Affective Prosody and Depression After Stroke

Abstract

Background and Purpose-Poststroke depression (PSD) is a frequent complication of stroke with detrimental consequences in terms of quality of life and functional outcomes. In individuals with major depression, several studies have demonstrated an alteration of affective prosody. The aim of this study is to identify prosodic markers that may be predictive of PSD. Methods-Patient voices were recorded at baseline and 3 months after stroke. We extracted prosodic parameters, including fundamental frequency, percentage of voice breaks, and shimmer. Depression and anxiety symptoms were assessed 3 months later. Results-Among the 49 patients included in the study, 22.5% developed PSD 3 months after stroke. A significant decrease was observed concerning the fundamental frequency among patients who developed PSD. Discriminant analysis demonstrated that initial voice breaks coupled with shimmer are strongly predictive of subsequent PSD. Conclusions-Early alterations of affective prosody are associated with a higher risk of PSD 3 months after a stroke. This new physiological approach overcomes traditional barriers associated with clinical instruments and contributes to the prediction of this disorder.

Assessment tools and rehabilitation treatments for aprosodia following acquired brain injury: A scoping review

“…These data suggest that perceptual improvements in aprosodia can be measured quantitatively using acoustic analysis of speech and provide additional support for previously described behavioural treatments for this disorder. These findings also support previous reports that suggest that different emotional tones of speech are associated with differences in the acoustic speech signal (Villain et al ., 2016).…”

“…With acoustic analysis, it is possible to measure quantitatively and objectify expressive changes in the variability of fundamental frequency through numerical data. Indeed, it has been shown by some researchers that depressed patients have changes in fundamental frequency variability (Villain et al ., 2016). However, most prosody transcription systems seem to be of little help in identifying prosodic disorder (Peppé, 2009).…”

The Efficacy of Integrated Rehabilitation for Post-Stroke Anxiety: Study Protocol for a Prospective, Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Currently, although the pathogenesis of PSA remains unclear, it may be related to the following mechanisms: 1) Cerebrovascular circulation disorder leads to brain tissue damage, and there is a correlation between areas of impaired hypoperfusion and the morbidity of anxiety, 39 especially in areas of dominant psycho-behavioral functions such as the frontotemporal lobe and cortex 40 ; 2) Activated NF-kB cells in the neuroglia may mediate anxiety behavior by enhancing nNOS-CAPON-Dexras expression and association 41 ; and 3) Impaired neuronal function leads to dysregulation of neurotransmitters such as adrenaline, 5-hydroxytryptamine, and dopamine to trigger depression and anxiety. 42 At present, there is a paucity of clinical research on PSA. Previous available studies mainly adopt a solo therapy for PSA, and the integrated rehabilitation incorporating both TCM and Western medicine is rarely used in previously published studies in this field.…”

“Hard to Say, Hard to Understand, Hard to Live”: Possible Associations between Neurologic Language Impairments and Suicide Risk

“…It is currently accepted that prosody variations in patients with language disorders occur during changes in their mental state, both at an “explicit or propositional” and “implicit” degree [ 38 , 39 ]. A study which investigated post-stroke depression reported that early alterations of affective prosody were associated with a higher risk of post-stroke depression three months following a stroke [ 40 ]. Particularly, the more words are congruent with the patients’ concerns, the more significant this interference would be, since these affects would mobilize part of the attentional/executive functions, inducing a double-task situation [ 41 ].…”