Gómez Andrés, Gómez Pedro, Palacios Daniel, Rodellar Victoria, Nieto Víctor, Álvarez Agustín, Tsanas Athanasios
Old Medical School, Medical School, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
NeuSpeLab, Center for Biomedical Technology, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2021 Mar 15;15:622825. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.622825. eCollection 2021.
The present work proposes the study of the neuromotor activity of the masseter-jaw-tongue articulation during diadochokinetic exercising to establish functional statistical relationships between surface Electromyography (sEMG), 3D Accelerometry (3DAcc), and acoustic features extracted from the speech signal, with the aim of characterizing Hypokinetic Dysarthria (HD). A database of multi-trait signals of recordings from an age-matched control and PD participants are used in the experimental study.
The main assumption is that information between sEMG and 3D acceleration, and acoustic features may be quantified using linear regression methods.
Recordings from a cohort of eight age-matched control participants (4 males, 4 females) and eight PD participants (4 males, 4 females) were collected during the utterance of a diadochokinetic exercise (the fast repetition of diphthong [aI]). The dynamic and acoustic absolute kinematic velocities produced during the exercises were estimated by acoustic filter inversion and numerical integration and differentiation of the speech signal. The amplitude distributions of the absolute kinematic and acoustic velocities (AKV and AFV) are estimated to allow comparisons in terms of Mutual Information.
The regression results show the relationships between sEMG and dynamic and acoustic estimates. The projection methodology may help in understanding the basic neuromotor muscle activity regarding neurodegenerative speech in remote monitoring neuromotor and neurocognitive diseases using speech as the vehicular tool, and in the study of other speech-related disorders. The study also showed strong and significant cross-correlations between articulation kinematics, both for the control and the PD cohorts. The absolute kinematic variables presents an observable difference for the PD participants compared to the control group.
Kinematic distributions derived from acoustic analysis may be useful biomarkers toward characterizing HD in neuromotor disorders providing new insights into PD.
本研究旨在探讨在重复运动速率练习过程中，咬肌 - 颌 - 舌关节的神经运动活动，以建立表面肌电图（sEMG）、三维加速度计（3DAcc）与从语音信号中提取的声学特征之间的功能统计关系，从而对运动减少型构音障碍（HD）进行特征描述。在实验研究中使用了一个来自年龄匹配的对照组和帕金森病（PD）参与者的多特征信号记录数据库。
主要假设是sEMG与三维加速度以及声学特征之间的信息可以使用线性回归方法进行量化。
在重复运动速率练习（双元音[aI]的快速重复）发声过程中，收集了一组八名年龄匹配的对照参与者（4名男性，4名女性）和八名PD参与者（4名男性，4名女性）的记录。通过声学滤波器反演以及语音信号的数值积分和微分，估计练习过程中产生的动态和声学绝对运动学速度。估计绝对运动学和声学速度（AKV和AFV）的幅度分布，以便在互信息方面进行比较。
回归结果显示了sEMG与动态和声学估计之间的关系。投影方法可能有助于理解在使用语音作为媒介工具远程监测神经运动和神经认知疾病时，与神经退行性语音相关的基本神经运动肌肉活动，以及在研究其他与语音相关的障碍方面。该研究还表明，在对照组和PD组中，关节运动学之间存在强烈且显著的互相关。与对照组相比，PD参与者的绝对运动学变量存在明显差异。
从声学分析得出的运动学分布可能是用于表征神经运动障碍中HD的有用生物标志物，为PD提供了新的见解。
