Effects of a Concurrent Working Memory Task on Speech Acoustics in Parkinson's Disease
Daria A. Dragicevic, Kimberly L. Dahl, Zoe Perkins, Defne Abur, Cara E. Stepp- Speech and Hearing
- Linguistics and Language
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Otorhinolaryngology
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a concurrent working memory task on acoustic measures of speech in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD).
Method:
Individuals with PD and age- and sex-matched controls performed a speaking task with and without a Stroop-like concurrent working memory task. Cepstral peak prominence, low-to-high spectral energy ratio, fundamental frequency ( f o ) standard deviation, articulation rate, pause duration, articulatory–acoustic vowel space, relative f o , mean voice onset time (VOT), and VOT variability were calculated for each condition. Mixed-model analyses of variance were performed to determine the effects of group, condition (presence of the concurrent working memory task), and their interaction on the acoustic measures.
Results:
All measures except for VOT variability, mean pause duration, and relative f o offset differed between people with and without PD. Cepstral peak prominence, articulation rate, and relative f o offset differed as a function of condition. However, no measures indicated disparate effects of condition as a function of group.
Conclusion:
Although differentially impactful on limb motor function in PD, here a concurrent working memory task was not found to be differentially disruptive to speech acoustics in PD.
Supplemental Material: