Speaking, which naturally occurs in different modes or “tasks” such as conversation and repetition, relies on intact basal ganglia nuclei. Recent studies suggest that voice and fluency parameters are differentially affected by speech task. This study examines the effects of subcortical functionality on voice and fluency, comparing measures obtained from spontaneous and matched repeated speech samples. Parkinson subjects who are being treated with bilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nuclei (STN) were tested with stimulators ON and OFF. Results indicated that a voice measure, harmonic to noise ratio, is improved in repetition and in DBS-ON, and that dysfluencies are more plentiful in conversation with little or variable influence of DBS condition. These findings suggest that voice and fluency are differentially affected by DBS treatment and that task conditions, interacting with subcortical functionality, influence motor speech performance.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.