatched in language (linguistic release from masking [LRM]) and/or location (spatial release from masking [SRM]) relative to the…

Hierarchical organization in the temporal structure of infant-direct speech and song.

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Falk, Simone; Kello, Christopher T

2017-06-01

Caregivers alter the temporal structure of their utterances when talking and singing to infants compared with adult communication. The present study tested whether temporal variability in infant-directed registers serves to emphasize the hierarchical temporal structure of speech. Fifteen German-speaking mothers sang a play song and told a story to their 6-months-old infants, or to an adult. Recordings were analyzed using a recently developed method that determines the degree of nested clustering of temporal events in speech. Events were defined as peaks in the amplitude envelope, and clusters of various sizes related to periods of acoustic speech energy at varying timescales. Infant-directed speech and song clearly showed greater event clustering compared with adult-directed registers, at multiple timescales of hundreds of milliseconds to tens of seconds. We discuss the relation of this newly discovered acoustic property to temporal variability in linguistic units and its potential implications for parent-infant communication and infants learning the hierarchical structures of speech and language. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Speech rhythm alterations in Spanish-speaking individuals with Alzheimer's disease.

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Martínez-Sánchez, Francisco; Meilán, Juan J G; Vera-Ferrandiz, Juan Antonio; Carro, Juan; Pujante-Valverde, Isabel M; Ivanova, Olga; Carcavilla, Nuria

2017-07-01

Rhythm is the speech property related to the temporal organization of sounds. Considerable evidence is now available for suggesting that dementia of Alzheimer's type is associated with impairments in speech rhythm. The aim of this study is to assess the use of an automatic computerized system for measuring speech rhythm characteristics in an oral reading task performed by 45 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) compared with those same characteristics among 82 healthy older adults without a diagnosis of dementia, and matched by age, sex and cultural background. Ranges of rhythmic-metric and clinical measurements were applied. The results show rhythmic differences between the groups, with higher variability of syllabic intervals in AD patients. Signal processing algorithms applied to oral reading recordings prove to be capable of differentiating between AD patients and older adults without dementia with an accuracy of 87% (specificity 81.7%, sensitivity 82.2%), based on the standard deviation of the duration of syllabic intervals. Experimental results show that the syllabic variability measurements extracted from the speech signal can be used to distinguish between older adults without a diagnosis of dementia and those with AD, and may be useful as a tool for the objective study and quantification of speech deficits in AD.

Emerging technologies with potential for objectively evaluating speech recognition skills.

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Rawool, Vishakha Waman

2016-01-01

Work-related exposure to noise and other ototoxins can cause damage to the cochlea, synapses between the inner hair cells, the auditory nerve fibers, and higher auditory pathways, leading to difficulties in recognizing speech. Procedures designed to determine speech recognition scores (SRS) in an objective manner can be helpful in disability compensation cases where the worker claims to have poor speech perception due to exposure to noise or ototoxins. Such measures can also be helpful in determining SRS in individuals who cannot provide reliable responses to speech stimuli, including patients with Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injuries, and infants with and without hearing loss. Cost-effective neural monitoring hardware and software is being rapidly refined due to the high demand for neurogaming (games involving the use of brain-computer interfaces), health, and other applications. More specifically, two related advances in neuro-technology include relative ease in recording neural activity and availability of sophisticated analysing techniques. These techniques are reviewed in the current article and their applications for developing objective SRS procedures are proposed. Issues related to neuroaudioethics (ethics related to collection of neural data evoked by auditory stimuli including speech) and neurosecurity (preservation of a person's neural mechanisms and free will) are also discussed.

Speech Perception and Short-Term Memory Deficits in Persistent Developmental Speech Disorder

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Kenney, Mary Kay; Barac-Cikoja, Dragana; Finnegan, Kimberly; Jeffries, Neal; Ludlow, Christy L.

2006-01-01

Children with developmental speech disorders may have additional deficits in speech perception and/or short-term memory. To determine whether these are only transient developmental delays that can accompany the disorder in childhood or persist as part of the speech disorder, adults with a persistent familial speech disorder were tested on speech…

Speech Segregation based on Binary Classification

Science.gov (United States)

2016-07-15

speaker is roughly 5 minutes long. Large chunks of silence in the excerpt are removed . Then we divide the recording into 5 second pieces. Two pieces...shown in Fig. 5(c), the smearing effect caused by reverberation is largely removed or attenuated, and the boundaries between voiced and unvoiced...Audience is a provider of audio and noise suppression processors for mobile equipment, including Android phones. The PI advises the company on speech

Use of speech-to-text technology for documentation by healthcare providers.

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Ajami, Sima

2016-01-01

Medical records are a critical component of a patient's treatment. However, documentation of patient-related information is considered a secondary activity in the provision of healthcare services, often leading to incomplete medical records and patient data of low quality. Advances in information technology (IT) in the health system and registration of information in electronic health records (EHR) using speechto- text conversion software have facilitated service delivery. This narrative review is a literature search with the help of libraries, books, conference proceedings, databases of Science Direct, PubMed, Proquest, Springer, SID (Scientific Information Database), and search engines such as Yahoo, and Google. I used the following keywords and their combinations: speech recognition, automatic report documentation, voice to text software, healthcare, information, and voice recognition. Due to lack of knowledge of other languages, I searched all texts in English or Persian with no time limits. Of a total of 70, only 42 articles were selected. Speech-to-text conversion technology offers opportunities to improve the documentation process of medical records, reduce cost and time of recording information, enhance the quality of documentation, improve the quality of services provided to patients, and support healthcare providers in legal matters. Healthcare providers should recognize the impact of this technology on service delivery.

Automatic speech recognition (ASR) based approach for speech therapy of aphasic patients: A review

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Jamal, Norezmi; Shanta, Shahnoor; Mahmud, Farhanahani; Sha'abani, MNAH

2017-09-01

This paper reviews the state-of-the-art an automatic speech recognition (ASR) based approach for speech therapy of aphasic patients. Aphasia is a condition in which the affected person suffers from speech and language disorder resulting from a stroke or brain injury. Since there is a growing body of evidence indicating the possibility of improving the symptoms at an early stage, ASR based solutions are increasingly being researched for speech and language therapy. ASR is a technology that transfers human speech into transcript text by matching with the system's library. This is particularly useful in speech rehabilitation therapies as they provide accurate, real-time evaluation for speech input from an individual with speech disorder. ASR based approaches for speech therapy recognize the speech input from the aphasic patient and provide real-time feedback response to their mistakes. However, the accuracy of ASR is dependent on many factors such as, phoneme recognition, speech continuity, speaker and environmental differences as well as our depth of knowledge on human language understanding. Hence, the review examines recent development of ASR technologies and its performance for individuals with speech and language disorders.

The neural basis of sublexical speech and corresponding nonspeech processing: a combined EEG-MEG study.

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Kuuluvainen, Soila; Nevalainen, Päivi; Sorokin, Alexander; Mittag, Maria; Partanen, Eino; Putkinen, Vesa; Seppänen, Miia; Kähkönen, Seppo; Kujala, Teija

2014-03-01

We addressed the neural organization of speech versus nonspeech sound processing by investigating preattentive cortical auditory processing of changes in five features of a consonant-vowel syllable (consonant, vowel, sound duration, frequency, and intensity) and their acoustically matched nonspeech counterparts in a simultaneous EEG-MEG recording of mismatch negativity (MMN/MMNm). Overall, speech-sound processing was enhanced compared to nonspeech sound processing. This effect was strongest for changes which affect word meaning (consonant, vowel, and vowel duration) in the left and for the vowel identity change in the right hemisphere also. Furthermore, in the right hemisphere, speech-sound frequency and intensity changes were processed faster than their nonspeech counterparts, and there was a trend for speech-enhancement in frequency processing. In summary, the results support the proposed existence of long-term memory traces for speech sounds in the auditory cortices, and indicate at least partly distinct neural substrates for speech and nonspeech sound processing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Speech and Language Delay

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... OTC Relief for Diarrhea Home Diseases and Conditions Speech and Language Delay Condition Speech and Language Delay Share Print Table of Contents1. ... Treatment6. Everyday Life7. Questions8. Resources What is a speech and language delay? A speech and language delay ...

Relationship of spontaneous pneumothorax cases seen in Eastern Black Sea region with meteorological changes

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Yamac, Mustafa Esat; Karapolat, Sami; Turkyilmaz, Atila; Seyis, Kubra Nur; Tekinbas, Celal

2017-08-01

The relationship of climate changes or weather conditions with the incidence of pneumothorax has been explored for many years. We aimed at revealing the effects of meteorological changes on the incidence of pneumothorax in the Eastern Black Sea region where spontaneous pneumothorax cases are seen relatively more frequently. The records of 195 subjects (179 males and 16 females) who had been monitored and treated due to spontaneous pneumothorax between January 2006 and December 2012 at our clinic were reviewed retrospectively, and their relationship was investigated with the meteorological data obtained by going through the database archive records of the 11th Regional Meteorology Directorate for the years between 2006 and 2012. Wind velocity was observed to be less in the days of having spontaneous pneumothorax than in the days of having no spontaneous pneumothorax, and the difference was found statistically significant ( P = 0.026). The people of our region whose active lifestyle is reflected in their working life, social life, and even in their folk dances usually take a rest in the days of slower wind speed. We think that this state of resting leads to an increase in the frequency of spontaneous pneumothorax.

Plasticity in the Human Speech Motor System Drives Changes in Speech Perception

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Lametti, Daniel R.; Rochet-Capellan, Amélie; Neufeld, Emily; Shiller, Douglas M.

2014-01-01

Recent studies of human speech motor learning suggest that learning is accompanied by changes in auditory perception. But what drives the perceptual change? Is it a consequence of changes in the motor system? Or is it a result of sensory inflow during learning? Here, subjects participated in a speech motor-learning task involving adaptation to altered auditory feedback and they were subsequently tested for perceptual change. In two separate experiments, involving two different auditory perceptual continua, we show that changes in the speech motor system that accompany learning drive changes in auditory speech perception. Specifically, we obtained changes in speech perception when adaptation to altered auditory feedback led to speech production that fell into the phonetic range of the speech perceptual tests. However, a similar change in perception was not observed when the auditory feedback that subjects' received during learning fell into the phonetic range of the perceptual tests. This indicates that the central motor outflow associated with vocal sensorimotor adaptation drives changes to the perceptual classification of speech sounds. PMID:25080594

Improvement of spontaneous language in stroke patients with chronic aphasia treated with music therapy: a randomized controlled trial.

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Raglio, Alfredo; Oasi, Osmano; Gianotti, Marta; Rossi, Agnese; Goulene, Karine; Stramba-Badiale, Marco

2016-01-01

The aim of this research is to evaluate the effects of active music therapy (MT) based on free-improvisation (relational approach) in addition to speech language therapy (SLT) compared with SLT alone (communicative-pragmatic approach: Promoting Aphasic's Communicative Effectiveness) in stroke patients with chronic aphasia. The experimental group (n = 10) was randomized to 30 MT individual sessions over 15 weeks in addition to 30 SLT individual sessions while the control group (n = 10) was randomized to only 30 SLT sessions during the same period. Psychological and speech language assessment were made before (T0) and after (T1) the treatments. The study shows a significant improvement in spontaneous speech in the experimental group (Aachener Aphasie subtest: p = 0.020; Cohen's d = 0.35); the 50% of the experimental group showed also an improvement in vitality scores of Short Form Health Survey (chi-square test = 4.114; p = 0.043). The current trial highlights the possibility that the combined use of MT and SLT can lead to a better result in the rehabilitation of patients with aphasia than SLT alone.

Childhood apraxia of speech: A survey of praxis and typical speech characteristics.

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Malmenholt, Ann; Lohmander, Anette; McAllister, Anita

2017-07-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate current knowledge of the diagnosis childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) in Sweden and compare speech characteristics and symptoms to those of earlier survey findings in mainly English-speakers. In a web-based questionnaire 178 Swedish speech-language pathologists (SLPs) anonymously answered questions about their perception of typical speech characteristics for CAS. They graded own assessment skills and estimated clinical occurrence. The seven top speech characteristics reported as typical for children with CAS were: inconsistent speech production (85%), sequencing difficulties (71%), oro-motor deficits (63%), vowel errors (62%), voicing errors (61%), consonant cluster deletions (54%), and prosodic disturbance (53%). Motor-programming deficits described as lack of automatization of speech movements were perceived by 82%. All listed characteristics were consistent with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) consensus-based features, Strand's 10-point checklist, and the diagnostic model proposed by Ozanne. The mode for clinical occurrence was 5%. Number of suspected cases of CAS in the clinical caseload was approximately one new patient/year and SLP. The results support and add to findings from studies of CAS in English-speaking children with similar speech characteristics regarded as typical. Possibly, these findings could contribute to cross-linguistic consensus on CAS characteristics.

Co-speech gestures influence neural activity in brain regions associated with processing semantic information.

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Dick, Anthony Steven; Goldin-Meadow, Susan; Hasson, Uri; Skipper, Jeremy I; Small, Steven L

2009-11-01

Everyday communication is accompanied by visual information from several sources, including co-speech gestures, which provide semantic information listeners use to help disambiguate the speaker's message. Using fMRI, we examined how gestures influence neural activity in brain regions associated with processing semantic information. The BOLD response was recorded while participants listened to stories under three audiovisual conditions and one auditory-only (speech alone) condition. In the first audiovisual condition, the storyteller produced gestures that naturally accompany speech. In the second, the storyteller made semantically unrelated hand movements. In the third, the storyteller kept her hands still. In addition to inferior parietal and posterior superior and middle temporal regions, bilateral posterior superior temporal sulcus and left anterior inferior frontal gyrus responded more strongly to speech when it was further accompanied by gesture, regardless of the semantic relation to speech. However, the right inferior frontal gyrus was sensitive to the semantic import of the hand movements, demonstrating more activity when hand movements were semantically unrelated to the accompanying speech. These findings show that perceiving hand movements during speech modulates the distributed pattern of neural activation involved in both biological motion perception and discourse comprehension, suggesting listeners attempt to find meaning, not only in the words speakers produce, but also in the hand movements that accompany speech.

Bilingualism and increased attention to speech: Evidence from event-related potentials.

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Kuipers, Jan Rouke; Thierry, Guillaume

2015-10-01

A number of studies have shown that from an early age, bilinguals outperform their monolingual peers on executive control tasks. We previously found that bilingual children and adults also display greater attention to unexpected language switches within speech. Here, we investigated the effect of a bilingual upbringing on speech perception in one language. We recorded monolingual and bilingual toddlers' event-related potentials (ERPs) to spoken words preceded by pictures. Words matching the picture prime elicited an early frontal positivity in bilingual participants only, whereas later ERP amplitudes associated with semantic processing did not differ between groups. These results add to the growing body of evidence that bilingualism increases overall attention during speech perception whilst semantic integration is unaffected. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Speech-evoked auditory brainstem responses in children with hearing loss.

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Koravand, Amineh; Al Osman, Rida; Rivest, Véronique; Poulin, Catherine

2017-08-01

The main objective of the present study was to investigate subcortical auditory processing in children with sensorineural hearing loss. Auditory Brainstem Responses (ABRs) were recorded using click and speech/da/stimuli. Twenty-five children, aged 6-14 years old, participated in the study: 13 with normal hearing acuity and 12 with sensorineural hearing loss. No significant differences were observed for the click-evoked ABRs between normal hearing and hearing-impaired groups. For the speech-evoked ABRs, no significant differences were found for the latencies of the following responses between the two groups: onset (V and A), transition (C), one of the steady-state wave (F), and offset (O). However, the latency of the steady-state waves (D and E) was significantly longer for the hearing-impaired compared to the normal hearing group. Furthermore, the amplitude of the offset wave O and of the envelope frequency response (EFR) of the speech-evoked ABRs was significantly larger for the hearing-impaired compared to the normal hearing group. Results obtained from the speech-evoked ABRs suggest that children with a mild to moderately-severe sensorineural hearing loss have a specific pattern of subcortical auditory processing. Our results show differences for the speech-evoked ABRs in normal hearing children compared to hearing-impaired children. These results add to the body of the literature on how children with hearing loss process speech at the brainstem level. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Speech intelligibility enhancement after maxillary denture treatment and its impact on quality of life.

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Knipfer, Christian; Riemann, Max; Bocklet, Tobias; Noeth, Elmar; Schuster, Maria; Sokol, Biljana; Eitner, Stephan; Nkenke, Emeka; Stelzle, Florian

2014-01-01

Tooth loss and its prosthetic rehabilitation significantly affect speech intelligibility. However, little is known about the influence of speech deficiencies on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). The aim of this study was to investigate whether speech intelligibility enhancement through prosthetic rehabilitation significantly influences OHRQoL in patients wearing complete maxillary dentures. Speech intelligibility by means of an automatic speech recognition system (ASR) was prospectively evaluated and compared with subjectively assessed Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) scores. Speech was recorded in 28 edentulous patients 1 week prior to the fabrication of new complete maxillary dentures and 6 months thereafter. Speech intelligibility was computed based on the word accuracy (WA) by means of an ASR and compared with a matched control group. One week before and 6 months after rehabilitation, patients assessed themselves for OHRQoL. Speech intelligibility improved significantly after 6 months. Subjects reported a significantly higher OHRQoL after maxillary rehabilitation with complete dentures. No significant correlation was found between the OHIP sum score or its subscales to the WA. Speech intelligibility enhancement achieved through the fabrication of new complete maxillary dentures might not be in the forefront of the patients' perception of their quality of life. For the improvement of OHRQoL in patients wearing complete maxillary dentures, food intake and mastication as well as freedom from pain play a more prominent role.

Speech-specific audiovisual perception affects identification but not detection of speech

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eskelund, Kasper; Andersen, Tobias

Speech perception is audiovisual as evidenced by the McGurk effect in which watching incongruent articulatory mouth movements can change the phonetic auditory speech percept. This type of audiovisual integration may be specific to speech or be applied to all stimuli in general. To investigate...... of audiovisual integration specific to speech perception. However, the results of Tuomainen et al. might have been influenced by another effect. When observers were naïve, they had little motivation to look at the face. When informed, they knew that the face was relevant for the task and this could increase...... visual detection task. In our first experiment, observers presented with congruent and incongruent audiovisual sine-wave speech stimuli did only show a McGurk effect when informed of the speech nature of the stimulus. Performance on the secondary visual task was very good, thus supporting the finding...

Speech-Language Therapy (For Parents)

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... Staying Safe Videos for Educators Search English Español Speech-Language Therapy KidsHealth / For Parents / Speech-Language Therapy ... most kids with speech and/or language disorders. Speech Disorders, Language Disorders, and Feeding Disorders A speech ...

Digital speech processing using Matlab

CERN Document Server

Gopi, E S

2014-01-01

Digital Speech Processing Using Matlab deals with digital speech pattern recognition, speech production model, speech feature extraction, and speech compression. The book is written in a manner that is suitable for beginners pursuing basic research in digital speech processing. Matlab illustrations are provided for most topics to enable better understanding of concepts. This book also deals with the basic pattern recognition techniques (illustrated with speech signals using Matlab) such as PCA, LDA, ICA, SVM, HMM, GMM, BPN, and KSOM.

Developmental apraxia of speech in children. Quantitive assessment of speech characteristics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thoonen, G.H.J.

1998-01-01

Developmental apraxia of speech (DAS) in children is a speech disorder, supposed to have a neurological origin, which is commonly considered to result from particular deficits in speech processing (i.e., phonological planning, motor programming). However, the label DAS has often been used as

International Collegium of Rehabilitative Audiology (ICRA) recommendations for the construction of multilingual speech tests. ICRA Working Group on Multilingual Speech Tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Akeroyd, Michael A; Arlinger, Stig; Bentler, Ruth A; Boothroyd, Arthur; Dillier, Norbert; Dreschler, Wouter A; Gagné, Jean-Pierre; Lutman, Mark; Wouters, Jan; Wong, Lena; Kollmeier, Birger

2015-01-01

To provide guidelines for the development of two types of closed-set speech-perception tests that can be applied and interpreted in the same way across languages. The guidelines cover the digit triplet and the matrix sentence tests that are most commonly used to test speech recognition in noise. They were developed by a working group on Multilingual Speech Tests of the International Collegium of Rehabilitative Audiology (ICRA). The recommendations are based on reviews of existing evaluations of the digit triplet and matrix tests as well as on the research experience of members of the ICRA Working Group. They represent the results of a consensus process. The resulting recommendations deal with: Test design and word selection; Talker characteristics; Audio recording and stimulus preparation; Masking noise; Test administration; and Test validation. By following these guidelines for the development of any new test of this kind, clinicians and researchers working in any language will be able to perform tests whose results can be compared and combined in cross-language studies.

Accelerometer-based automatic voice onset detection in speech mapping with navigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

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Vitikainen, Anne-Mari; Mäkelä, Elina; Lioumis, Pantelis; Jousmäki, Veikko; Mäkelä, Jyrki P

2015-09-30

The use of navigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in mapping of speech-related brain areas has recently shown to be useful in preoperative workflow of epilepsy and tumor patients. However, substantial inter- and intraobserver variability and non-optimal replicability of the rTMS results have been reported, and a need for additional development of the methodology is recognized. In TMS motor cortex mappings the evoked responses can be quantitatively monitored by electromyographic recordings; however, no such easily available setup exists for speech mappings. We present an accelerometer-based setup for detection of vocalization-related larynx vibrations combined with an automatic routine for voice onset detection for rTMS speech mapping applying naming. The results produced by the automatic routine were compared with the manually reviewed video-recordings. The new method was applied in the routine navigated rTMS speech mapping for 12 consecutive patients during preoperative workup for epilepsy or tumor surgery. The automatic routine correctly detected 96% of the voice onsets, resulting in 96% sensitivity and 71% specificity. Majority (63%) of the misdetections were related to visible throat movements, extra voices before the response, or delayed naming of the previous stimuli. The no-response errors were correctly detected in 88% of events. The proposed setup for automatic detection of voice onsets provides quantitative additional data for analysis of the rTMS-induced speech response modifications. The objectively defined speech response latencies increase the repeatability, reliability and stratification of the rTMS results. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Presbycusis Disrupts Spontaneous Activity Revealed by Resting-State Functional MRI

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Yu-Chen Chen

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Presbycusis, age-related hearing loss, is believed to involve neural changes in the central nervous system, which is associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment. The goal of this study was to determine if presbycusis disrupted spontaneous neural activity in specific brain areas involved in auditory processing, attention and cognitive function using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI approach.Methods: Hearing and resting-state fMRI measurements were obtained from 22 presbycusis patients and 23 age-, sex- and education-matched healthy controls. To identify changes in spontaneous neural activity associated with age-related hearing loss, we compared the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF and regional homogeneity (ReHo of fMRI signals in presbycusis patients vs. controls and then determined if these changes were linked to clinical measures of presbycusis.Results: Compared with healthy controls, presbycusis patients manifested decreased spontaneous activity mainly in the superior temporal gyrus (STG, parahippocampal gyrus (PHG, precuneus and inferior parietal lobule (IPL as well as increased neural activity in the middle frontal gyrus (MFG, cuneus and postcentral gyrus (PoCG. A significant negative correlation was observed between ALFF/ReHo activity in the STG and average hearing thresholds in presbycusis patients. Increased ALFF/ReHo activity in the MFG was positively correlated with impaired Trail-Making Test B (TMT-B scores, indicative of impaired cognitive function involving the frontal lobe.Conclusions: Presbycusis patients have disrupted spontaneous neural activity reflected by ALFF and ReHo measurements in several brain regions; these changes are associated with specific cognitive performance and speech/language processing. These findings mainly emphasize the crucial role of aberrant resting-state ALFF/ReHo patterns in presbycusis patients and will lead to a better understanding of the

Presbycusis Disrupts Spontaneous Activity Revealed by Resting-State Functional MRI.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yu-Chen; Chen, Huiyou; Jiang, Liang; Bo, Fan; Xu, Jin-Jing; Mao, Cun-Nan; Salvi, Richard; Yin, Xindao; Lu, Guangming; Gu, Jian-Ping

2018-01-01

Purpose : Presbycusis, age-related hearing loss, is believed to involve neural changes in the central nervous system, which is associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment. The goal of this study was to determine if presbycusis disrupted spontaneous neural activity in specific brain areas involved in auditory processing, attention and cognitive function using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) approach. Methods : Hearing and resting-state fMRI measurements were obtained from 22 presbycusis patients and 23 age-, sex- and education-matched healthy controls. To identify changes in spontaneous neural activity associated with age-related hearing loss, we compared the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) of fMRI signals in presbycusis patients vs. controls and then determined if these changes were linked to clinical measures of presbycusis. Results : Compared with healthy controls, presbycusis patients manifested decreased spontaneous activity mainly in the superior temporal gyrus (STG), parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), precuneus and inferior parietal lobule (IPL) as well as increased neural activity in the middle frontal gyrus (MFG), cuneus and postcentral gyrus (PoCG). A significant negative correlation was observed between ALFF/ReHo activity in the STG and average hearing thresholds in presbycusis patients. Increased ALFF/ReHo activity in the MFG was positively correlated with impaired Trail-Making Test B (TMT-B) scores, indicative of impaired cognitive function involving the frontal lobe. Conclusions : Presbycusis patients have disrupted spontaneous neural activity reflected by ALFF and ReHo measurements in several brain regions; these changes are associated with specific cognitive performance and speech/language processing. These findings mainly emphasize the crucial role of aberrant resting-state ALFF/ReHo patterns in presbycusis patients and will lead to a better understanding of the

Perception of synthetic speech produced automatically by rule: Intelligibility of eight text-to-speech systems.

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Greene, Beth G; Logan, John S; Pisoni, David B

1986-03-01

We present the results of studies designed to measure the segmental intelligibility of eight text-to-speech systems and a natural speech control, using the Modified Rhyme Test (MRT). Results indicated that the voices tested could be grouped into four categories: natural speech, high-quality synthetic speech, moderate-quality synthetic speech, and low-quality synthetic speech. The overall performance of the best synthesis system, DECtalk-Paul, was equivalent to natural speech only in terms of performance on initial consonants. The findings are discussed in terms of recent work investigating the perception of synthetic speech under more severe conditions. Suggestions for future research on improving the quality of synthetic speech are also considered.

Perception of synthetic speech produced automatically by rule: Intelligibility of eight text-to-speech systems

Science.gov (United States)

GREENE, BETH G.; LOGAN, JOHN S.; PISONI, DAVID B.

2012-01-01

We present the results of studies designed to measure the segmental intelligibility of eight text-to-speech systems and a natural speech control, using the Modified Rhyme Test (MRT). Results indicated that the voices tested could be grouped into four categories: natural speech, high-quality synthetic speech, moderate-quality synthetic speech, and low-quality synthetic speech. The overall performance of the best synthesis system, DECtalk-Paul, was equivalent to natural speech only in terms of performance on initial consonants. The findings are discussed in terms of recent work investigating the perception of synthetic speech under more severe conditions. Suggestions for future research on improving the quality of synthetic speech are also considered. PMID:23225916

The speech perception skills of children with and without speech sound disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Hearnshaw, Stephanie; Baker, Elise; Munro, Natalie

To investigate whether Australian-English speaking children with and without speech sound disorder (SSD) differ in their overall speech perception accuracy. Additionally, to investigate differences in the perception of specific phonemes and the association between speech perception and speech production skills. Twenty-five Australian-English speaking children aged 48-60 months participated in this study. The SSD group included 12 children and the typically developing (TD) group included 13 children. Children completed routine speech and language assessments in addition to an experimental Australian-English lexical and phonetic judgement task based on Rvachew's Speech Assessment and Interactive Learning System (SAILS) program (Rvachew, 2009). This task included eight words across four word-initial phonemes-/k, ɹ, ʃ, s/. Children with SSD showed significantly poorer perceptual accuracy on the lexical and phonetic judgement task compared with TD peers. The phonemes /ɹ/ and /s/ were most frequently perceived in error across both groups. Additionally, the phoneme /ɹ/ was most commonly produced in error. There was also a positive correlation between overall speech perception and speech production scores. Children with SSD perceived speech less accurately than their typically developing peers. The findings suggest that an Australian-English variation of a lexical and phonetic judgement task similar to the SAILS program is promising and worthy of a larger scale study. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Speech Matters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hasse Jørgensen, Stina

2011-01-01

About Speech Matters - Katarina Gregos, the Greek curator's exhibition at the Danish Pavillion, the Venice Biannual 2011.......About Speech Matters - Katarina Gregos, the Greek curator's exhibition at the Danish Pavillion, the Venice Biannual 2011....

Translation of the Speech Therapy Programs in the Logomon Assisted Therapy System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SCHIPOR, D. M.

2010-05-01

Full Text Available This interdisciplinary research was developed with a view to create and implement an intelligent informatics system for the treatment of dyslalic disorders, specific to the Romanian language (CBTS system - computer-based speech therapy, as a complementary speech therapy method, customised and client-oriented. The rules of the logotherapeutic guide have been expressed in pseudocode programs in order to allow a greater flexibility in expressing the logotherapeutic procedures in an informatics system. The pseudocode logopedic programs comprise the succession of stages of the therapeutic program from a speech therapy perspective, and based on what the expert system can achieve. The LOGOMON system is conceived in order to assist the physical therapist and the child during the entire therapeutic period, recording the main data related to the child, which proved to be useful in diagnosis and treatment. The experimental validation of the system proved that assisted therapy contributes to the improvement of classical therapy, to obtaining optimal results in correcting the dyslalic person's speech.

Speech graphs provide a quantitative measure of thought disorder in psychosis.

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Mota, Natalia B; Vasconcelos, Nivaldo A P; Lemos, Nathalia; Pieretti, Ana C; Kinouchi, Osame; Cecchi, Guillermo A; Copelli, Mauro; Ribeiro, Sidarta

2012-01-01

Psychosis has various causes, including mania and schizophrenia. Since the differential diagnosis of psychosis is exclusively based on subjective assessments of oral interviews with patients, an objective quantification of the speech disturbances that characterize mania and schizophrenia is in order. In principle, such quantification could be achieved by the analysis of speech graphs. A graph represents a network with nodes connected by edges; in speech graphs, nodes correspond to words and edges correspond to semantic and grammatical relationships. To quantify speech differences related to psychosis, interviews with schizophrenics, manics and normal subjects were recorded and represented as graphs. Manics scored significantly higher than schizophrenics in ten graph measures. Psychopathological symptoms such as logorrhea, poor speech, and flight of thoughts were grasped by the analysis even when verbosity differences were discounted. Binary classifiers based on speech graph measures sorted schizophrenics from manics with up to 93.8% of sensitivity and 93.7% of specificity. In contrast, sorting based on the scores of two standard psychiatric scales (BPRS and PANSS) reached only 62.5% of sensitivity and specificity. The results demonstrate that alterations of the thought process manifested in the speech of psychotic patients can be objectively measured using graph-theoretical tools, developed to capture specific features of the normal and dysfunctional flow of thought, such as divergence and recurrence. The quantitative analysis of speech graphs is not redundant with standard psychometric scales but rather complementary, as it yields a very accurate sorting of schizophrenics and manics. Overall, the results point to automated psychiatric diagnosis based not on what is said, but on how it is said.

Speech graphs provide a quantitative measure of thought disorder in psychosis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalia B Mota

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Psychosis has various causes, including mania and schizophrenia. Since the differential diagnosis of psychosis is exclusively based on subjective assessments of oral interviews with patients, an objective quantification of the speech disturbances that characterize mania and schizophrenia is in order. In principle, such quantification could be achieved by the analysis of speech graphs. A graph represents a network with nodes connected by edges; in speech graphs, nodes correspond to words and edges correspond to semantic and grammatical relationships. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To quantify speech differences related to psychosis, interviews with schizophrenics, manics and normal subjects were recorded and represented as graphs. Manics scored significantly higher than schizophrenics in ten graph measures. Psychopathological symptoms such as logorrhea, poor speech, and flight of thoughts were grasped by the analysis even when verbosity differences were discounted. Binary classifiers based on speech graph measures sorted schizophrenics from manics with up to 93.8% of sensitivity and 93.7% of specificity. In contrast, sorting based on the scores of two standard psychiatric scales (BPRS and PANSS reached only 62.5% of sensitivity and specificity. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The results demonstrate that alterations of the thought process manifested in the speech of psychotic patients can be objectively measured using graph-theoretical tools, developed to capture specific features of the normal and dysfunctional flow of thought, such as divergence and recurrence. The quantitative analysis of speech graphs is not redundant with standard psychometric scales but rather complementary, as it yields a very accurate sorting of schizophrenics and manics. Overall, the results point to automated psychiatric diagnosis based not on what is said, but on how it is said.

Hate speech

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Birgitta Nilsen

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The manifesto of the Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik is based on the “Eurabia” conspiracy theory. This theory is a key starting point for hate speech amongst many right-wing extremists in Europe, but also has ramifications beyond these environments. In brief, proponents of the Eurabia theory claim that Muslims are occupying Europe and destroying Western culture, with the assistance of the EU and European governments. By contrast, members of Al-Qaeda and other extreme Islamists promote the conspiracy theory “the Crusade” in their hate speech directed against the West. Proponents of the latter theory argue that the West is leading a crusade to eradicate Islam and Muslims, a crusade that is similarly facilitated by their governments. This article presents analyses of texts written by right-wing extremists and Muslim extremists in an effort to shed light on how hate speech promulgates conspiracy theories in order to spread hatred and intolerance.The aim of the article is to contribute to a more thorough understanding of hate speech’s nature by applying rhetorical analysis. Rhetorical analysis is chosen because it offers a means of understanding the persuasive power of speech. It is thus a suitable tool to describe how hate speech works to convince and persuade. The concepts from rhetorical theory used in this article are ethos, logos and pathos. The concept of ethos is used to pinpoint factors that contributed to Osama bin Laden's impact, namely factors that lent credibility to his promotion of the conspiracy theory of the Crusade. In particular, Bin Laden projected common sense, good morals and good will towards his audience. He seemed to have coherent and relevant arguments; he appeared to possess moral credibility; and his use of language demonstrated that he wanted the best for his audience.The concept of pathos is used to define hate speech, since hate speech targets its audience's emotions. In hate speech it is the

Speech Inconsistency in Children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Language Impairment, and Speech Delay: Depends on the Stimuli

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Iuzzini-Seigel, Jenya; Hogan, Tiffany P.; Green, Jordan R.

2017-01-01

Purpose: The current research sought to determine (a) if speech inconsistency is a core feature of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) or if it is driven by comorbid language impairment that affects a large subset of children with CAS and (b) if speech inconsistency is a sensitive and specific diagnostic marker that can differentiate between CAS and…

Head movements encode emotions during speech and song.

Science.gov (United States)

Livingstone, Steven R; Palmer, Caroline

2016-04-01

When speaking or singing, vocalists often move their heads in an expressive fashion, yet the influence of emotion on vocalists' head motion is unknown. Using a comparative speech/song task, we examined whether vocalists' intended emotions influence head movements and whether those movements influence the perceived emotion. In Experiment 1, vocalists were recorded with motion capture while speaking and singing each statement with different emotional intentions (very happy, happy, neutral, sad, very sad). Functional data analyses showed that head movements differed in translational and rotational displacement across emotional intentions, yet were similar across speech and song, transcending differences in F0 (varied freely in speech, fixed in song) and lexical variability. Head motion specific to emotional state occurred before and after vocalizations, as well as during sound production, confirming that some aspects of movement were not simply a by-product of sound production. In Experiment 2, observers accurately identified vocalists' intended emotion on the basis of silent, face-occluded videos of head movements during speech and song. These results provide the first evidence that head movements encode a vocalist's emotional intent and that observers decode emotional information from these movements. We discuss implications for models of head motion during vocalizations and applied outcomes in social robotics and automated emotion recognition. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Spontaneous mutation by mutagenic repair of spontaneous lesions in DNA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hastings, P.J.; Quah, S.-K.; Borstel, R.C. von

1976-01-01

It is stated that strains of yeast carrying mutations in many of the steps in pathways repairing radiation-induced damage to DNA have enhanced spontaneous mutation rates. Most strains isolated because they have enhanced spontaneous mutation carry mutations in DNA repair systems. This suggests that much spontaneous mutation arises by mutagenic repair of spontaneous lesions. (author)

Clear Speech - Mere Speech? How segmental and prosodic speech reduction shape the impression that speakers create on listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Niebuhr, Oliver

2017-01-01

of reduction levels and perceived speaker attributes in which moderate reduction can make a better impression on listeners than no reduction. In addition to its relevance in reduction models and theories, this interplay is instructive for various fields of speech application from social robotics to charisma...... whether variation in the degree of reduction also has a systematic effect on the attributes we ascribe to the speaker who produces the speech signal. A perception experiment was carried out for German in which 46 listeners judged whether or not speakers showing 3 different combinations of segmental...... and prosodic reduction levels (unreduced, moderately reduced, strongly reduced) are appropriately described by 13 physical, social, and cognitive attributes. The experiment shows that clear speech is not mere speech, and less clear speech is not just reduced either. Rather, results revealed a complex interplay...

Audiovisual Temporal Recalibration for Speech in Synchrony Perception and Speech Identification

Science.gov (United States)

Asakawa, Kaori; Tanaka, Akihiro; Imai, Hisato

We investigated whether audiovisual synchrony perception for speech could change after observation of the audiovisual temporal mismatch. Previous studies have revealed that audiovisual synchrony perception is re-calibrated after exposure to a constant timing difference between auditory and visual signals in non-speech. In the present study, we examined whether this audiovisual temporal recalibration occurs at the perceptual level even for speech (monosyllables). In Experiment 1, participants performed an audiovisual simultaneity judgment task (i.e., a direct measurement of the audiovisual synchrony perception) in terms of the speech signal after observation of the speech stimuli which had a constant audiovisual lag. The results showed that the “simultaneous” responses (i.e., proportion of responses for which participants judged the auditory and visual stimuli to be synchronous) at least partly depended on exposure lag. In Experiment 2, we adopted the McGurk identification task (i.e., an indirect measurement of the audiovisual synchrony perception) to exclude the possibility that this modulation of synchrony perception was solely attributable to the response strategy using stimuli identical to those of Experiment 1. The characteristics of the McGurk effect reported by participants depended on exposure lag. Thus, it was shown that audiovisual synchrony perception for speech could be modulated following exposure to constant lag both in direct and indirect measurement. Our results suggest that temporal recalibration occurs not only in non-speech signals but also in monosyllabic speech at the perceptual level.

Improved vocabulary production after naming therapy in aphasia: can gains in picture naming generalize to connected speech?

Science.gov (United States)

Conroy, Paul; Sage, Karen; Ralph, Matt Lambon

2009-01-01

Naming accuracy for nouns and verbs in aphasia can vary across different elicitation contexts, for example, simple picture naming, composite picture description, narratives, and conversation. For some people with aphasia, naming may be more accurate to simple pictures as opposed to naming in spontaneous, connected speech; for others, the opposite pattern may be evident. These differences have, in some instances, been related to word class (for example, noun or verb) as well as aphasia subtype. Given that the aim of picture-naming therapies is to improve word-finding in general, these differences in naming accuracy across contexts may have important implications for the potential functional benefits of picture-naming therapies. This study aimed to explore single-word therapy for both nouns and verbs, and to answer the following questions. (1) To what extent does an increase in naming accuracy after picture-naming therapy (for both nouns and verbs) predict accurate naming of the same items in less constrained spontaneous connected speech tasks such as composite picture description and retelling of a narrative? (2) Does the word class targeted in therapy (verb or noun) dictate whether there is 'carry-over' of the therapy item to connected speech tasks? (3) Does the speed at which the picture is named after therapy predict whether it will also be used appropriately in connected speech tasks? Seven participants with aphasia of varying degrees of severity and subtype took part in ten therapy sessions over five weeks. A set of potentially useful items was collected from control participant accounts of the Cookie Theft Picture Description and the Cinderella Story from the Quantitative Production Analysis. Twenty-four of these words (twelve verbs and twelve nouns) were collated for each participant, on the basis that they had failed to name them in either simple picture naming or connected speech tasks (picture-supported narrative and unsupported retelling of a narrative

Selective Attention Enhances Beta-Band Cortical Oscillation to Speech under "Cocktail-Party" Listening Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Yayue; Wang, Qian; Ding, Yu; Wang, Changming; Li, Haifeng; Wu, Xihong; Qu, Tianshu; Li, Liang

2017-01-01

Human listeners are able to selectively attend to target speech in a noisy environment with multiple-people talking. Using recordings of scalp electroencephalogram (EEG), this study investigated how selective attention facilitates the cortical representation of target speech under a simulated "cocktail-party" listening condition with speech-on-speech masking. The result shows that the cortical representation of target-speech signals under the multiple-people talking condition was specifically improved by selective attention relative to the non-selective-attention listening condition, and the beta-band activity was most strongly modulated by selective attention. Moreover, measured with the Granger Causality value, selective attention to the single target speech in the mixed-speech complex enhanced the following four causal connectivities for the beta-band oscillation: the ones (1) from site FT7 to the right motor area, (2) from the left frontal area to the right motor area, (3) from the central frontal area to the right motor area, and (4) from the central frontal area to the right frontal area. However, the selective-attention-induced change in beta-band causal connectivity from the central frontal area to the right motor area, but not other beta-band causal connectivities, was significantly correlated with the selective-attention-induced change in the cortical beta-band representation of target speech. These findings suggest that under the "cocktail-party" listening condition, the beta-band oscillation in EEGs to target speech is specifically facilitated by selective attention to the target speech that is embedded in the mixed-speech complex. The selective attention-induced unmasking of target speech may be associated with the improved beta-band functional connectivity from the central frontal area to the right motor area, suggesting a top-down attentional modulation of the speech-motor process.

Under-resourced speech recognition based on the speech manifold

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Sahraeian, R

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Conventional acoustic modeling involves estimating many parameters to effectively model feature distributions. The sparseness of speech and text data, however, degrades the reliability of the estimation process and makes speech recognition a...

PRACTICING SPEECH THERAPY INTERVENTION FOR SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF CHILDREN WITH SPEECH DISORDERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Ofelia POPESCU

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The article presents a concise speech correction intervention program in of dyslalia in conjunction with capacity development of intra, interpersonal and social integration of children with speech disorders. The program main objectives represent: the potential increasing of individual social integration by correcting speech disorders in conjunction with intra- and interpersonal capacity, the potential growth of children and community groups for social integration by optimizing the socio-relational context of children with speech disorder. In the program were included 60 children / students with dyslalia speech disorders (monomorphic and polymorphic dyslalia, from 11 educational institutions - 6 kindergartens and 5 schools / secondary schools, joined with inter-school logopedic centre (CLI from Targu Jiu city and areas of Gorj district. The program was implemented under the assumption that therapeutic-formative intervention to correct speech disorders and facilitate the social integration will lead, in combination with correct pronunciation disorders, to social integration optimization of children with speech disorders. The results conirm the hypothesis and gives facts about the intervention program eficiency.

Result on speech perception after conversion from Spectra® to Freedom®.

Science.gov (United States)

Magalhães, Ana Tereza de Matos; Goffi-Gomez, Maria Valéria Schmidt; Hoshino, Ana Cristina; Tsuji, Robinson Koji; Bento, Ricardo Ferreira; Brito, Rubens

2012-04-01

New technology in the Freedom® speech processor for cochlear implants was developed to improve how incoming acoustic sound is processed; this applies not only for new users, but also for previous generations of cochlear implants. To identify the contribution of this technology-- the Nucleus 22®--on speech perception tests in silence and in noise, and on audiometric thresholds. A cross-sectional cohort study was undertaken. Seventeen patients were selected. The last map based on the Spectra® was revised and optimized before starting the tests. Troubleshooting was used to identify malfunction. To identify the contribution of the Freedom® technology for the Nucleus22®, auditory thresholds and speech perception tests were performed in free field in sound-proof booths. Recorded monosyllables and sentences in silence and in noise (SNR = 0dB) were presented at 60 dBSPL. The nonparametric Wilcoxon test for paired data was used to compare groups. Freedom® applied for the Nucleus22® showed a statistically significant difference in all speech perception tests and audiometric thresholds. The Freedom® technology improved the performance of speech perception and audiometric thresholds of patients with Nucleus 22®.

The pupil response is sensitive to divided attention during speech processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Koelewijn, Thomas; Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara G; Zekveld, Adriana A; Kramer, Sophia E

2014-06-01

Dividing attention over two streams of speech strongly decreases performance compared to focusing on only one. How divided attention affects cognitive processing load as indexed with pupillometry during speech recognition has so far not been investigated. In 12 young adults the pupil response was recorded while they focused on either one or both of two sentences that were presented dichotically and masked by fluctuating noise across a range of signal-to-noise ratios. In line with previous studies, the performance decreases when processing two target sentences instead of one. Additionally, dividing attention to process two sentences caused larger pupil dilation and later peak pupil latency than processing only one. This suggests an effect of attention on cognitive processing load (pupil dilation) during speech processing in noise. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Statistical Learning, Syllable Processing, and Speech Production in Healthy Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Preschool Children: A Mismatch Negativity Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Studer-Eichenberger, Esther; Studer-Eichenberger, Felix; Koenig, Thomas

2016-01-01

The objectives of the present study were to investigate temporal/spectral sound-feature processing in preschool children (4 to 7 years old) with peripheral hearing loss compared with age-matched controls. The results verified the presence of statistical learning, which was diminished in children with hearing impairments (HIs), and elucidated possible perceptual mediators of speech production. Perception and production of the syllables /ba/, /da/, /ta/, and /na/ were recorded in 13 children with normal hearing and 13 children with HI. Perception was assessed physiologically through event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded by EEG in a multifeature mismatch negativity paradigm and behaviorally through a discrimination task. Temporal and spectral features of the ERPs during speech perception were analyzed, and speech production was quantitatively evaluated using speech motor maximum performance tasks. Proximal to stimulus onset, children with HI displayed a difference in map topography, indicating diminished statistical learning. In later ERP components, children with HI exhibited reduced amplitudes in the N2 and early parts of the late disciminative negativity components specifically, which are associated with temporal and spectral control mechanisms. Abnormalities of speech perception were only subtly reflected in speech production, as the lone difference found in speech production studies was a mild delay in regulating speech intensity. In addition to previously reported deficits of sound-feature discriminations, the present study results reflect diminished statistical learning in children with HI, which plays an early and important, but so far neglected, role in phonological processing. Furthermore, the lack of corresponding behavioral abnormalities in speech production implies that impaired perceptual capacities do not necessarily translate into productive deficits.

Schizophrenia alters intra-network functional connectivity in the caudate for detecting speech under informational speech masking conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Yingjun; Wu, Chao; Li, Juanhua; Li, Ruikeng; Peng, Hongjun; She, Shenglin; Ning, Yuping; Li, Liang

2018-04-04

Speech recognition under noisy "cocktail-party" environments involves multiple perceptual/cognitive processes, including target detection, selective attention, irrelevant signal inhibition, sensory/working memory, and speech production. Compared to health listeners, people with schizophrenia are more vulnerable to masking stimuli and perform worse in speech recognition under speech-on-speech masking conditions. Although the schizophrenia-related speech-recognition impairment under "cocktail-party" conditions is associated with deficits of various perceptual/cognitive processes, it is crucial to know whether the brain substrates critically underlying speech detection against informational speech masking are impaired in people with schizophrenia. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), this study investigated differences between people with schizophrenia (n = 19, mean age = 33 ± 10 years) and their matched healthy controls (n = 15, mean age = 30 ± 9 years) in intra-network functional connectivity (FC) specifically associated with target-speech detection under speech-on-speech-masking conditions. The target-speech detection performance under the speech-on-speech-masking condition in participants with schizophrenia was significantly worse than that in matched healthy participants (healthy controls). Moreover, in healthy controls, but not participants with schizophrenia, the strength of intra-network FC within the bilateral caudate was positively correlated with the speech-detection performance under the speech-masking conditions. Compared to controls, patients showed altered spatial activity pattern and decreased intra-network FC in the caudate. In people with schizophrenia, the declined speech-detection performance under speech-on-speech masking conditions is associated with reduced intra-caudate functional connectivity, which normally contributes to detecting target speech against speech masking via its functions of suppressing masking-speech signals.

Spontaneously emerging cortical representations of visual attributes

Science.gov (United States)

Kenet, Tal; Bibitchkov, Dmitri; Tsodyks, Misha; Grinvald, Amiram; Arieli, Amos

2003-10-01

Spontaneous cortical activity-ongoing activity in the absence of intentional sensory input-has been studied extensively, using methods ranging from EEG (electroencephalography), through voltage sensitive dye imaging, down to recordings from single neurons. Ongoing cortical activity has been shown to play a critical role in development, and must also be essential for processing sensory perception, because it modulates stimulus-evoked activity, and is correlated with behaviour. Yet its role in the processing of external information and its relationship to internal representations of sensory attributes remains unknown. Using voltage sensitive dye imaging, we previously established a close link between ongoing activity in the visual cortex of anaesthetized cats and the spontaneous firing of a single neuron. Here we report that such activity encompasses a set of dynamically switching cortical states, many of which correspond closely to orientation maps. When such an orientation state emerged spontaneously, it spanned several hypercolumns and was often followed by a state corresponding to a proximal orientation. We suggest that dynamically switching cortical states could represent the brain's internal context, and therefore reflect or influence memory, perception and behaviour.

Electronic Health Record for Temporomandibular Joint Disorders – Support in Therapeutic Process

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hippmann, R.; Nagy, Miroslav; Dostálová, T.; Zvárová, Jana; Seydlová, M.; Feltlová, E.

2010-01-01

Roč. 6, č. 1 (2010), s. 27-32 ISSN 1801-5603 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) 1M06014 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : electronic health record * automatic speech recognition * dental cross * temporomandibular joint * temporomandibular joint disorders * structured data entry * dentistry * data model * text-to-speech system * Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science http://www.ejbi.org/en/ejbi/article/25-en- electronic - health - record -for-temporomandibular-joint-disorders-support-in-therapeutic-process.html

Speech disorder prevention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miladis Fornaris-Méndez

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Language therapy has trafficked from a medical focus until a preventive focus. However, difficulties are evidenced in the development of this last task, because he is devoted bigger space to the correction of the disorders of the language. Because the speech disorders is the dysfunction with more frequently appearance, acquires special importance the preventive work that is developed to avoid its appearance. Speech education since early age of the childhood makes work easier for prevent the appearance of speech disorders in the children. The present work has as objective to offer different activities for the prevention of the speech disorders.

Magneto encephalography (MEG: perspectives of speech areas functional mapping in human subjects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Butorina A. V.

2012-06-01

Full Text Available One of the main problems in clinical practice and academic research is how to localize speech zones in the human brain. Two speech areas (Broca and Wernicke areas that are responsible for language production and for understanding of written and spoken language have been known since the past century. Their location and even hemispheric lateralization have a substantial inter-individual variability, especially in neurosurgery patients. Wada test is one of the most frequently used invasive methodology for speech hemispheric lateralization in neurosurgery patients. However, besides relatively high-risk of Wada test for patient's health, it has its own limitation, e. g. low reliability of Wada-based evidence of verbal memory brain lateralization. Therefore, there is an urgent need for non-invasive, reliable methods of speech zones mapping.The current review summarizes the recent experimental evidence from magnitoencephalographic (MEG research suggesting that speech areas are included in the speech processing within the first 200 ms after the word onset. The electro-magnetic response to deviant word, mismatch negativity wave with latency of 100—200 ms, can be recorded from auditory cortex within the oddball-paradigm. We provide the arguments that basic features of this brain response, such as its automatic, pre-attentive nature, high signal to noise ratio, source localization at superior temporal sulcus, make it a promising vehicle for non-invasive MEG-based speech areas mapping in neurosurgery.

Speech and Speech-Related Quality of Life After Late Palate Repair: A Patient's Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Schönmeyr, Björn; Wendby, Lisa; Sharma, Mitali; Jacobson, Lia; Restrepo, Carolina; Campbell, Alex

2015-07-01

Many patients with cleft palate deformities worldwide receive treatment at a later age than is recommended for normal speech to develop. The outcomes after late palate repairs in terms of speech and quality of life (QOL) still remain largely unstudied. In the current study, questionnaires were used to assess the patients' perception of speech and QOL before and after primary palate repair. All of the patients were operated at a cleft center in northeast India and had a cleft palate with a normal lip or with a cleft lip that had been previously repaired. A total of 134 patients (7-35 years) were interviewed preoperatively and 46 patients (7-32 years) were assessed in the postoperative survey. The survey showed that scores based on the speech handicap index, concerning speech and speech-related QOL, did not improve postoperatively. In fact, the questionnaires indicated that the speech became more unpredictable (P reported that their self-confidence had improved after the operation. Thus, the majority of interviewed patients who underwent late primary palate repair were satisfied with the surgery. At the same time, speech and speech-related QOL did not improve according to the speech handicap index-based survey. Speech predictability may even become worse and nasal regurgitation may increase after late palate repair, according to these results.

Visual Speech Fills in Both Discrimination and Identification of Non-Intact Auditory Speech in Children

Science.gov (United States)

Jerger, Susan; Damian, Markus F.; McAlpine, Rachel P.; Abdi, Herve

2018-01-01

To communicate, children must discriminate and identify speech sounds. Because visual speech plays an important role in this process, we explored how visual speech influences phoneme discrimination and identification by children. Critical items had intact visual speech (e.g. baez) coupled to non-intact (excised onsets) auditory speech (signified…

Tackling the complexity in speech

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

section includes four carefully selected chapters. They deal with facets of speech production, speech acoustics, and/or speech perception or recognition, place them in an integrated phonetic-phonological perspective, and relate them in more or less explicit ways to aspects of speech technology. Therefore......, we hope that this volume can help speech scientists with traditional training in phonetics and phonology to keep up with the latest developments in speech technology. In the opposite direction, speech researchers starting from a technological perspective will hopefully get inspired by reading about...... the questions, phenomena, and communicative functions that are currently addressed in phonetics and phonology. Either way, the future of speech research lies in international, interdisciplinary collaborations, and our volume is meant to reflect and facilitate such collaborations...

Suppression of the µ rhythm during speech and non-speech discrimination revealed by independent component analysis: implications for sensorimotor integration in speech processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowers, Andrew; Saltuklaroglu, Tim; Harkrider, Ashley; Cuellar, Megan

2013-01-01

Constructivist theories propose that articulatory hypotheses about incoming phonetic targets may function to enhance perception by limiting the possibilities for sensory analysis. To provide evidence for this proposal, it is necessary to map ongoing, high-temporal resolution changes in sensorimotor activity (i.e., the sensorimotor μ rhythm) to accurate speech and non-speech discrimination performance (i.e., correct trials.). Sixteen participants (15 female and 1 male) were asked to passively listen to or actively identify speech and tone-sweeps in a two-force choice discrimination task while the electroencephalograph (EEG) was recorded from 32 channels. The stimuli were presented at signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) in which discrimination accuracy was high (i.e., 80-100%) and low SNRs producing discrimination performance at chance. EEG data were decomposed using independent component analysis and clustered across participants using principle component methods in EEGLAB. ICA revealed left and right sensorimotor µ components for 14/16 and 13/16 participants respectively that were identified on the basis of scalp topography, spectral peaks, and localization to the precentral and postcentral gyri. Time-frequency analysis of left and right lateralized µ component clusters revealed significant (pFDRspeech discrimination trials relative to chance trials following stimulus offset. Findings are consistent with constructivist, internal model theories proposing that early forward motor models generate predictions about likely phonemic units that are then synthesized with incoming sensory cues during active as opposed to passive processing. Future directions and possible translational value for clinical populations in which sensorimotor integration may play a functional role are discussed.

Left Superior Temporal Gyrus Is Coupled to Attended Speech in a Cocktail-Party Auditory Scene.

Science.gov (United States)

Vander Ghinst, Marc; Bourguignon, Mathieu; Op de Beeck, Marc; Wens, Vincent; Marty, Brice; Hassid, Sergio; Choufani, Georges; Jousmäki, Veikko; Hari, Riitta; Van Bogaert, Patrick; Goldman, Serge; De Tiège, Xavier

2016-02-03

Using a continuous listening task, we evaluated the coupling between the listener's cortical activity and the temporal envelopes of different sounds in a multitalker auditory scene using magnetoencephalography and corticovocal coherence analysis. Neuromagnetic signals were recorded from 20 right-handed healthy adult humans who listened to five different recorded stories (attended speech streams), one without any multitalker background (No noise) and four mixed with a "cocktail party" multitalker background noise at four signal-to-noise ratios (5, 0, -5, and -10 dB) to produce speech-in-noise mixtures, here referred to as Global scene. Coherence analysis revealed that the modulations of the attended speech stream, presented without multitalker background, were coupled at ∼0.5 Hz to the activity of both superior temporal gyri, whereas the modulations at 4-8 Hz were coupled to the activity of the right supratemporal auditory cortex. In cocktail party conditions, with the multitalker background noise, the coupling was at both frequencies stronger for the attended speech stream than for the unattended Multitalker background. The coupling strengths decreased as the Multitalker background increased. During the cocktail party conditions, the ∼0.5 Hz coupling became left-hemisphere dominant, compared with bilateral coupling without the multitalker background, whereas the 4-8 Hz coupling remained right-hemisphere lateralized in both conditions. The brain activity was not coupled to the multitalker background or to its individual talkers. The results highlight the key role of listener's left superior temporal gyri in extracting the slow ∼0.5 Hz modulations, likely reflecting the attended speech stream within a multitalker auditory scene. When people listen to one person in a "cocktail party," their auditory cortex mainly follows the attended speech stream rather than the entire auditory scene. However, how the brain extracts the attended speech stream from the whole

Speech in spinocerebellar ataxia.

Science.gov (United States)

Schalling, Ellika; Hartelius, Lena

2013-12-01

Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are a heterogeneous group of autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxias clinically characterized by progressive ataxia, dysarthria and a range of other concomitant neurological symptoms. Only a few studies include detailed characterization of speech symptoms in SCA. Speech symptoms in SCA resemble ataxic dysarthria but symptoms related to phonation may be more prominent. One study to date has shown an association between differences in speech and voice symptoms related to genotype. More studies of speech and voice phenotypes are motivated, to possibly aid in clinical diagnosis. In addition, instrumental speech analysis has been demonstrated to be a reliable measure that may be used to monitor disease progression or therapy outcomes in possible future pharmacological treatments. Intervention by speech and language pathologists should go beyond assessment. Clinical guidelines for management of speech, communication and swallowing need to be developed for individuals with progressive cerebellar ataxia. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An exploration of the potential of Automatic Speech Recognition to assist and enable receptive communication in higher education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mike Wald

2006-12-01

Full Text Available The potential use of Automatic Speech Recognition to assist receptive communication is explored. The opportunities and challenges that this technology presents students and staff to provide captioning of speech online or in classrooms for deaf or hard of hearing students and assist blind, visually impaired or dyslexic learners to read and search learning material more readily by augmenting synthetic speech with natural recorded real speech is also discussed and evaluated. The automatic provision of online lecture notes, synchronised with speech, enables staff and students to focus on learning and teaching issues, while also benefiting learners unable to attend the lecture or who find it difficult or impossible to take notes at the same time as listening, watching and thinking.

Eyes and ears: Using eye tracking and pupillometry to understand challenges to speech recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Engen, Kristin J; McLaughlin, Drew J

2018-05-04

Although human speech recognition is often experienced as relatively effortless, a number of common challenges can render the task more difficult. Such challenges may originate in talkers (e.g., unfamiliar accents, varying speech styles), the environment (e.g. noise), or in listeners themselves (e.g., hearing loss, aging, different native language backgrounds). Each of these challenges can reduce the intelligibility of spoken language, but even when intelligibility remains high, they can place greater processing demands on listeners. Noisy conditions, for example, can lead to poorer recall for speech, even when it has been correctly understood. Speech intelligibility measures, memory tasks, and subjective reports of listener difficulty all provide critical information about the effects of such challenges on speech recognition. Eye tracking and pupillometry complement these methods by providing objective physiological measures of online cognitive processing during listening. Eye tracking records the moment-to-moment direction of listeners' visual attention, which is closely time-locked to unfolding speech signals, and pupillometry measures the moment-to-moment size of listeners' pupils, which dilate in response to increased cognitive load. In this paper, we review the uses of these two methods for studying challenges to speech recognition. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Predicting Speech Intelligibility with a Multiple Speech Subsystems Approach in Children with Cerebral Palsy

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jimin; Hustad, Katherine C.; Weismer, Gary

2014-01-01

Purpose: Speech acoustic characteristics of children with cerebral palsy (CP) were examined with a multiple speech subsystems approach; speech intelligibility was evaluated using a prediction model in which acoustic measures were selected to represent three speech subsystems. Method: Nine acoustic variables reflecting different subsystems, and…

Developmental changes in brain activation involved in the production of novel speech sounds in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Hashizume, Hiroshi; Taki, Yasuyuki; Sassa, Yuko; Thyreau, Benjamin; Asano, Michiko; Asano, Kohei; Takeuchi, Hikaru; Nouchi, Rui; Kotozaki, Yuka; Jeong, Hyeonjeong; Sugiura, Motoaki; Kawashima, Ryuta

2014-08-01

Older children are more successful at producing unfamiliar, non-native speech sounds than younger children during the initial stages of learning. To reveal the neuronal underpinning of the age-related increase in the accuracy of non-native speech production, we examined the developmental changes in activation involved in the production of novel speech sounds using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Healthy right-handed children (aged 6-18 years) were scanned while performing an overt repetition task and a perceptual task involving aurally presented non-native and native syllables. Productions of non-native speech sounds were recorded and evaluated by native speakers. The mouth regions in the bilateral primary sensorimotor areas were activated more significantly during the repetition task relative to the perceptual task. The hemodynamic response in the left inferior frontal gyrus pars opercularis (IFG pOp) specific to non-native speech sound production (defined by prior hypothesis) increased with age. Additionally, the accuracy of non-native speech sound production increased with age. These results provide the first evidence of developmental changes in the neural processes underlying the production of novel speech sounds. Our data further suggest that the recruitment of the left IFG pOp during the production of novel speech sounds was possibly enhanced due to the maturation of the neuronal circuits needed for speech motor planning. This, in turn, would lead to improvement in the ability to immediately imitate non-native speech. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A causal test of the motor theory of speech perception: a case of impaired speech production and spared speech perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Stasenko, Alena; Bonn, Cory; Teghipco, Alex; Garcea, Frank E; Sweet, Catherine; Dombovy, Mary; McDonough, Joyce; Mahon, Bradford Z

2015-01-01

The debate about the causal role of the motor system in speech perception has been reignited by demonstrations that motor processes are engaged during the processing of speech sounds. Here, we evaluate which aspects of auditory speech processing are affected, and which are not, in a stroke patient with dysfunction of the speech motor system. We found that the patient showed a normal phonemic categorical boundary when discriminating two non-words that differ by a minimal pair (e.g., ADA-AGA). However, using the same stimuli, the patient was unable to identify or label the non-word stimuli (using a button-press response). A control task showed that he could identify speech sounds by speaker gender, ruling out a general labelling impairment. These data suggest that while the motor system is not causally involved in perception of the speech signal, it may be used when other cues (e.g., meaning, context) are not available.

Effect of cognitive load on speech prosody in aviation: Evidence from military simulator flights.

Science.gov (United States)

Huttunen, Kerttu; Keränen, Heikki; Väyrynen, Eero; Pääkkönen, Rauno; Leino, Tuomo

2011-01-01

Mental overload directly affects safety in aviation and needs to be alleviated. Speech recordings are obtained non-invasively and as such are feasible for monitoring cognitive load. We recorded speech of 13 military pilots while they were performing a simulator task. Three types of cognitive load (load on situation awareness, information processing and decision making) were rated by a flight instructor separately for each flight phase and participant. As a function of increased cognitive load, the mean utterance-level fundamental frequency (F0) increased, on average, by 7 Hz and the mean vocal intensity increased by 1 dB. In the most intensive simulator flight phases, mean F0 increased by 12 Hz and mean intensity, by 1.5 dB. At the same time, the mean F0 range decreased by 5 Hz, on average. Our results showed that prosodic features of speech can be used to monitor speaker state and support pilot training in a simulator environment. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

The Relationship between Speech Production and Speech Perception Deficits in Parkinson's Disease

Science.gov (United States)

De Keyser, Kim; Santens, Patrick; Bockstael, Annelies; Botteldooren, Dick; Talsma, Durk; De Vos, Stefanie; Van Cauwenberghe, Mieke; Verheugen, Femke; Corthals, Paul; De Letter, Miet

2016-01-01

Purpose: This study investigated the possible relationship between hypokinetic speech production and speech intensity perception in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Method: Participants included 14 patients with idiopathic PD and 14 matched healthy controls (HCs) with normal hearing and cognition. First, speech production was objectified…

Visual speech information: a help or hindrance in perceptual processing of dysarthric speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Borrie, Stephanie A

2015-03-01

This study investigated the influence of visual speech information on perceptual processing of neurologically degraded speech. Fifty listeners identified spastic dysarthric speech under both audio (A) and audiovisual (AV) conditions. Condition comparisons revealed that the addition of visual speech information enhanced processing of the neurologically degraded input in terms of (a) acuity (percent phonemes correct) of vowels and consonants and (b) recognition (percent words correct) of predictive and nonpredictive phrases. Listeners exploited stress-based segmentation strategies more readily in AV conditions, suggesting that the perceptual benefit associated with adding visual speech information to the auditory signal-the AV advantage-has both segmental and suprasegmental origins. Results also revealed that the magnitude of the AV advantage can be predicted, to some degree, by the extent to which an individual utilizes syllabic stress cues to inform word recognition in AV conditions. Findings inform the development of a listener-specific model of speech perception that applies to processing of dysarthric speech in everyday communication contexts.

The treatment of apraxia of speech : Speech and music therapy, an innovative joint effort

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hurkmans, Josephus Johannes Stephanus

2016-01-01

Apraxia of Speech (AoS) is a neurogenic speech disorder. A wide variety of behavioural methods have been developed to treat AoS. Various therapy programmes use musical elements to improve speech production. A unique therapy programme combining elements of speech therapy and music therapy is called

Look Who’s Talking NOW! Parentese Speech, Social Context, and Language Development Across Time

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nairán Ramírez-Esparza

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In previous studies, we found that the social interactions infants experience in their everyday lives at 11- and 14-months of age affect language ability at 24 months of age. These studies investigated relationships between the speech style (i.e., parentese speech vs. standard speech and social context [i.e., one-on-one (1:1 vs. group] of language input in infancy and later speech development (i.e., at 24 months of age, controlling for socioeconomic status (SES. Results showed that the amount of exposure to parentese speech-1:1 in infancy was related to productive vocabulary at 24 months. The general goal of the present study was to investigate changes in (1 the pattern of social interactions between caregivers and their children from infancy to childhood and (2 relationships among speech style, social context, and language learning across time. Our study sample consisted of 30 participants from the previously published infant studies, evaluated at 33 months of age. Social interactions were assessed at home using digital first-person perspective recordings of the auditory environment. We found that caregivers use less parentese speech-1:1, and more standard speech-1:1, as their children get older. Furthermore, we found that the effects of parentese speech-1:1 in infancy on later language development at 24 months persist at 33 months of age. Finally, we found that exposure to standard speech-1:1 in childhood was the only social interaction that related to concurrent word production/use. Mediation analyses showed that standard speech-1:1 in childhood fully mediated the effects of parentese speech-1:1 in infancy on language development in childhood, controlling for SES. This study demonstrates that engaging in one-on-one interactions in infancy and later in life has important implications for language development.

Practical speech user interface design

CERN Document Server

Lewis, James R

2010-01-01

Although speech is the most natural form of communication between humans, most people find using speech to communicate with machines anything but natural. Drawing from psychology, human-computer interaction, linguistics, and communication theory, Practical Speech User Interface Design provides a comprehensive yet concise survey of practical speech user interface (SUI) design. It offers practice-based and research-based guidance on how to design effective, efficient, and pleasant speech applications that people can really use. Focusing on the design of speech user interfaces for IVR application

Audiovisual cues benefit recognition of accented speech in noise but not perceptual adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

Banks, Briony; Gowen, Emma; Munro, Kevin J; Adank, Patti

2015-01-01

Perceptual adaptation allows humans to recognize different varieties of accented speech. We investigated whether perceptual adaptation to accented speech is facilitated if listeners can see a speaker's facial and mouth movements. In Study 1, participants listened to sentences in a novel accent and underwent a period of training with audiovisual or audio-only speech cues, presented in quiet or in background noise. A control group also underwent training with visual-only (speech-reading) cues. We observed no significant difference in perceptual adaptation between any of the groups. To address a number of remaining questions, we carried out a second study using a different accent, speaker and experimental design, in which participants listened to sentences in a non-native (Japanese) accent with audiovisual or audio-only cues, without separate training. Participants' eye gaze was recorded to verify that they looked at the speaker's face during audiovisual trials. Recognition accuracy was significantly better for audiovisual than for audio-only stimuli; however, no statistical difference in perceptual adaptation was observed between the two modalities. Furthermore, Bayesian analysis suggested that the data supported the null hypothesis. Our results suggest that although the availability of visual speech cues may be immediately beneficial for recognition of unfamiliar accented speech in noise, it does not improve perceptual adaptation.

Common cues to emotion in the dynamic facial expressions of speech and song.

Science.gov (United States)

Livingstone, Steven R; Thompson, William F; Wanderley, Marcelo M; Palmer, Caroline

2015-01-01

Speech and song are universal forms of vocalization that may share aspects of emotional expression. Research has focused on parallels in acoustic features, overlooking facial cues to emotion. In three experiments, we compared moving facial expressions in speech and song. In Experiment 1, vocalists spoke and sang statements each with five emotions. Vocalists exhibited emotion-dependent movements of the eyebrows and lip corners that transcended speech-song differences. Vocalists' jaw movements were coupled to their acoustic intensity, exhibiting differences across emotion and speech-song. Vocalists' emotional movements extended beyond vocal sound to include large sustained expressions, suggesting a communicative function. In Experiment 2, viewers judged silent videos of vocalists' facial expressions prior to, during, and following vocalization. Emotional intentions were identified accurately for movements during and after vocalization, suggesting that these movements support the acoustic message. Experiment 3 compared emotional identification in voice-only, face-only, and face-and-voice recordings. Emotion judgements for voice-only singing were poorly identified, yet were accurate for all other conditions, confirming that facial expressions conveyed emotion more accurately than the voice in song, yet were equivalent in speech. Collectively, these findings highlight broad commonalities in the facial cues to emotion in speech and song, yet highlight differences in perception and acoustic-motor production.

Spontaneous Vesicle Fusion Is Differentially Regulated at Cholinergic and GABAergic Synapses

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Haowen Liu

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The locomotion of C. elegans is balanced by excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter release at neuromuscular junctions. However, the molecular mechanisms that maintain the balance of synaptic transmission remain enigmatic. Here, we investigated the function of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels in triggering spontaneous release at cholinergic and GABAergic synapses. Recordings of the miniature excitatory/inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs and mIPSCs, respectively showed that UNC-2/CaV2 and EGL-19/CaV1 channels are the two major triggers for spontaneous release. Notably, however, Ca2+-independent spontaneous release was observed at GABAergic but not cholinergic synapses. Functional screening led to the identification of hypomorphic unc-64/Syntaxin-1A and snb-1/VAMP2 mutants in which mEPSCs are severely impaired, whereas mIPSCs remain unaltered, indicating differential regulation of these currents at cholinergic and GABAergic synapses. Moreover, Ca2+-independent spontaneous GABA release was nearly abolished in the hypomorphic unc-64 and snb-1 mutants, suggesting distinct mechanisms for Ca2+-dependent and Ca2+-independent spontaneous release.

Motor Speech Phenotypes of Frontotemporal Dementia, Primary Progressive Aphasia, and Progressive Apraxia of Speech

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Poole, Matthew L.; Brodtmann, Amy; Darby, David; Vogel, Adam P.

2017-01-01

Purpose: Our purpose was to create a comprehensive review of speech impairment in frontotemporal dementia (FTD), primary progressive aphasia (PPA), and progressive apraxia of speech in order to identify the most effective measures for diagnosis and monitoring, and to elucidate associations between speech and neuroimaging. Method: Speech and…

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum on CT : related condition and its clinical significance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Sung Hyun; Im, Jung Gi; Seo, Joon Beom; Park, Jae Hyung; Yeon, Kyung Mo; Han, Man Chung

1998-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to tabulate underlying disease and to assess the clinical significance of CT-diagnosed spontaneous pneumomediastinum. We retrospectively reviewed CT scans and medical records of 11 consecutive patients with spontaneous pneumomediastinum, and analyzed their clinical history and course, and in five cases, pulmonary function. CT scans of 126 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPE) collected while the 11 consecutive patients were being treated were analyzed for the prevalence of pneumomediastinum. We analyzed CT findings with respect to the amount and distribution of air in the mediastinum, and the presence of absence of air outside the mediastinum. Spontaneous pneumomediastinum might be associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and might be a poor prognostic factor in patients with IPE or BOOP. (author). 18 refs., 2 figs

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum on CT : related condition and its clinical significance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Sung Hyun; Im, Jung Gi; Seo, Joon Beom; Park, Jae Hyung; Yeon, Kyung Mo; Han, Man Chung [Seoul National Univ. (Korea, Republic of). Coll. of Medicine

1998-03-01

The purpose of this paper is to tabulate underlying disease and to assess the clinical significance of CT-diagnosed spontaneous pneumomediastinum. We retrospectively reviewed CT scans and medical records of 11 consecutive patients with spontaneous pneumomediastinum, and analyzed their clinical history and course, and in five cases, pulmonary function. CT scans of 126 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPE) collected while the 11 consecutive patients were being treated were analyzed for the prevalence of pneumomediastinum. We analyzed CT findings with respect to the amount and distribution of air in the mediastinum, and the presence of absence of air outside the mediastinum. Spontaneous pneumomediastinum might be associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and might be a poor prognostic factor in patients with IPE or BOOP. (author). 18 refs., 2 figs.

Modeling of Slovak Language for Broadcast News Transcription

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

STAŠ Ján

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The paper describes recent progress in the development the Slovak language models for transcription of spontaneous speech such as broadcast news, educational talks and lectures, or meetings. This work extends previous research oriented on the automatic transcription of dictated speech and brings some new extensions for improving perplexity and robustness of the Slovak language models trained on the web-based and electronic language resources for being more precise in recognition of spontaneous speech. These improvements include better text preprocessing, document classification, class-based and filled pauses modeling, web-data augmentation and fast model adaptation to the target domain. Experiments have been performed on the four different evaluation data sets, including judicial and newspaper readings, broadcast news recordings and parliament proceedings with the Slovak transcription system. Preliminary results show significant decrease of the word error rate for multiple transcription system configurations of acoustic and language models.

An analysis of the masking of speech by competing speech using self-report data.

Science.gov (United States)

Agus, Trevor R; Akeroyd, Michael A; Noble, William; Bhullar, Navjot

2009-01-01

Many of the items in the "Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing" scale questionnaire [S. Gatehouse and W. Noble, Int. J. Audiol. 43, 85-99 (2004)] are concerned with speech understanding in a variety of backgrounds, both speech and nonspeech. To study if this self-report data reflected informational masking, previously collected data on 414 people were analyzed. The lowest scores (greatest difficulties) were found for the two items in which there were two speech targets, with successively higher scores for competing speech (six items), energetic masking (one item), and no masking (three items). The results suggest significant masking by competing speech in everyday listening situations.

Feasibility study to assess clinical applications of 3-T cine MRI coupled with synchronous audio recording during speech in evaluation of velopharyngeal insufficiency in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Sagar, Pallavi; Nimkin, Katherine

2015-02-01

In the past decade, there has been increased utilization of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in evaluating and understanding velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI). To our knowledge, none of the prior studies with MRI has simultaneously linked the audio recordings of speech during cine MRI acquisition with the corresponding images and created a video for evaluating VPI. To develop an MRI protocol with static and cine sequences during phonation to evaluate for VPI in children and compare the findings to nasopharyngoscopy and videofluoroscopy. Five children, ages 8-16 years, with known VPI, who had previously undergone nasopharyngoscopy and videofluoroscopy, were included. MRI examination was performed on a 3-T Siemens scanner. Anatomical data was obtained using an isotropic T2-weighted 3-D SPACE sequence with multiplanar reformation capability. Dynamic data was obtained using 2-D FLASH cine sequences of the airway in three imaging planes during phonation. Audio recordings were captured by a MRI compatible optical microphone. All five cases had MRI and nasopharyngoscopy and four had videofluoroscopy performed. VPI was identified by MRI in all five patients. The location and severity of the velopharyngeal gap, closure pattern, velar size and shape and levator veli palatini (LVP) muscle were identified in all patients. MRI was superior in visualizing the integrity of the LVP muscle. MRI was unable to identify hemipalatal weakness in one case. In a case of stress-induced VPI, occurring only during clarinet playing, cine MRI demonstrated discordant findings of a velopharyngeal gap during phonatory tasks but not with instrument playing. Overall, there was satisfactory correlation among MRI, nasopharyngoscopy and videofluoroscopy findings. Cine MRI of the airway during speech is a noninvasive, well-tolerated diagnostic imaging tool that has the potential to serve as a guide prior to and after surgical correction of VPI. MRI provided superior anatomical detail of the levator

Feasibility study to assess clinical applications of 3-T cine MRI coupled with synchronous audio recording during speech in evaluation of velopharyngeal insufficiency in children

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sagar, Pallavi; Nimkin, Katherine

2015-01-01

In the past decade, there has been increased utilization of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in evaluating and understanding velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI). To our knowledge, none of the prior studies with MRI has simultaneously linked the audio recordings of speech during cine MRI acquisition with the corresponding images and created a video for evaluating VPI. To develop an MRI protocol with static and cine sequences during phonation to evaluate for VPI in children and compare the findings to nasopharyngoscopy and videofluoroscopy. Five children, ages 8-16 years, with known VPI, who had previously undergone nasopharyngoscopy and videofluoroscopy, were included. MRI examination was performed on a 3-T Siemens scanner. Anatomical data was obtained using an isotropic T2-weighted 3-D SPACE sequence with multiplanar reformation capability. Dynamic data was obtained using 2-D FLASH cine sequences of the airway in three imaging planes during phonation. Audio recordings were captured by a MRI compatible optical microphone. All five cases had MRI and nasopharyngoscopy and four had videofluoroscopy performed. VPI was identified by MRI in all five patients. The location and severity of the velopharyngeal gap, closure pattern, velar size and shape and levator veli palatini (LVP) muscle were identified in all patients. MRI was superior in visualizing the integrity of the LVP muscle. MRI was unable to identify hemipalatal weakness in one case. In a case of stress-induced VPI, occurring only during clarinet playing, cine MRI demonstrated discordant findings of a velopharyngeal gap during phonatory tasks but not with instrument playing. Overall, there was satisfactory correlation among MRI, nasopharyngoscopy and videofluoroscopy findings. Cine MRI of the airway during speech is a noninvasive, well-tolerated diagnostic imaging tool that has the potential to serve as a guide prior to and after surgical correction of VPI. MRI provided superior anatomical detail of the levator

Feasibility study to assess clinical applications of 3-T cine MRI coupled with synchronous audio recording during speech in evaluation of velopharyngeal insufficiency in children

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sagar, Pallavi; Nimkin, Katherine [Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Radiology, Division of Pediatric Radiology, Boston, MA (United States)

2014-08-16

In the past decade, there has been increased utilization of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in evaluating and understanding velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI). To our knowledge, none of the prior studies with MRI has simultaneously linked the audio recordings of speech during cine MRI acquisition with the corresponding images and created a video for evaluating VPI. To develop an MRI protocol with static and cine sequences during phonation to evaluate for VPI in children and compare the findings to nasopharyngoscopy and videofluoroscopy. Five children, ages 8-16 years, with known VPI, who had previously undergone nasopharyngoscopy and videofluoroscopy, were included. MRI examination was performed on a 3-T Siemens scanner. Anatomical data was obtained using an isotropic T2-weighted 3-D SPACE sequence with multiplanar reformation capability. Dynamic data was obtained using 2-D FLASH cine sequences of the airway in three imaging planes during phonation. Audio recordings were captured by a MRI compatible optical microphone. All five cases had MRI and nasopharyngoscopy and four had videofluoroscopy performed. VPI was identified by MRI in all five patients. The location and severity of the velopharyngeal gap, closure pattern, velar size and shape and levator veli palatini (LVP) muscle were identified in all patients. MRI was superior in visualizing the integrity of the LVP muscle. MRI was unable to identify hemipalatal weakness in one case. In a case of stress-induced VPI, occurring only during clarinet playing, cine MRI demonstrated discordant findings of a velopharyngeal gap during phonatory tasks but not with instrument playing. Overall, there was satisfactory correlation among MRI, nasopharyngoscopy and videofluoroscopy findings. Cine MRI of the airway during speech is a noninvasive, well-tolerated diagnostic imaging tool that has the potential to serve as a guide prior to and after surgical correction of VPI. MRI provided superior anatomical detail of the levator

Perception of co-speech gestures in aphasic patients: a visual exploration study during the observation of dyadic conversations.

Science.gov (United States)

Preisig, Basil C; Eggenberger, Noëmi; Zito, Giuseppe; Vanbellingen, Tim; Schumacher, Rahel; Hopfner, Simone; Nyffeler, Thomas; Gutbrod, Klemens; Annoni, Jean-Marie; Bohlhalter, Stephan; Müri, René M

2015-03-01

Co-speech gestures are part of nonverbal communication during conversations. They either support the verbal message or provide the interlocutor with additional information. Furthermore, they prompt as nonverbal cues the cooperative process of turn taking. In the present study, we investigated the influence of co-speech gestures on the perception of dyadic dialogue in aphasic patients. In particular, we analysed the impact of co-speech gestures on gaze direction (towards speaker or listener) and fixation of body parts. We hypothesized that aphasic patients, who are restricted in verbal comprehension, adapt their visual exploration strategies. Sixteen aphasic patients and 23 healthy control subjects participated in the study. Visual exploration behaviour was measured by means of a contact-free infrared eye-tracker while subjects were watching videos depicting spontaneous dialogues between two individuals. Cumulative fixation duration and mean fixation duration were calculated for the factors co-speech gesture (present and absent), gaze direction (to the speaker or to the listener), and region of interest (ROI), including hands, face, and body. Both aphasic patients and healthy controls mainly fixated the speaker's face. We found a significant co-speech gesture × ROI interaction, indicating that the presence of a co-speech gesture encouraged subjects to look at the speaker. Further, there was a significant gaze direction × ROI × group interaction revealing that aphasic patients showed reduced cumulative fixation duration on the speaker's face compared to healthy controls. Co-speech gestures guide the observer's attention towards the speaker, the source of semantic input. It is discussed whether an underlying semantic processing deficit or a deficit to integrate audio-visual information may cause aphasic patients to explore less the speaker's face. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neural pathways for visual speech perception

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Lynne E Bernstein

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the questions, what levels of speech can be perceived visually, and how is visual speech represented by the brain? Review of the literature leads to the conclusions that every level of psycholinguistic speech structure (i.e., phonetic features, phonemes, syllables, words, and prosody can be perceived visually, although individuals differ in their abilities to do so; and that there are visual modality-specific representations of speech qua speech in higher-level vision brain areas. That is, the visual system represents the modal patterns of visual speech. The suggestion that the auditory speech pathway receives and represents visual speech is examined in light of neuroimaging evidence on the auditory speech pathways. We outline the generally agreed-upon organization of the visual ventral and dorsal pathways and examine several types of visual processing that might be related to speech through those pathways, specifically, face and body, orthography, and sign language processing. In this context, we examine the visual speech processing literature, which reveals widespread diverse patterns activity in posterior temporal cortices in response to visual speech stimuli. We outline a model of the visual and auditory speech pathways and make several suggestions: (1 The visual perception of speech relies on visual pathway representations of speech qua speech. (2 A proposed site of these representations, the temporal visual speech area (TVSA has been demonstrated in posterior temporal cortex, ventral and posterior to multisensory posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS. (3 Given that visual speech has dynamic and configural features, its representations in feedforward visual pathways are expected to integrate these features, possibly in TVSA.

Recurrence Quantification Analysis of Sentence-Level Speech Kinematics.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Eric S; Tiede, Mark; Riley, Michael A; Whalen, D H

2016-12-01

Current approaches to assessing sentence-level speech variability rely on measures that quantify variability across utterances and use normalization procedures that alter raw trajectory data. The current work tests the feasibility of a less restrictive nonlinear approach-recurrence quantification analysis (RQA)-via a procedural example and subsequent analysis of kinematic data. To test the feasibility of RQA, lip aperture (i.e., the Euclidean distance between lip-tracking sensors) was recorded for 21 typically developing adult speakers during production of a simple utterance. The utterance was produced in isolation and in carrier structures differing just in length or in length and complexity. Four RQA indices were calculated: percent recurrence (%REC), percent determinism (%DET), stability (MAXLINE), and stationarity (TREND). Percent determinism (%DET) decreased only for the most linguistically complex sentence; MAXLINE decreased as a function of linguistic complexity but increased for the longer-only sentence; TREND decreased as a function of both length and linguistic complexity. This research note demonstrates the feasibility of using RQA as a tool to compare speech variability across speakers and groups. RQA offers promise as a technique to assess effects of potential stressors (e.g., linguistic or cognitive factors) on the speech production system.

Part-of-speech effects on text-to-speech synthesis

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Schlunz, GI

2010-11-01

Full Text Available One of the goals of text-to-speech (TTS) systems is to produce natural-sounding synthesised speech. Towards this end various natural language processing (NLP) tasks are performed to model the prosodic aspects of the TTS voice. One of the fundamental...

Selective Attention Enhances Beta-Band Cortical Oscillation to Speech under “Cocktail-Party” Listening Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Yayue; Wang, Qian; Ding, Yu; Wang, Changming; Li, Haifeng; Wu, Xihong; Qu, Tianshu; Li, Liang

2017-01-01

Human listeners are able to selectively attend to target speech in a noisy environment with multiple-people talking. Using recordings of scalp electroencephalogram (EEG), this study investigated how selective attention facilitates the cortical representation of target speech under a simulated “cocktail-party” listening condition with speech-on-speech masking. The result shows that the cortical representation of target-speech signals under the multiple-people talking condition was specifically improved by selective attention relative to the non-selective-attention listening condition, and the beta-band activity was most strongly modulated by selective attention. Moreover, measured with the Granger Causality value, selective attention to the single target speech in the mixed-speech complex enhanced the following four causal connectivities for the beta-band oscillation: the ones (1) from site FT7 to the right motor area, (2) from the left frontal area to the right motor area, (3) from the central frontal area to the right motor area, and (4) from the central frontal area to the right frontal area. However, the selective-attention-induced change in beta-band causal connectivity from the central frontal area to the right motor area, but not other beta-band causal connectivities, was significantly correlated with the selective-attention-induced change in the cortical beta-band representation of target speech. These findings suggest that under the “cocktail-party” listening condition, the beta-band oscillation in EEGs to target speech is specifically facilitated by selective attention to the target speech that is embedded in the mixed-speech complex. The selective attention-induced unmasking of target speech may be associated with the improved beta-band functional connectivity from the central frontal area to the right motor area, suggesting a top-down attentional modulation of the speech-motor process. PMID:28239344

75 FR 26701 - Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals With Hearing and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-12

...] Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities... proposed compensation rates for Interstate TRS, Speech-to-Speech Services (STS), Captioned Telephone... costs reported in the data submitted to NECA by VRS providers. In this regard, document DA 10-761 also...

Predicting automatic speech recognition performance over communication channels from instrumental speech quality and intelligibility scores

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gallardo, L.F.; Möller, S.; Beerends, J.

2017-01-01

The performance of automatic speech recognition based on coded-decoded speech heavily depends on the quality of the transmitted signals, determined by channel impairments. This paper examines relationships between speech recognition performance and measurements of speech quality and intelligibility

[Non-speech oral motor treatment efficacy for children with developmental speech sound disorders].

Science.gov (United States)

Ygual-Fernandez, A; Cervera-Merida, J F

2016-01-01

In the treatment of speech disorders by means of speech therapy two antagonistic methodological approaches are applied: non-verbal ones, based on oral motor exercises (OME), and verbal ones, which are based on speech processing tasks with syllables, phonemes and words. In Spain, OME programmes are called 'programas de praxias', and are widely used and valued by speech therapists. To review the studies conducted on the effectiveness of OME-based treatments applied to children with speech disorders and the theoretical arguments that could justify, or not, their usefulness. Over the last few decades evidence has been gathered about the lack of efficacy of this approach to treat developmental speech disorders and pronunciation problems in populations without any neurological alteration of motor functioning. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has advised against its use taking into account the principles of evidence-based practice. The knowledge gathered to date on motor control shows that the pattern of mobility and its corresponding organisation in the brain are different in speech and other non-verbal functions linked to nutrition and breathing. Neither the studies on their effectiveness nor the arguments based on motor control studies recommend the use of OME-based programmes for the treatment of pronunciation problems in children with developmental language disorders.

The minor third communicates sadness in speech, mirroring its use in music.

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, Meagan E; Bharucha, Jamshed J

2010-06-01

There is a long history of attempts to explain why music is perceived as expressing emotion. The relationship between pitches serves as an important cue for conveying emotion in music. The musical interval referred to as the minor third is generally thought to convey sadness. We reveal that the minor third also occurs in the pitch contour of speech conveying sadness. Bisyllabic speech samples conveying four emotions were recorded by 9 actresses. Acoustic analyses revealed that the relationship between the 2 salient pitches of the sad speech samples tended to approximate a minor third. Participants rated the speech samples for perceived emotion, and the use of numerous acoustic parameters as cues for emotional identification was modeled using regression analysis. The minor third was the most reliable cue for identifying sadness. Additional participants rated musical intervals for emotion, and their ratings verified the historical association between the musical minor third and sadness. These findings support the theory that human vocal expressions and music share an acoustic code for communicating sadness.

Top-Down Cognitive and Linguistic Influences on the Suppression of Spontaneous Otoacoustic Emissions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viorica Marian

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Auditory sensation is often thought of as a bottom-up process, yet the brain exerts top-down control to affect how and what we hear. We report the discovery that the magnitude of top-down influence varies across individuals as a result of differences in linguistic background and executive function. Participants were 32 normal-hearing individuals (23 female varying in language background (11 English monolinguals, 10 Korean-English late bilinguals, and 11 Korean-English early bilinguals, as well as cognitive abilities (working memory, cognitive control. To assess efferent control over inner ear function, participants were presented with speech-sounds (e.g., /ba/, /pa/ in one ear while spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs were measured in the contralateral ear. SOAEs are associated with the amplification of sound in the cochlea, and can be used as an index of top-down efferent activity. Individuals with bilingual experience and those with better cognitive control experienced larger reductions in the amplitude of SOAEs in response to speech stimuli, likely as a result of greater efferent suppression of amplification in the cochlea. This suppression may aid in the critical task of speech perception by minimizing the disruptive effects of noise. In contrast, individuals with better working memory exert less control over the cochlea, possibly due to a greater capacity to process complex stimuli at later stages. These findings demonstrate that even peripheral mechanics of auditory perception are shaped by top-down cognitive and linguistic influences.

75 FR 54040 - Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals With Hearing and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-03

...] Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities...; speech-to-speech (STS); pay-per-call (900) calls; types of calls; and equal access to interexchange... of a report, due April 16, 2011, addressing whether it is necessary for the waivers to remain in...

Speech evaluation with and without palatal obturator in patients submitted to maxillectomy Avaliação de fala com e sem obturador de palato em pacientes submetidos à maxilectomia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viviane de Carvalho-Teles

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Most patients who have undergone resection of the maxillae due to benign or malignant tumors in the palatomaxillary region present with speech and swallowing disorders. Coupling of the oral and nasal cavities increases nasal resonance, resulting in hypernasality and unintelligible speech. Prosthodontic rehabilitation of maxillary resections with effective separation of the oral and nasal cavities can improve speech and esthetics, and assist the psychosocial adjustment of the patient as well.The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the palatal obturator prosthesis on speech intelligibility and resonance of 23 patients with age ranging from 18 to 83 years (Mean = 49.5 years, who had undergone inframedial-structural maxillectomy. The patients were requested to count from 1 to 20, to repeat 21 words and to spontaneously speak for 15 seconds, once with and again without the prosthesis, for tape recording purposes. The resonance and speech intelligibility were judged by 5 speech language pathologists from the tape recordings samples. The results have shown that the majority of patients (82.6% significantly improved their speech intelligibility, and 16 patients (69.9% exhibited a significant hypernasality reduction with the obturator in place. The results of this study indicated that maxillary obturator prosthesis was efficient to improve the speech intelligibility and resonance in patients who had undergone maxillectomy.A maioria dos pacientes submetidos a ressecções de maxila apresenta alterações nas funções de fala e de deglutição. O acoplamento das cavidades oral e nasal resulta em hipernasalidade de graus variados e no comprometimento da inteligibilidade de fala. A reabilitação protética tem como objetivo separar as cavidades oral e nasal podendo reduzir as alterações de ordem estética, funcional e ainda melhorar o ajustamento social deste paciente. Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a eficácia da pr

Speech Acquisition and Automatic Speech Recognition for Integrated Spacesuit Audio Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yiteng; Chen, Jingdong; Chen, Shaoyan

2010-01-01

A voice-command human-machine interface system has been developed for spacesuit extravehicular activity (EVA) missions. A multichannel acoustic signal processing method has been created for distant speech acquisition in noisy and reverberant environments. This technology reduces noise by exploiting differences in the statistical nature of signal (i.e., speech) and noise that exists in the spatial and temporal domains. As a result, the automatic speech recognition (ASR) accuracy can be improved to the level at which crewmembers would find the speech interface useful. The developed speech human/machine interface will enable both crewmember usability and operational efficiency. It can enjoy a fast rate of data/text entry, small overall size, and can be lightweight. In addition, this design will free the hands and eyes of a suited crewmember. The system components and steps include beam forming/multi-channel noise reduction, single-channel noise reduction, speech feature extraction, feature transformation and normalization, feature compression, model adaption, ASR HMM (Hidden Markov Model) training, and ASR decoding. A state-of-the-art phoneme recognizer can obtain an accuracy rate of 65 percent when the training and testing data are free of noise. When it is used in spacesuits, the rate drops to about 33 percent. With the developed microphone array speech-processing technologies, the performance is improved and the phoneme recognition accuracy rate rises to 44 percent. The recognizer can be further improved by combining the microphone array and HMM model adaptation techniques and using speech samples collected from inside spacesuits. In addition, arithmetic complexity models for the major HMMbased ASR components were developed. They can help real-time ASR system designers select proper tasks when in the face of constraints in computational resources.

Technological evaluation of gesture and speech interfaces for enabling dismounted soldier-robot dialogue

Science.gov (United States)

Kattoju, Ravi Kiran; Barber, Daniel J.; Abich, Julian; Harris, Jonathan

2016-05-01

With increasing necessity for intuitive Soldier-robot communication in military operations and advancements in interactive technologies, autonomous robots have transitioned from assistance tools to functional and operational teammates able to service an array of military operations. Despite improvements in gesture and speech recognition technologies, their effectiveness in supporting Soldier-robot communication is still uncertain. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the performance of gesture and speech interface technologies to facilitate Soldier-robot communication during a spatial-navigation task with an autonomous robot. Gesture and speech semantically based spatial-navigation commands leveraged existing lexicons for visual and verbal communication from the U.S Army field manual for visual signaling and a previously established Squad Level Vocabulary (SLV). Speech commands were recorded by a Lapel microphone and Microsoft Kinect, and classified by commercial off-the-shelf automatic speech recognition (ASR) software. Visual signals were captured and classified using a custom wireless gesture glove and software. Participants in the experiment commanded a robot to complete a simulated ISR mission in a scaled down urban scenario by delivering a sequence of gesture and speech commands, both individually and simultaneously, to the robot. Performance and reliability of gesture and speech hardware interfaces and recognition tools were analyzed and reported. Analysis of experimental results demonstrated the employed gesture technology has significant potential for enabling bidirectional Soldier-robot team dialogue based on the high classification accuracy and minimal training required to perform gesture commands.

Emotional prosody of task-irrelevant speech interferes with the retention of serial order.

Science.gov (United States)

Kattner, Florian; Ellermeier, Wolfgang

2018-04-09

Task-irrelevant speech and other temporally changing sounds are known to interfere with the short-term memorization of ordered verbal materials, as compared to silence or stationary sounds. It has been argued that this disruption of short-term memory (STM) may be due to (a) interference of automatically encoded acoustical fluctuations with the process of serial rehearsal or (b) attentional capture by salient task-irrelevant information. To disentangle the contributions of these 2 processes, the authors investigated whether the disruption of serial recall is due to the semantic or acoustical properties of task-irrelevant speech (Experiment 1). They found that performance was affected by the prosody (emotional intonation), but not by the semantics (word meaning), of irrelevant speech, suggesting that the disruption of serial recall is due to interference of precategorically encoded changing-state sound (with higher fluctuation strength of emotionally intonated speech). The authors further demonstrated a functional distinction between this form of distraction and attentional capture by contrasting the effect of (a) speech prosody and (b) sudden prosody deviations on both serial and nonserial STM tasks (Experiment 2). Although serial recall was again sensitive to the emotional prosody of irrelevant speech, performance on a nonserial missing-item task was unaffected by the presence of neutral or emotionally intonated speech sounds. In contrast, sudden prosody changes tended to impair performance on both tasks, suggesting an independent effect of attentional capture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Subcortical encoding of speech cues in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Jafari, Zahra; Malayeri, Saeed; Rostami, Reza

2015-02-01

There is little information about processing of nonspeech and speech stimuli at the subcortical level in individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The auditory brainstem response (ABR) provides information about the function of the auditory brainstem pathways. We aim to investigate the subcortical function in neural encoding of click and speech stimuli in children with ADHD. The subjects include 50 children with ADHD and 34 typically developing (TD) children between the ages of 8 and 12 years. Click ABR (cABR) and speech ABR (sABR) with 40 ms synthetic /da/ syllable stimulus were recorded. Latencies of cABR in waves of III and V and duration of V-Vn (P⩽0.027), and latencies of sABR in waves A, D, E, F and O and duration of V-A (P⩽0.034) were significantly longer in children with ADHD than in TD children. There were no apparent differences in components the sustained frequency following response (FFR). We conclude that children with ADHD have deficits in temporal neural encoding of both nonspeech and speech stimuli. There is a common dysfunction in the processing of click and speech stimuli at the brainstem level in children with suspected ADHD. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Environmental Contamination of Normal Speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Harley, Trevor A.

1990-01-01

Environmentally contaminated speech errors (irrelevant words or phrases derived from the speaker's environment and erroneously incorporated into speech) are hypothesized to occur at a high level of speech processing, but with a relatively late insertion point. The data indicate that speech production processes are not independent of other…

Emotionally conditioning the target-speech voice enhances recognition of the target speech under "cocktail-party" listening conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Lingxi; Bao, Xiaohan; Chen, Jing; Qu, Tianshu; Wu, Xihong; Li, Liang

2018-05-01

Under a noisy "cocktail-party" listening condition with multiple people talking, listeners can use various perceptual/cognitive unmasking cues to improve recognition of the target speech against informational speech-on-speech masking. One potential unmasking cue is the emotion expressed in a speech voice, by means of certain acoustical features. However, it was unclear whether emotionally conditioning a target-speech voice that has none of the typical acoustical features of emotions (i.e., an emotionally neutral voice) can be used by listeners for enhancing target-speech recognition under speech-on-speech masking conditions. In this study we examined the recognition of target speech against a two-talker speech masker both before and after the emotionally neutral target voice was paired with a loud female screaming sound that has a marked negative emotional valence. The results showed that recognition of the target speech (especially the first keyword in a target sentence) was significantly improved by emotionally conditioning the target speaker's voice. Moreover, the emotional unmasking effect was independent of the unmasking effect of the perceived spatial separation between the target speech and the masker. Also, (skin conductance) electrodermal responses became stronger after emotional learning when the target speech and masker were perceptually co-located, suggesting an increase of listening efforts when the target speech was informationally masked. These results indicate that emotionally conditioning the target speaker's voice does not change the acoustical parameters of the target-speech stimuli, but the emotionally conditioned vocal features can be used as cues for unmasking target speech.

Divergent neural responses to narrative speech in disorders of consciousness.

Science.gov (United States)

Iotzov, Ivan; Fidali, Brian C; Petroni, Agustin; Conte, Mary M; Schiff, Nicholas D; Parra, Lucas C

2017-11-01

Clinical assessment of auditory attention in patients with disorders of consciousness is often limited by motor impairment. Here, we employ intersubject correlations among electroencephalography responses to naturalistic speech in order to assay auditory attention among patients and healthy controls. Electroencephalographic data were recorded from 20 subjects with disorders of consciousness and 14 healthy controls during of two narrative audio stimuli, presented both forwards and time-reversed. Intersubject correlation of evoked electroencephalography signals were calculated, comparing responses of both groups to those of the healthy control subjects. This analysis was performed blinded and subsequently compared to the diagnostic status of each patient based on the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised. Subjects with disorders of consciousness exhibit significantly lower intersubject correlation than healthy controls during narrative speech. Additionally, while healthy subjects had higher intersubject correlation values in forwards versus backwards presentation, neural responses did not vary significantly with the direction of playback in subjects with disorders of consciousness. Increased intersubject correlation values in the backward speech condition were noted with improving disorder of consciousness diagnosis, both in cross-sectional analysis and in a subset of patients with longitudinal data. Intersubject correlation of neural responses to narrative speech audition differentiates healthy controls from patients and appears to index clinical diagnoses in disorders of consciousness.

Multilevel Analysis in Analyzing Speech Data

Science.gov (United States)

Guddattu, Vasudeva; Krishna, Y.

2011-01-01

The speech produced by human vocal tract is a complex acoustic signal, with diverse applications in phonetics, speech synthesis, automatic speech recognition, speaker identification, communication aids, speech pathology, speech perception, machine translation, hearing research, rehabilitation and assessment of communication disorders and many…

Speech Enhancement by MAP Spectral Amplitude Estimation Using a Super-Gaussian Speech Model

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Lotter Thomas

2005-01-01

Full Text Available This contribution presents two spectral amplitude estimators for acoustical background noise suppression based on maximum a posteriori estimation and super-Gaussian statistical modelling of the speech DFT amplitudes. The probability density function of the speech spectral amplitude is modelled with a simple parametric function, which allows a high approximation accuracy for Laplace- or Gamma-distributed real and imaginary parts of the speech DFT coefficients. Also, the statistical model can be adapted to optimally fit the distribution of the speech spectral amplitudes for a specific noise reduction system. Based on the super-Gaussian statistical model, computationally efficient maximum a posteriori speech estimators are derived, which outperform the commonly applied Ephraim-Malah algorithm.

Exploring the role of brain oscillations in speech perception in noise: Intelligibility of isochronously retimed speech

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Vincent Aubanel

2016-08-01

Full Text Available A growing body of evidence shows that brain oscillations track speech. This mechanism is thought to maximise processing efficiency by allocating resources to important speech information, effectively parsing speech into units of appropriate granularity for further decoding. However, some aspects of this mechanism remain unclear. First, while periodicity is an intrinsic property of this physiological mechanism, speech is only quasi-periodic, so it is not clear whether periodicity would present an advantage in processing. Second, it is still a matter of debate which aspect of speech triggers or maintains cortical entrainment, from bottom-up cues such as fluctuations of the amplitude envelope of speech to higher level linguistic cues such as syntactic structure. We present data from a behavioural experiment assessing the effect of isochronous retiming of speech on speech perception in noise. Two types of anchor points were defined for retiming speech, namely syllable onsets and amplitude envelope peaks. For each anchor point type, retiming was implemented at two hierarchical levels, a slow time scale around 2.5 Hz and a fast time scale around 4 Hz. Results show that while any temporal distortion resulted in reduced speech intelligibility, isochronous speech anchored to P-centers (approximated by stressed syllable vowel onsets was significantly more intelligible than a matched anisochronous retiming, suggesting a facilitative role of periodicity defined on linguistically motivated units in processing speech in noise.

Attentional Demand of Speech in Children and Adolescents with Developmental Stuttering

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Hajar Bahrami

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Background & Objective: Stuttering is a prevalent disorder in children and adolescents. Because attention is the only fuel resource for cognitive functions and the language have high cognitive functions, then it is possible that speech difficulties are related to attention deficit. The purpose of this study was to investigate the attentional demand of speech in children and adolescents with developmental stuttering. Materials & Methods: It is a dependent measurement study though which 30 school students (8-13 yr. were selected by convenience sampling and speech therapist´s detection from Shahriyar. The instruments were used in this research consist of: a text for reading, a device for recording of speech, and stuttering severity instrument-3 (SSI-3. The research was implemented in two conditions: single task (only reading and dual task (reading along finger tapping task. The data were analyzed using T- test. Results: Findings show that stuttering severity increased in dual task condition (divided attention. Conclusion: This result suggests that a decreased attentional capacity in children with developmental stuttering cause an increase in the number of stuttering words. With a better understanding of attentional functions of stuttering people as an important cognitive variables, we can take a step toward recognizing cognitive vulnerability of disorder. Therefore, intervention programs for children with developmental stuttering should pay attention to cognitive deficits and prior to speech interventions, the cognitive deficits should be eliminated with neuropsychological implements. With the improvement of neurological base of speech which is the first point of that in the brain, the considerable improvement may be seen in the stuttering severity.

Ear, Hearing and Speech

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Torben

2000-01-01

An introduction is given to the the anatomy and the function of the ear, basic psychoacoustic matters (hearing threshold, loudness, masking), the speech signal and speech intelligibility. The lecture note is written for the course: Fundamentals of Acoustics and Noise Control (51001)......An introduction is given to the the anatomy and the function of the ear, basic psychoacoustic matters (hearing threshold, loudness, masking), the speech signal and speech intelligibility. The lecture note is written for the course: Fundamentals of Acoustics and Noise Control (51001)...

Music expertise shapes audiovisual temporal integration windows for speech, sinewave speech and music

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Hwee Ling eLee

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This psychophysics study used musicians as a model to investigate whether musical expertise shapes the temporal integration window for audiovisual speech, sinewave speech or music. Musicians and non-musicians judged the audiovisual synchrony of speech, sinewave analogues of speech, and music stimuli at 13 audiovisual stimulus onset asynchronies (±360, ±300 ±240, ±180, ±120, ±60, and 0 ms. Further, we manipulated the duration of the stimuli by presenting sentences/melodies or syllables/tones. Critically, musicians relative to non-musicians exhibited significantly narrower temporal integration windows for both music and sinewave speech. Further, the temporal integration window for music decreased with the amount of music practice, but not with age of acquisition. In other words, the more musicians practiced piano in the past three years, the more sensitive they became to the temporal misalignment of visual and auditory signals. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that music practicing fine-tunes the audiovisual temporal integration window to various extents depending on the stimulus class. While the effect of piano practicing was most pronounced for music, it also generalized to other stimulus classes such as sinewave speech and to a marginally significant degree to natural speech.

Spontaneous Electrical Activity in the Nervous System and its ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The present study was carried out to examine the effects of biogenic amines on the spontaneous electrical activity of the nervous system in the silkworm Bombyx mori. The activity recorded from different segments of the ventral nerve cord differed in the frequency and number of spike categories firing. The activity was highest ...

Two Methods of Mechanical Noise Reduction of Recorded Speech During Phonation in an MRI devic

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Přibil, J.; Horáček, Jaromír; Horák, Petr

2011-01-01

Roč. 11, č. 3 (2011), s. 92-98 ISSN 1335-8871 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA102/09/0989 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20760514; CEZ:AV0Z20670512 Keywords : speech processing * noise reduction * NMR imaging Subject RIV: BI - Acoustics Impact factor: 0.418, year: 2011

Speech Perception as a Multimodal Phenomenon

OpenAIRE

Rosenblum, Lawrence D.

2008-01-01

Speech perception is inherently multimodal. Visual speech (lip-reading) information is used by all perceivers and readily integrates with auditory speech. Imaging research suggests that the brain treats auditory and visual speech similarly. These findings have led some researchers to consider that speech perception works by extracting amodal information that takes the same form across modalities. From this perspective, speech integration is a property of the input information itself. Amodal s...

Brain Plasticity in Speech Training in Native English Speakers Learning Mandarin Tones

Science.gov (United States)

Heinzen, Christina Carolyn

The current study employed behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) measures to investigate brain plasticity associated with second-language (L2) phonetic learning based on an adaptive computer training program. The program utilized the acoustic characteristics of Infant-Directed Speech (IDS) to train monolingual American English-speaking listeners to perceive Mandarin lexical tones. Behavioral identification and discrimination tasks were conducted using naturally recorded speech, carefully controlled synthetic speech, and non-speech control stimuli. The ERP experiments were conducted with selected synthetic speech stimuli in a passive listening oddball paradigm. Identical pre- and post- tests were administered on nine adult listeners, who completed two-to-three hours of perceptual training. The perceptual training sessions used pair-wise lexical tone identification, and progressed through seven levels of difficulty for each tone pair. The levels of difficulty included progression in speaker variability from one to four speakers and progression through four levels of acoustic exaggeration of duration, pitch range, and pitch contour. Behavioral results for the natural speech stimuli revealed significant training-induced improvement in identification of Tones 1, 3, and 4. Improvements in identification of Tone 4 generalized to novel stimuli as well. Additionally, comparison between discrimination of across-category and within-category stimulus pairs taken from a synthetic continuum revealed a training-induced shift toward more native-like categorical perception of the Mandarin lexical tones. Analysis of the Mismatch Negativity (MMN) responses in the ERP data revealed increased amplitude and decreased latency for pre-attentive processing of across-category discrimination as a result of training. There were also laterality changes in the MMN responses to the non-speech control stimuli, which could reflect reallocation of brain resources in processing pitch patterns

Subcortical processing of speech regularities underlies reading and music aptitude in children

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Neural sensitivity to acoustic regularities supports fundamental human behaviors such as hearing in noise and reading. Although the failure to encode acoustic regularities in ongoing speech has been associated with language and literacy deficits, how auditory expertise, such as the expertise that is associated with musical skill, relates to the brainstem processing of speech regularities is unknown. An association between musical skill and neural sensitivity to acoustic regularities would not be surprising given the importance of repetition and regularity in music. Here, we aimed to define relationships between the subcortical processing of speech regularities, music aptitude, and reading abilities in children with and without reading impairment. We hypothesized that, in combination with auditory cognitive abilities, neural sensitivity to regularities in ongoing speech provides a common biological mechanism underlying the development of music and reading abilities. Methods We assessed auditory working memory and attention, music aptitude, reading ability, and neural sensitivity to acoustic regularities in 42 school-aged children with a wide range of reading ability. Neural sensitivity to acoustic regularities was assessed by recording brainstem responses to the same speech sound presented in predictable and variable speech streams. Results Through correlation analyses and structural equation modeling, we reveal that music aptitude and literacy both relate to the extent of subcortical adaptation to regularities in ongoing speech as well as with auditory working memory and attention. Relationships between music and speech processing are specifically driven by performance on a musical rhythm task, underscoring the importance of rhythmic regularity for both language and music. Conclusions These data indicate common brain mechanisms underlying reading and music abilities that relate to how the nervous system responds to regularities in auditory input

Subcortical processing of speech regularities underlies reading and music aptitude in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Strait, Dana L; Hornickel, Jane; Kraus, Nina

2011-10-17

Neural sensitivity to acoustic regularities supports fundamental human behaviors such as hearing in noise and reading. Although the failure to encode acoustic regularities in ongoing speech has been associated with language and literacy deficits, how auditory expertise, such as the expertise that is associated with musical skill, relates to the brainstem processing of speech regularities is unknown. An association between musical skill and neural sensitivity to acoustic regularities would not be surprising given the importance of repetition and regularity in music. Here, we aimed to define relationships between the subcortical processing of speech regularities, music aptitude, and reading abilities in children with and without reading impairment. We hypothesized that, in combination with auditory cognitive abilities, neural sensitivity to regularities in ongoing speech provides a common biological mechanism underlying the development of music and reading abilities. We assessed auditory working memory and attention, music aptitude, reading ability, and neural sensitivity to acoustic regularities in 42 school-aged children with a wide range of reading ability. Neural sensitivity to acoustic regularities was assessed by recording brainstem responses to the same speech sound presented in predictable and variable speech streams. Through correlation analyses and structural equation modeling, we reveal that music aptitude and literacy both relate to the extent of subcortical adaptation to regularities in ongoing speech as well as with auditory working memory and attention. Relationships between music and speech processing are specifically driven by performance on a musical rhythm task, underscoring the importance of rhythmic regularity for both language and music. These data indicate common brain mechanisms underlying reading and music abilities that relate to how the nervous system responds to regularities in auditory input. Definition of common biological underpinnings

Subcortical processing of speech regularities underlies reading and music aptitude in children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Strait Dana L

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Neural sensitivity to acoustic regularities supports fundamental human behaviors such as hearing in noise and reading. Although the failure to encode acoustic regularities in ongoing speech has been associated with language and literacy deficits, how auditory expertise, such as the expertise that is associated with musical skill, relates to the brainstem processing of speech regularities is unknown. An association between musical skill and neural sensitivity to acoustic regularities would not be surprising given the importance of repetition and regularity in music. Here, we aimed to define relationships between the subcortical processing of speech regularities, music aptitude, and reading abilities in children with and without reading impairment. We hypothesized that, in combination with auditory cognitive abilities, neural sensitivity to regularities in ongoing speech provides a common biological mechanism underlying the development of music and reading abilities. Methods We assessed auditory working memory and attention, music aptitude, reading ability, and neural sensitivity to acoustic regularities in 42 school-aged children with a wide range of reading ability. Neural sensitivity to acoustic regularities was assessed by recording brainstem responses to the same speech sound presented in predictable and variable speech streams. Results Through correlation analyses and structural equation modeling, we reveal that music aptitude and literacy both relate to the extent of subcortical adaptation to regularities in ongoing speech as well as with auditory working memory and attention. Relationships between music and speech processing are specifically driven by performance on a musical rhythm task, underscoring the importance of rhythmic regularity for both language and music. Conclusions These data indicate common brain mechanisms underlying reading and music abilities that relate to how the nervous system responds to

Poor Speech Perception Is Not a Core Deficit of Childhood Apraxia of Speech: Preliminary Findings

Science.gov (United States)

Zuk, Jennifer; Iuzzini-Seigel, Jenya; Cabbage, Kathryn; Green, Jordan R.; Hogan, Tiffany P.

2018-01-01

Purpose: Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is hypothesized to arise from deficits in speech motor planning and programming, but the influence of abnormal speech perception in CAS on these processes is debated. This study examined speech perception abilities among children with CAS with and without language impairment compared to those with…

Control of interior surface materials for speech privacy in high-speed train cabins.

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Jang, H S; Lim, H; Jeon, J Y

2017-05-01

The effect of interior materials with various absorption coefficients on speech privacy was investigated in a 1:10 scale model of one high-speed train cabin geometry. The speech transmission index (STI) and privacy distance (r P ) were measured in the train cabin to quantify speech privacy. Measurement cases were selected for the ceiling, sidewall, and front and back walls and were classified as high-, medium- and low-absorption coefficient cases. Interior materials with high absorption coefficients yielded a low r P , and the ceiling had the largest impact on both the STI and r P among the interior elements. Combinations of the three cases were measured, and the maximum reduction in r P by the absorptive surfaces was 2.4 m, which exceeds the space between two rows of chairs in the high-speed train. Additionally, the contribution of the interior elements to speech privacy was analyzed using recorded impulse responses and a multiple regression model for r P using the equivalent absorption area. The analysis confirmed that the ceiling was the most important interior element for improving speech privacy. These results can be used to find the relative decrease in r P in the acoustic design of interior materials to improve speech privacy in train cabins. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Recruitment of Perisomatic Inhibition during Spontaneous Hippocampal Activity In Vitro.

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Anna Beyeler

Full Text Available It was recently shown that perisomatic GABAergic inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs originating from basket and chandelier cells can be recorded as population IPSPs from the hippocampal pyramidal layer using extracellular electrodes (eIPSPs. Taking advantage of this approach, we have investigated the recruitment of perisomatic inhibition during spontaneous hippocampal activity in vitro. Combining intracellular and extracellular recordings from pyramidal cells and interneurons, we confirm that inhibitory signals generated by basket cells can be recorded extracellularly, but our results suggest that, during spontaneous activity, eIPSPs are mostly confined to the CA3 rather than CA1 region. CA3 eIPSPs produced the powerful time-locked inhibition of multi-unit activity expected from perisomatic inhibition. Analysis of the temporal dynamics of spike discharges relative to eIPSPs suggests significant but moderate recruitment of excitatory and inhibitory neurons within the CA3 network on a 10 ms time scale, within which neurons recruit each other through recurrent collaterals and trigger powerful feedback inhibition. Such quantified parameters of neuronal interactions in the hippocampal network may serve as a basis for future characterisation of pathological conditions potentially affecting the interactions between excitation and inhibition in this circuit.

A Change of a Consonant Status: the Bedouinisation of the [j] Sound in the Speech of Kuwaitis: A Case Study

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Abdulmohsen A. Dashti

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In light of sociolinguist phonological change, the following study investigates the [j] sound in the speech of Kuwaitis as the predominant form and characterizes the sedentary population which is made up of both the indigenous and non-indigenous group; while [ʤ] is the realisation of the Bedouins who are also a part of the indigenous population. Although [ʤ] is the classical variant, it has, for some time, been regarded by Kuwaitis as the stigmatized form and the [j] as the one that carries prestige. This study examines the change of status of [j] and [ʤ] in the speech of Kuwaitis. The main hypothesis is that [j] no longer carries prestige. To test this hypothesis, 40 Kuwaitis of different gender, ages, educational background, and social networks were spontaneously chosen to be interviewed. Their speech was phonetically transcribed and accordingly was quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. Results indicate that the [j] variant is undergoing change of status and that the social parameters and the significant political and social changes, that Kuwait has undergone recently, have triggered this linguistic shift.

Sound and speech detection and classification in a Health Smart Home.

Science.gov (United States)

Fleury, A; Noury, N; Vacher, M; Glasson, H; Seri, J F

2008-01-01

Improvements in medicine increase life expectancy in the world and create a new bottleneck at the entrance of specialized and equipped institutions. To allow elderly people to stay at home, researchers work on ways to monitor them in their own environment, with non-invasive sensors. To meet this goal, smart homes, equipped with lots of sensors, deliver information on the activities of the person and can help detect distress situations. In this paper, we present a global speech and sound recognition system that can be set-up in a flat. We placed eight microphones in the Health Smart Home of Grenoble (a real living flat of 47m(2)) and we automatically analyze and sort out the different sounds recorded in the flat and the speech uttered (to detect normal or distress french sentences). We introduce the methods for the sound and speech recognition, the post-processing of the data and finally the experimental results obtained in real conditions in the flat.

Noise and pitch interact during the cortical segregation of concurrent speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Bidelman, Gavin M; Yellamsetty, Anusha

2017-08-01

Behavioral studies reveal listeners exploit intrinsic differences in voice fundamental frequency (F0) to segregate concurrent speech sounds-the so-called "F0-benefit." More favorable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the environment, an extrinsic acoustic factor, similarly benefits the parsing of simultaneous speech. Here, we examined the neurobiological substrates of these two cues in the perceptual segregation of concurrent speech mixtures. We recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) while listeners performed a speeded double-vowel identification task. Listeners heard two concurrent vowels whose F0 differed by zero or four semitones presented in either clean (no noise) or noise-degraded (+5 dB SNR) conditions. Behaviorally, listeners were more accurate in correctly identifying both vowels for larger F0 separations but F0-benefit was more pronounced at more favorable SNRs (i.e., pitch × SNR interaction). Analysis of the ERPs revealed that only the P2 wave (∼200 ms) showed a similar F0 x SNR interaction as behavior and was correlated with listeners' perceptual F0-benefit. Neural classifiers applied to the ERPs further suggested that speech sounds are segregated neurally within 200 ms based on SNR whereas segregation based on pitch occurs later in time (400-700 ms). The earlier timing of extrinsic SNR compared to intrinsic F0-based segregation implies that the cortical extraction of speech from noise is more efficient than differentiating speech based on pitch cues alone, which may recruit additional cortical processes. Findings indicate that noise and pitch differences interact relatively early in cerebral cortex and that the brain arrives at the identities of concurrent speech mixtures as early as ∼200 ms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Principles of speech coding

CERN Document Server

Ogunfunmi, Tokunbo

2010-01-01

It is becoming increasingly apparent that all forms of communication-including voice-will be transmitted through packet-switched networks based on the Internet Protocol (IP). Therefore, the design of modern devices that rely on speech interfaces, such as cell phones and PDAs, requires a complete and up-to-date understanding of the basics of speech coding. Outlines key signal processing algorithms used to mitigate impairments to speech quality in VoIP networksOffering a detailed yet easily accessible introduction to the field, Principles of Speech Coding provides an in-depth examination of the

Adherence of the dysphonic teachers in speech therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Lívia Rodrigues; Almeida, Letícia; Teixeira, Letícia Caldas; Bassi, Iara; Assunção, Ada Ávila; Gama, Ana Cristina Côrtes

2013-01-01

To study the possible factors associated with adherence to the speech-language pathology treatment of dysphonia in female teachers of municipal schools of Belo Horizonte. This was a retrospective study that analyzed the medical records of 251 teachers treated at the Voice Ambulatory Speech Language Pathology Service, Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (AV-UFMG) from August 2007 to December 2009. The collected data included age, number of scheduled sessions, number of absences, number of children, type of dysphonia, degree of dysphonia, monthly family income, and education. We calculated the distance, in kilometers, of the residence to the place of treatment and the workplace to place of treatment. We also analyzed the social vulnerability index of the workplace. The results of this research indicated that of the 135 records that were included in the study, 89 (65.93%) corresponded to the discharged group and 46 (34.07%) corresponded to the abandonment group. In comparison with all the variables studied, only the number of faults and the type of dysphonia were associated with poor adherence to voice therapy. Results showed that the number of absences in sessions, treatment-related factor, organofuncional dysphonia type, and clinical-related factor were all associated with the abandonment of voice therapy.

The Neural Bases of Difficult Speech Comprehension and Speech Production: Two Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) Meta-Analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Adank, Patti

2012-01-01

The role of speech production mechanisms in difficult speech comprehension is the subject of on-going debate in speech science. Two Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) analyses were conducted on neuroimaging studies investigating difficult speech comprehension or speech production. Meta-analysis 1 included 10 studies contrasting comprehension…

Evidential Uses in the Spanish of Quechua Speakers in Peru.

Science.gov (United States)

Escobar, Anna Maria

1994-01-01

Analysis of recordings of spontaneous speech of native speakers of Quechua speaking Spanish as a second language reveals that, using verbal morphological resources of Spanish, they have grammaticalized an epistemic marking system resembling that of Quechua. Sources of this process in both Quechua and Spanish are analyzed. (MSE)

Metaheuristic applications to speech enhancement

CERN Document Server

Kunche, Prajna

2016-01-01

This book serves as a basic reference for those interested in the application of metaheuristics to speech enhancement. The major goal of the book is to explain the basic concepts of optimization methods and their use in heuristic optimization in speech enhancement to scientists, practicing engineers, and academic researchers in speech processing. The authors discuss why it has been a challenging problem for researchers to develop new enhancement algorithms that aid in the quality and intelligibility of degraded speech. They present powerful optimization methods to speech enhancement that can help to solve the noise reduction problems. Readers will be able to understand the fundamentals of speech processing as well as the optimization techniques, how the speech enhancement algorithms are implemented by utilizing optimization methods, and will be given the tools to develop new algorithms. The authors also provide a comprehensive literature survey regarding the topic.

Systematic Studies of Modified Vocalization: The Effect of Speech Rate on Speech Production Measures during Metronome-Paced Speech in Persons Who Stutter

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Davidow, Jason H.

2014-01-01

Background: Metronome-paced speech results in the elimination, or substantial reduction, of stuttering moments. The cause of fluency during this fluency-inducing condition is unknown. Several investigations have reported changes in speech pattern characteristics from a control condition to a metronome-paced speech condition, but failure to control…

TongueToSpeech (TTS): Wearable wireless assistive device for augmented speech.

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Marjanovic, Nicholas; Piccinini, Giacomo; Kerr, Kevin; Esmailbeigi, Hananeh

2017-07-01

Speech is an important aspect of human communication; individuals with speech impairment are unable to communicate vocally in real time. Our team has developed the TongueToSpeech (TTS) device with the goal of augmenting speech communication for the vocally impaired. The proposed device is a wearable wireless assistive device that incorporates a capacitive touch keyboard interface embedded inside a discrete retainer. This device connects to a computer, tablet or a smartphone via Bluetooth connection. The developed TTS application converts text typed by the tongue into audible speech. Our studies have concluded that an 8-contact point configuration between the tongue and the TTS device would yield the best user precision and speed performance. On average using the TTS device inside the oral cavity takes 2.5 times longer than the pointer finger using a T9 (Text on 9 keys) keyboard configuration to type the same phrase. In conclusion, we have developed a discrete noninvasive wearable device that allows the vocally impaired individuals to communicate in real time.

Social eye gaze modulates processing of speech and co-speech gesture.

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Holler, Judith; Schubotz, Louise; Kelly, Spencer; Hagoort, Peter; Schuetze, Manuela; Özyürek, Aslı

2014-12-01

In human face-to-face communication, language comprehension is a multi-modal, situated activity. However, little is known about how we combine information from different modalities during comprehension, and how perceived communicative intentions, often signaled through visual signals, influence this process. We explored this question by simulating a multi-party communication context in which a speaker alternated her gaze between two recipients. Participants viewed speech-only or speech+gesture object-related messages when being addressed (direct gaze) or unaddressed (gaze averted to other participant). They were then asked to choose which of two object images matched the speaker's preceding message. Unaddressed recipients responded significantly more slowly than addressees for speech-only utterances. However, perceiving the same speech accompanied by gestures sped unaddressed recipients up to a level identical to that of addressees. That is, when unaddressed recipients' speech processing suffers, gestures can enhance the comprehension of a speaker's message. We discuss our findings with respect to two hypotheses attempting to account for how social eye gaze may modulate multi-modal language comprehension. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Aversive eye gaze during a speech in virtual environment in patients with social anxiety disorder.

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Kim, Haena; Shin, Jung Eun; Hong, Yeon-Ju; Shin, Yu-Bin; Shin, Young Seok; Han, Kiwan; Kim, Jae-Jin; Choi, Soo-Hee

2018-03-01

One of the main characteristics of social anxiety disorder is excessive fear of social evaluation. In such situations, anxiety can influence gaze behaviour. Thus, the current study adopted virtual reality to examine eye gaze pattern of social anxiety disorder patients while presenting different types of speeches. A total of 79 social anxiety disorder patients and 51 healthy controls presented prepared speeches on general topics and impromptu speeches on self-related topics to a virtual audience while their eye gaze was recorded. Their presentation performance was also evaluated. Overall, social anxiety disorder patients showed less eye gaze towards the audience than healthy controls. Types of speech did not influence social anxiety disorder patients' gaze allocation towards the audience. However, patients with social anxiety disorder showed significant correlations between the amount of eye gaze towards the audience while presenting self-related speeches and social anxiety cognitions. The current study confirms that eye gaze behaviour of social anxiety disorder patients is aversive and that their anxiety symptoms are more dependent on the nature of topic.

Surgical management of spontaneous ruptured hepatocellular adenoma

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Marcelo Augusto Fontenelle Ribeiro Junior

2009-01-01

Full Text Available AIMS: Spontaneous ruptured hepatocellular adenoma (SRHA is a rare life-threatening condition that may require surgical treatment to control hemorrhaging and also stabilize the patient. We report a series of emergency surgeries performed at our institution for this condition. METHODS: We reviewed medical records and radiology files of 28 patients (from 1989 to 2006 with a proven diagnosis of hepatocellular adenoma (HA. Three (10.7% of 28 patients had spontaneous ruptured hepatocellular adenoma, two of which were associated with intrahepatic hemorrhage while one had intraperitoneal bleeding. Two patients were female and one was male. Both female patients had a background history of oral contraceptive use. Sudden abdominal pain associated with hemodynamic instability occurred in all patients who suffered from spontaneous ruptured hepatocellular adenoma. The mean age was 41.6 years old. The preoperative assessment included liver function tests, ultrasonography and computed tomography. RESULTS: The surgical approaches were as follows: right hemihepatectomy for controlling intraperitoneal bleeding, and right extended hepatectomy and non-anatomic resection of the liver for intrahepatic hemorrhage. There were no deaths, and the postoperative complications were bile leakage and wound infection (re-operation, as well as intraperitoneal abscess (re-operation and pleural effusion. CONCLUSION: Spontaneous ruptured hepatocellular adenoma may be treated by surgery for controlling hemorrhages and stabilizing the patient, and the decision to operate depends upon both the patient's condition and the expertise of the surgical team.

Implementation of a Tour Guide Robot System Using RFID Technology and Viterbi Algorithm-Based HMM for Speech Recognition

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Neng-Sheng Pai

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper applied speech recognition and RFID technologies to develop an omni-directional mobile robot into a robot with voice control and guide introduction functions. For speech recognition, the speech signals were captured by short-time processing. The speaker first recorded the isolated words for the robot to create speech database of specific speakers. After the speech pre-processing of this speech database, the feature parameters of cepstrum and delta-cepstrum were obtained using linear predictive coefficient (LPC. Then, the Hidden Markov Model (HMM was used for model training of the speech database, and the Viterbi algorithm was used to find an optimal state sequence as the reference sample for speech recognition. The trained reference model was put into the industrial computer on the robot platform, and the user entered the isolated words to be tested. After processing by the same reference model and comparing with previous reference model, the path of the maximum total probability in various models found using the Viterbi algorithm in the recognition was the recognition result. Finally, the speech recognition and RFID systems were achieved in an actual environment to prove its feasibility and stability, and implemented into the omni-directional mobile robot.

Electrophysiological evidence for speech-specific audiovisual integration.

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Baart, Martijn; Stekelenburg, Jeroen J; Vroomen, Jean

2014-01-01

Lip-read speech is integrated with heard speech at various neural levels. Here, we investigated the extent to which lip-read induced modulations of the auditory N1 and P2 (measured with EEG) are indicative of speech-specific audiovisual integration, and we explored to what extent the ERPs were modulated by phonetic audiovisual congruency. In order to disentangle speech-specific (phonetic) integration from non-speech integration, we used Sine-Wave Speech (SWS) that was perceived as speech by half of the participants (they were in speech-mode), while the other half was in non-speech mode. Results showed that the N1 obtained with audiovisual stimuli peaked earlier than the N1 evoked by auditory-only stimuli. This lip-read induced speeding up of the N1 occurred for listeners in speech and non-speech mode. In contrast, if listeners were in speech-mode, lip-read speech also modulated the auditory P2, but not if listeners were in non-speech mode, thus revealing speech-specific audiovisual binding. Comparing ERPs for phonetically congruent audiovisual stimuli with ERPs for incongruent stimuli revealed an effect of phonetic stimulus congruency that started at ~200 ms after (in)congruence became apparent. Critically, akin to the P2 suppression, congruency effects were only observed if listeners were in speech mode, and not if they were in non-speech mode. Using identical stimuli, we thus confirm that audiovisual binding involves (partially) different neural mechanisms for sound processing in speech and non-speech mode. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Assessment of baroreflex sensitivity from spontaneous oscillations of blood pressure and heart rate: proven clinical value?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinna, Gian Domenico; Maestri, Roberto; La Rovere, Maria Teresa

2015-01-01

The baroreceptor-heart rate reflex (baroreflex sensitivity, BRS) is a key mechanism contributing to the neural regulation of the cardiovascular system. Several methods have been proposed so far to assess BRS by analyzing the spontaneous beat-to-beat fluctuations of arterial blood pressure and heart rate. These methods are inherently simple, non-invasive and low-cost. This study is an attempt to address the question of whether spontaneous baroreflex methods have proven to be of value in the clinical setting. In the first part of this article, we critically review most representative clinical studies using spontaneous BRS techniques either for risk stratification or treatment evaluation, these being major issues in the clinical management of the patients. In the second part, we address two important aspects of spontaneous BRS measurements: measurability and reliability. Estimation of BRS in the studies selected for the review was performed according to the sequence, transfer function, alpha-index and phase-rectified signal averaging method. Arterial blood pressure was recorded non-invasively during supine, short-term (<30 min) laboratory recordings. The conclusion from this review is that spontaneous BRS techniques have been shown to be of great value in clinical practice but further work is needed to confirm the validity of previous findings and to widen the field of clinical applications. Measurability and reliability can be a major issue in the measurement of spontaneous BRS, particularly in some patient populations like post-myocardial infarction and heart failure patents. Main causes of poor measurability are: non-sinus rhythm, a high rate of ectopic beats and the need for recorded time series of RR interval and arterial blood pressure to satisfy the constraints of the different BRS estimation algorithms. As for reliability, within-subject variability is rather high in the measurements of spontaneous BRS and, therefore, should be carefully taken into account

Free Speech Yearbook 1978.

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Phifer, Gregg, Ed.

The 17 articles in this collection deal with theoretical and practical freedom of speech issues. The topics include: freedom of speech in Marquette Park, Illinois; Nazis in Skokie, Illinois; freedom of expression in the Confederate States of America; Robert M. LaFollette's arguments for free speech and the rights of Congress; the United States…

Supplementary Motor Area Activation in Disfluency Perception : An fMRI Study of Listener Neural Responses to Spontaneously Produced Unfilled and Filled Pauses

OpenAIRE

Eklund, Robert; Ingvar, Martin

2016-01-01

Spontaneously produced Unfilled Pauses (UPs) and Filled Pauses (FPs) were played to subjects in an fMRI experiment. For both stimuli increased activity was observed in the Primary Auditory Cortex (PAC). However, FPs, but not UPs, elicited modulation in the Supplementary Motor Area (SMA), Brodmann Area 6. Our results provide neurocognitive confirmation of the alleged difference between FPs and other kinds of speech disfluency and could also provide a partial explanation for the previously repo...

The Role of Rhythm in Speech and Language Rehabilitation: The SEP Hypothesis.

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Fujii, Shinya; Wan, Catherine Y

2014-01-01

For thousands of years, human beings have engaged in rhythmic activities such as drumming, dancing, and singing. Rhythm can be a powerful medium to stimulate communication and social interactions, due to the strong sensorimotor coupling. For example, the mere presence of an underlying beat or pulse can result in spontaneous motor responses such as hand clapping, foot stepping, and rhythmic vocalizations. Examining the relationship between rhythm and speech is fundamental not only to our understanding of the origins of human communication but also in the treatment of neurological disorders. In this paper, we explore whether rhythm has therapeutic potential for promoting recovery from speech and language dysfunctions. Although clinical studies are limited to date, existing experimental evidence demonstrates rich rhythmic organization in both music and language, as well as overlapping brain networks that are crucial in the design of rehabilitation approaches. Here, we propose the "SEP" hypothesis, which postulates that (1) "sound envelope processing" and (2) "synchronization and entrainment to pulse" may help stimulate brain networks that underlie human communication. Ultimately, we hope that the SEP hypothesis will provide a useful framework for facilitating rhythm-based research in various patient populations.

Visual context enhanced. The joint contribution of iconic gestures and visible speech to degraded speech comprehension.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Drijvers, L.; Özyürek, A.

2017-01-01

Purpose: This study investigated whether and to what extent iconic co-speech gestures contribute to information from visible speech to enhance degraded speech comprehension at different levels of noise-vocoding. Previous studies of the contributions of these 2 visual articulators to speech

Does Spontaneous Favorability to Power (vs. Universalism) Values Predict Spontaneous Prejudice and Discrimination?

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Souchon, Nicolas; Maio, Gregory R; Hanel, Paul H P; Bardin, Brigitte

2017-10-01

We conducted five studies testing whether an implicit measure of favorability toward power over universalism values predicts spontaneous prejudice and discrimination. Studies 1 (N = 192) and 2 (N = 86) examined correlations between spontaneous favorability toward power (vs. universalism) values, achievement (vs. benevolence) values, and a spontaneous measure of prejudice toward ethnic minorities. Study 3 (N = 159) tested whether conditioning participants to associate power values with positive adjectives and universalism values with negative adjectives (or inversely) affects spontaneous prejudice. Study 4 (N = 95) tested whether decision bias toward female handball players could be predicted by spontaneous attitude toward power (vs. universalism) values. Study 5 (N = 123) examined correlations between spontaneous attitude toward power (vs. universalism) values, spontaneous importance toward power (vs. universalism) values, and spontaneous prejudice toward Black African people. Spontaneous positivity toward power (vs. universalism) values was associated with spontaneous negativity toward minorities and predicted gender bias in a decision task, whereas the explicit measures did not. These results indicate that the implicit assessment of evaluative responses attached to human values helps to model value-attitude-behavior relations. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Personality Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

FLUIDITY SPEECH FORMATION AS A QUALITATIVE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE ORAL STATEMENT OF PRESCHOOL AGE CHILDREN WITH STUTTER

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E. A. Borisova

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The research objective is to disclose the subject matter of speech therapy work focused on fluidity speech formation of preschool age children, suffering stutter. Stutter is a difficult disorder of articulation organs suchthat the tempo-rhythmical organisation of statements is distressed that leads to defects and failures of dialogue system, negatively influences on individual development of the child; more specifically it generates the mental stratifications, specific features of emotional-volitional sphere, and causes undesirable qualities ofcharacter such as shyness, indecision, isolation, negativism. The author notes that the problem of early stutter correction among junior preschool-aged children considered as topical and immediate issue. Methods. Concerning the clinical, physiological, psychological and psychologic-pedagogical positions, the author summarizes theoretical framework; an experimentally-practical approbation of an author's method of speech fluidity and stutter abolition of preschool children is described. Stage-by-stage process of correction,spontaneous and non-convulsive speech formation: 1. restraint mode application in order to decrease incorrect verbal output; 2. training exercises to long phonatory and speech expiration; 3. development of coordination and movements rhythm helping to pronounce words and phrases; 4. formation of situational speech, at first consisted of short sentences, then passing to long ones; 5. training to coherent text statements. The research demonstrates data analyses of postexperimental diagnostic examination of stuttering preschool children, proving the efficiency of the author’s applied method. Scientific novelty. The research findings demonstrate a specific approach to correction and stutter abolition of preschool children. Proposed author’s approach consists of complementary to each other directions of speech therapy work which are combines in the following way: coherent speech

Signal-to-Signal Ratio Independent Speaker Identification for Co-channel Speech Signals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Saeidi, Rahim; Mowlaee, Pejman; Kinnunen, Tomi

2010-01-01

In this paper, we consider speaker identification for the co-channel scenario in which speech mixture from speakers is recorded by one microphone only. The goal is to identify both of the speakers from their mixed signal. High recognition accuracies have already been reported when an accurately...

Mapping from Speech to Images Using Continuous State Space Models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lehn-Schiøler, Tue; Hansen, Lars Kai; Larsen, Jan

2005-01-01

In this paper a system that transforms speech waveforms to animated faces are proposed. The system relies on continuous state space models to perform the mapping, this makes it possible to ensure video with no sudden jumps and allows continuous control of the parameters in 'face space...... a subjective point of view the model is able to construct an image sequence from an unknown noisy speech sequence even though the number of training examples are limited.......'. The performance of the system is critically dependent on the number of hidden variables, with too few variables the model cannot represent data, and with too many overfitting is noticed. Simulations are performed on recordings of 3-5 sec.\\$\\backslash\\$ video sequences with sentences from the Timit database. From...

Multisensory integration of speech sounds with letters vs. visual speech : only visual speech induces the mismatch negativity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stekelenburg, J.J.; Keetels, M.N.; Vroomen, J.H.M.

2018-01-01

Numerous studies have demonstrated that the vision of lip movements can alter the perception of auditory speech syllables (McGurk effect). While there is ample evidence for integration of text and auditory speech, there are only a few studies on the orthographic equivalent of the McGurk effect.

A Double Dissociation between Anterior and Posterior Superior Temporal Gyrus for Processing Audiovisual Speech Demonstrated by Electrocorticography.

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Ozker, Muge; Schepers, Inga M; Magnotti, John F; Yoshor, Daniel; Beauchamp, Michael S

2017-06-01

Human speech can be comprehended using only auditory information from the talker's voice. However, comprehension is improved if the talker's face is visible, especially if the auditory information is degraded as occurs in noisy environments or with hearing loss. We explored the neural substrates of audiovisual speech perception using electrocorticography, direct recording of neural activity using electrodes implanted on the cortical surface. We observed a double dissociation in the responses to audiovisual speech with clear and noisy auditory component within the superior temporal gyrus (STG), a region long known to be important for speech perception. Anterior STG showed greater neural activity to audiovisual speech with clear auditory component, whereas posterior STG showed similar or greater neural activity to audiovisual speech in which the speech was replaced with speech-like noise. A distinct border between the two response patterns was observed, demarcated by a landmark corresponding to the posterior margin of Heschl's gyrus. To further investigate the computational roles of both regions, we considered Bayesian models of multisensory integration, which predict that combining the independent sources of information available from different modalities should reduce variability in the neural responses. We tested this prediction by measuring the variability of the neural responses to single audiovisual words. Posterior STG showed smaller variability than anterior STG during presentation of audiovisual speech with noisy auditory component. Taken together, these results suggest that posterior STG but not anterior STG is important for multisensory integration of noisy auditory and visual speech.

Development of a speech-based dialogue system for report dictation and machine control in the endoscopic laboratory.

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Molnar, B; Gergely, J; Toth, G; Pronai, L; Zagoni, T; Papik, K; Tulassay, Z

2000-01-01

Reporting and machine control based on speech technology can enhance work efficiency in the gastrointestinal endoscopy laboratory. The status and activation of endoscopy laboratory equipment were described as a multivariate parameter and function system. Speech recognition, text evaluation and action definition engines were installed. Special programs were developed for the grammatical analysis of command sentences, and a rule-based expert system for the definition of machine answers. A speech backup engine provides feedback to the user. Techniques were applied based on the "Hidden Markov" model of discrete word, user-independent speech recognition and on phoneme-based speech synthesis. Speech samples were collected from three male low-tone investigators. The dictation module and machine control modules were incorporated in a personal computer (PC) simulation program. Altogether 100 unidentified patient records were analyzed. The sentences were grouped according to keywords, which indicate the main topics of a gastrointestinal endoscopy report. They were: "endoscope", "esophagus", "cardia", "fundus", "corpus", "antrum", "pylorus", "bulbus", and "postbulbar section", in addition to the major pathological findings: "erosion", "ulceration", and "malignancy". "Biopsy" and "diagnosis" were also included. We implemented wireless speech communication control commands for equipment including an endoscopy unit, video, monitor, printer, and PC. The recognition rate was 95%. Speech technology may soon become an integrated part of our daily routine in the endoscopy laboratory. A central speech and laboratory computer could be the most efficient alternative to having separate speech recognition units in all items of equipment.

Speech Research

Science.gov (United States)

Several articles addressing topics in speech research are presented. The topics include: exploring the functional significance of physiological tremor: A biospectroscopic approach; differences between experienced and inexperienced listeners to deaf speech; a language-oriented view of reading and its disabilities; Phonetic factors in letter detection; categorical perception; Short-term recall by deaf signers of American sign language; a common basis for auditory sensory storage in perception and immediate memory; phonological awareness and verbal short-term memory; initiation versus execution time during manual and oral counting by stutterers; trading relations in the perception of speech by five-year-old children; the role of the strap muscles in pitch lowering; phonetic validation of distinctive features; consonants and syllable boundaires; and vowel information in postvocalic frictions.

Interaction matters: A perceived social partner alters the neural processing of human speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, Katherine; Redcay, Elizabeth

2016-04-01

Mounting evidence suggests that social interaction changes how communicative behaviors (e.g., spoken language, gaze) are processed, but the precise neural bases by which social-interactive context may alter communication remain unknown. Various perspectives suggest that live interactions are more rewarding, more attention-grabbing, or require increased mentalizing-thinking about the thoughts of others. Dissociating between these possibilities is difficult because most extant neuroimaging paradigms examining social interaction have not directly compared live paradigms to conventional "offline" (or recorded) paradigms. We developed a novel fMRI paradigm to assess whether and how an interactive context changes the processing of speech matched in content and vocal characteristics. Participants listened to short vignettes--which contained no reference to people or mental states--believing that some vignettes were prerecorded and that others were presented over a real-time audio-feed by a live social partner. In actuality, all speech was prerecorded. Simply believing that speech was live increased activation in each participant's own mentalizing regions, defined using a functional localizer. Contrasting live to recorded speech did not reveal significant differences in attention or reward regions. Further, higher levels of autistic-like traits were associated with altered neural specialization for live interaction. These results suggest that humans engage in ongoing mentalizing about social partners, even when such mentalizing is not explicitly required, illustrating how social context shapes social cognition. Understanding communication in social context has important implications for typical and atypical social processing, especially for disorders like autism where social difficulties are more acute in live interaction. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Represented Speech in Qualitative Health Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Musaeus, Peter

2017-01-01

Represented speech refers to speech where we reference somebody. Represented speech is an important phenomenon in everyday conversation, health care communication, and qualitative research. This case will draw first from a case study on physicians’ workplace learning and second from a case study...... on nurses’ apprenticeship learning. The aim of the case is to guide the qualitative researcher to use own and others’ voices in the interview and to be sensitive to represented speech in everyday conversation. Moreover, reported speech matters to health professionals who aim to represent the voice...... of their patients. Qualitative researchers and students might learn to encourage interviewees to elaborate different voices or perspectives. Qualitative researchers working with natural speech might pay attention to how people talk and use represented speech. Finally, represented speech might be relevant...

A portable digital speech-rate converter for hearing impairment.

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Nejime, Y; Aritsuka, T; Imamura, T; Ifukube, T; Matsushima, J

1996-06-01

A real-time hand-sized portable device that slows speech speed without changing the pitch is proposed for hearing impairment. By using this device, people can listen to fast speech at a comfortable speed. A combination of solid-state memory recording and real-time digital signal processing with a single chip processor enables this unique function. A simplified pitchsynchronous, time-scale-modification algorithm is proposed to minimize the complexity of the DSP operation. Unlike the traditional algorithm, this dynamic-processing algorithm reduces distortion even when the expansion rate is only just above 1. Seven out of 10 elderly hearing-impaired listeners showed improvement in a sentence recognition test when using speech-rate conversion with the largest expansion rate, although no improvement was observed in a word recognition test. Some subjects who showed large improvement had limited auditory temporal resolution, but the correlation was not significant. The results suggest that, unlike conventional hearing aids, this device can be used to overcome the deterioration of auditory ability by improving the transfer of information from short-term (echoic) memory into a more stable memory trace in the human auditory system.

Spectral integration in speech and non-speech sounds

Science.gov (United States)

Jacewicz, Ewa

2005-04-01

Spectral integration (or formant averaging) was proposed in vowel perception research to account for the observation that a reduction of the intensity of one of two closely spaced formants (as in /u/) produced a predictable shift in vowel quality [Delattre et al., Word 8, 195-210 (1952)]. A related observation was reported in psychoacoustics, indicating that when the components of a two-tone periodic complex differ in amplitude and frequency, its perceived pitch is shifted toward that of the more intense tone [Helmholtz, App. XIV (1875/1948)]. Subsequent research in both fields focused on the frequency interval that separates these two spectral components, in an attempt to determine the size of the bandwidth for spectral integration to occur. This talk will review the accumulated evidence for and against spectral integration within the hypothesized limit of 3.5 Bark for static and dynamic signals in speech perception and psychoacoustics. Based on similarities in the processing of speech and non-speech sounds, it is suggested that spectral integration may reflect a general property of the auditory system. A larger frequency bandwidth, possibly close to 3.5 Bark, may be utilized in integrating acoustic information, including speech, complex signals, or sound quality of a violin.

Prelinguistic communication development in children with childhood apraxia of speech: a retrospective analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Highman, Chantelle; Leitão, Suze; Hennessey, Neville; Piek, Jan

2012-02-01

In a retrospective study of prelinguistic communication development, clinically referred preschool children (n = 9) aged 3-4 years, who as infants had failed a community-based screening program, were evaluated for features of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Four children showed no features and either delayed or normal language, five had from three-to-seven CAS features and all exhibited delayed language. These children were matched by age with 21 children with typically-developing (TD) speech and language skills. Case-control comparisons of retrospective data from 9 months of age for two participants with more severe features of CAS at preschool age showed a dissociated pattern with low expressive quotients on the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Assessment-Second Edition (REEL-2) and records of infrequent babbling, but normal receptive quotients. However, other profiles were observed. Two children with milder CAS features showed poor receptive and expressive development similar to other clinically referred children with no CAS features, and one child with severe CAS features showed poor receptive but normal expressive developmental milestones at 9 months and records of frequent babbling. Results suggest some but not all children with features of suspected CAS have a selective deficit originating within speech motor development.

Semi-spontaneous oral text production: measurements in clinical practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Lind, Marianne; Kristoffersen, Kristian Emil; Moen, Inger; Simonsen, Hanne Gram

2009-12-01

Functionally relevant assessment of the language production of speakers with aphasia should include assessment of connected speech production. Despite the ecological validity of everyday conversations, more controlled and monological types of texts may be easier to obtain and analyse in clinical practice. This article discusses some simple measurements for the analysis of semi-spontaneous oral text production by speakers with aphasia. Specifically, the measurements are related to the production of verbs and nouns, and the realization of different sentence types. The proposed measurements should be clinically relevant, easily applicable, and linguistically meaningful. The measurements have been applied to oral descriptions of the 'Cookie Theft' picture by eight monolingual Norwegian speakers, four with an anomic type of aphasia and four without any type of language impairment. Despite individual differences in both the clinical and the non-clinical group, most of the measurements seem to distinguish between speakers with and without aphasia.

Measurement of speech parameters in casual speech of dementia patients

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ossewaarde, Roelant; Jonkers, Roel; Jalvingh, Fedor; Bastiaanse, Yvonne

Measurement of speech parameters in casual speech of dementia patients Roelant Adriaan Ossewaarde1,2, Roel Jonkers1, Fedor Jalvingh1,3, Roelien Bastiaanse1 1CLCG, University of Groningen (NL); 2HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (NL); 33St. Marienhospital - Vechta, Geriatric Clinic Vechta

Effect of attentional load on audiovisual speech perception: Evidence from ERPs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agnès eAlsius

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Seeing articulatory movements influences perception of auditory speech. This is often reflected in a shortened latency of auditory event-related potentials (ERPs generated in the auditory cortex. The present study addressed whether this early neural correlate of audiovisual interaction is modulated by attention. We recorded ERPs in 15 subjects while they were presented with auditory, visual and audiovisual spoken syllables. Audiovisual stimuli consisted of incongruent auditory and visual components known to elicit a McGurk effect, i.e. a visually driven alteration in the auditory speech percept. In a Dual task condition, participants were asked to identify spoken syllables whilst monitoring a rapid visual stream of pictures for targets, i.e., they had to divide their attention. In a Single task condition, participants identified the syllables without any other tasks, i.e., they were asked to ignore the pictures and focus their attention fully on the spoken syllables. The McGurk effect was weaker in the Dual task than in the Single task condition, indicating an effect of attentional load on audiovisual speech perception. Early auditory ERP components, N1 and P2, peaked earlier to audiovisual stimuli than to auditory stimuli when attention was fully focused on syllables, indicating neurophysiological audiovisual interaction. This latency decrement was reduced when attention was loaded, suggesting that attention influences early neural processing of audiovisual speech. We conclude that reduced attention weakens the interaction between vision and audition in speech.

Effect of attentional load on audiovisual speech perception: evidence from ERPs.

Science.gov (United States)

Alsius, Agnès; Möttönen, Riikka; Sams, Mikko E; Soto-Faraco, Salvador; Tiippana, Kaisa

2014-01-01

Seeing articulatory movements influences perception of auditory speech. This is often reflected in a shortened latency of auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) generated in the auditory cortex. The present study addressed whether this early neural correlate of audiovisual interaction is modulated by attention. We recorded ERPs in 15 subjects while they were presented with auditory, visual, and audiovisual spoken syllables. Audiovisual stimuli consisted of incongruent auditory and visual components known to elicit a McGurk effect, i.e., a visually driven alteration in the auditory speech percept. In a Dual task condition, participants were asked to identify spoken syllables whilst monitoring a rapid visual stream of pictures for targets, i.e., they had to divide their attention. In a Single task condition, participants identified the syllables without any other tasks, i.e., they were asked to ignore the pictures and focus their attention fully on the spoken syllables. The McGurk effect was weaker in the Dual task than in the Single task condition, indicating an effect of attentional load on audiovisual speech perception. Early auditory ERP components, N1 and P2, peaked earlier to audiovisual stimuli than to auditory stimuli when attention was fully focused on syllables, indicating neurophysiological audiovisual interaction. This latency decrement was reduced when attention was loaded, suggesting that attention influences early neural processing of audiovisual speech. We conclude that reduced attention weakens the interaction between vision and audition in speech.

CDS is not what you think - Hypoarticulation in Danish Child Directed Speech

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dideriksen, Christina Rejkjær; Fusaroli, Riccardo

et al. 2008). A previous study relying on lab-elicited stimuli indicated that Danish CDS might be peculiar, with a surprising lack of increased articulation (Bohn 2013). In the current study, we focused on longer naturalistic recordings in an environment known and safe for both child and mother...... common CDS acoustic traits: increased pitch and pitch variability and lower speech rate. However, we also find a significantly reduced vowel space when compared to adult-directed speech, which is especially surprising given the wide range of Danish vocalic sounds. We are currently extending the analysis...... and cultural affordances and the many complex routes to learn a language....

Multiple Speech Source Separation Using Inter-Channel Correlation and Relaxed Sparsity

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Maoshen Jia

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In this work, a multiple speech source separation method using inter-channel correlation and relaxed sparsity is proposed. A B-format microphone with four spatially located channels is adopted due to the size of the microphone array to preserve the spatial parameter integrity of the original signal. Specifically, we firstly measure the proportion of overlapped components among multiple sources and find that there exist many overlapped time-frequency (TF components with increasing source number. Then, considering the relaxed sparsity of speech sources, we propose a dynamic threshold-based separation approach of sparse components where the threshold is determined by the inter-channel correlation among the recording signals. After conducting a statistical analysis of the number of active sources at each TF instant, a form of relaxed sparsity called the half-K assumption is proposed so that the active source number in a certain TF bin does not exceed half the total number of simultaneously occurring sources. By applying the half-K assumption, the non-sparse components are recovered by regarding the extracted sparse components as a guide, combined with vector decomposition and matrix factorization. Eventually, the final TF coefficients of each source are recovered by the synthesis of sparse and non-sparse components. The proposed method has been evaluated using up to six simultaneous speech sources under both anechoic and reverberant conditions. Both objective and subjective evaluations validated that the perceptual quality of the separated speech by the proposed approach outperforms existing blind source separation (BSS approaches. Besides, it is robust to different speeches whilst confirming all the separated speeches with similar perceptual quality.

Modeling Speech Level as a Function of Background Noise Level and Talker-to-Listener Distance for Talkers Wearing Hearing Protection Devices

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Bouserhal, Rachel E.; Bockstael, Annelies; MacDonald, Ewen; Falk, Tiago H.; Voix, Jérémie

2017-01-01

Purpose: Studying the variations in speech levels with changing background noise level and talker-to-listener distance for talkers wearing hearing protection devices (HPDs) can aid in understanding communication in background noise. Method: Speech was recorded using an intra-aural HPD from 12 different talkers at 5 different distances in 3…

The role of auditory temporal cues in the fluency of stuttering adults

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Juliana Furini

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Purpose: to compare the frequency of disfluencies and speech rate in spontaneous speech and reading in adults with and without stuttering in non-altered and delayed auditory feedback (NAF, DAF. Methods: participants were 30 adults: 15 with Stuttering (Research Group - RG, and 15 without stuttering (Control Group - CG. The procedures were: audiological assessment and speech fluency evaluation in two listening conditions, normal and delayed auditory feedback (100 milliseconds delayed by Fono Tools software. Results: the DAF caused a significant improvement in the fluency of spontaneous speech in RG when compared to speech under NAF. The effect of DAF was different in CG, because it increased the common disfluencies and the total of disfluencies in spontaneous speech and reading, besides showing an increase in the frequency of stuttering-like disfluencies in reading. The intergroup analysis showed significant differences in the two speech tasks for the two listening conditions in the frequency of stuttering-like disfluencies and in the total of disfluencies, and in the flows of syllable and word-per-minute in the NAF. Conclusion: the results demonstrated that delayed auditory feedback promoted fluency in spontaneous speech of adults who stutter, without interfering in the speech rate. In non-stuttering adults an increase occurred in the number of common disfluencies and total of disfluencies as well as reduction of speech rate in spontaneous speech and reading.

Development of The Viking Speech Scale to classify the speech of children with cerebral palsy.

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Pennington, Lindsay; Virella, Daniel; Mjøen, Tone; da Graça Andrada, Maria; Murray, Janice; Colver, Allan; Himmelmann, Kate; Rackauskaite, Gija; Greitane, Andra; Prasauskiene, Audrone; Andersen, Guro; de la Cruz, Javier

2013-10-01

Surveillance registers monitor the prevalence of cerebral palsy and the severity of resulting impairments across time and place. The motor disorders of cerebral palsy can affect children's speech production and limit their intelligibility. We describe the development of a scale to classify children's speech performance for use in cerebral palsy surveillance registers, and its reliability across raters and across time. Speech and language therapists, other healthcare professionals and parents classified the speech of 139 children with cerebral palsy (85 boys, 54 girls; mean age 6.03 years, SD 1.09) from observation and previous knowledge of the children. Another group of health professionals rated children's speech from information in their medical notes. With the exception of parents, raters reclassified children's speech at least four weeks after their initial classification. Raters were asked to rate how easy the scale was to use and how well the scale described the child's speech production using Likert scales. Inter-rater reliability was moderate to substantial (k>.58 for all comparisons). Test-retest reliability was substantial to almost perfect for all groups (k>.68). Over 74% of raters found the scale easy or very easy to use; 66% of parents and over 70% of health care professionals judged the scale to describe children's speech well or very well. We conclude that the Viking Speech Scale is a reliable tool to describe the speech performance of children with cerebral palsy, which can be applied through direct observation of children or through case note review. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spontaneous nystagmus in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: is it a new sign?

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Hajiabolhassan, Fahimeh; Tavanai, Elham

2013-01-01

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is a condition that indicates a benign inner ear disorder. It is generally believed that BPPV is due to the dislodged otoconial particles from otolith organs and unusual collection of them within any of semicircular canals or even in all three semicircular canals. Although the typical features of nystagmus in BPPV have been well-studied, very few studies (just four articles) have highlighted the presence of spontaneous nystagmus in BPPV recently. During the past 10 years, 2850 patients have been examined at the audiology unit of our department, and 254 patients have received diagnoses of BPPV but recently 2 patients presented with BPPV and spontaneous nystagmus, a new symptom that has been never observed in our clinical records. We herein describe this rare symptom in 2 case of BPPV. A 50-year-old woman with BPPV who showed an 18 degree spontaneous nystagmus treated with Epley maneuver and a 53-year-old man with 3 degree spontaneous nystagmus.

Visual Context Enhanced: The Joint Contribution of Iconic Gestures and Visible Speech to Degraded Speech Comprehension

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Drijvers, Linda; Ozyurek, Asli

2017-01-01

Purpose: This study investigated whether and to what extent iconic co-speech gestures contribute to information from visible speech to enhance degraded speech comprehension at different levels of noise-vocoding. Previous studies of the contributions of these 2 visual articulators to speech comprehension have only been performed separately. Method:…

On the Evaluation of the Conversational Speech Quality in Telecommunications

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Vincent Barriac

2008-04-01

Full Text Available We propose an objective method to assess speech quality in the conversational context by taking into account the talking and listening speech qualities and the impact of delay. This approach is applied to the results of four subjective tests on the effects of echo, delay, packet loss, and noise. The dataset is divided into training and validation sets. For the training set, a multiple linear regression is applied to determine a relationship between conversational, talking, and listening speech qualities and the delay value. The multiple linear regression leads to an accurate estimation of the conversational scores with high correlation and low error between subjective and estimated scores, both on the training and validation sets. In addition, a validation is performed on the data of a subjective test found in the literature which confirms the reliability of the regression. The relationship is then applied to an objective level by replacing talking and listening subjective scores with talking and listening objective scores provided by existing objective models, fed by speech signals recorded during the subjective tests. The conversational model achieves high performance as revealed by comparison with the test results and with the existing standard methodology “E-model,” presented in the ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union Recommendation G.107.

Word-by-word entrainment of speech rhythm during joint story building

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Tommi eHimberg

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Movements and behaviour synchronise during social interaction at many levels, often unintentionally. During smooth conversation, for example, participants adapt to each others' speech rates. Here we aimed to find out to which extent speakers adapt their turn-taking rhythms during a story-building game.Nine sex-matched dyads of adults (12 males, 6 females created two 5-min stories by contributing to them alternatingly one word at a time. The participants were located in different rooms, with audio connection during one story and audiovisual during the other. They were free to select the topic of the story.Although the participants received no instructions regarding the timing of the story building, their word rhythms were highly entrained (R ̅ = 0.70, p < 0.001 even though the rhythms as such were unstable (R ̅ = 0.14 for pooled data. Such high entrainment in the absence of steady word rhythm occurred in every individual story, independently of whether the subjects were connected via audio-only or audiovisual link.The observed entrainment was of similar strength as typical entrainment in finger-tapping tasks where participants are specifically instructed to synchronize their behaviour. Thus speech seems to spontaneously induce strong entrainment between the conversation partners, likely reflecting automatic alignment of their semantic and syntactic processes.