Angelopoulou Georgia, Kasselimis Dimitrios, Goutsos Dionysios, Potagas Constantin
Neuropsychology & Language Disorders Unit, 1st Neurology Department, Eginition Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 28 Athens, Greece.
Department of Psychology, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, 176 71 Athens, Greece.
Brain Sci. 2024 May 7;14(5):466. doi: 10.3390/brainsci14050466.
The examination of connected speech may serve as a valuable tool for exploring speech output in both healthy speakers and individuals with language disorders. Numerous studies incorporate various fluency and silence measures into their analyses to investigate speech output patterns in different populations, along with the underlying cognitive processes that occur while speaking. However, methodological inconsistencies across existing studies pose challenges in comparing their results. In the current study, we introduce CSAP (Connected Speech Analysis Protocol), which is a specific methodological approach to investigate fluency metrics, such as articulation rate and speech rate, as well as silence measures, including silent pauses' frequency and duration. We emphasize the importance of employing a comprehensive set of measures within a specific methodological framework to better understand speech output patterns. Additionally, we advocate for the use of distinct narrative tasks for a thorough investigation of speech output in different conditions. We provide an example of data on which we implement CSAP to showcase the proposed pipeline. In conclusion, CSAP offers a comprehensive framework for investigating speech output patterns, incorporating fluency metrics and silence measures in distinct narrative tasks, thus allowing a detailed quantification of connected speech in both healthy and clinical populations. We emphasize the significance of adopting a unified methodological approach in connected speech studies, enabling the integration of results for more robust and generalizable conclusions.
连贯言语检查可作为一种有价值的工具，用于探究健康说话者和语言障碍个体的言语输出。众多研究在分析中纳入了各种流畅性和沉默指标，以调查不同人群的言语输出模式，以及说话时发生的潜在认知过程。然而，现有研究在方法上的不一致给比较其结果带来了挑战。在本研究中，我们引入了CSAP（连贯言语分析协议），这是一种用于研究流畅性指标（如发音速率和语速）以及沉默指标（包括沉默停顿的频率和时长）的特定方法。我们强调在特定方法框架内采用一套全面的指标对于更好地理解言语输出模式的重要性。此外，我们主张使用不同的叙述任务，以便在不同条件下全面研究言语输出。我们提供了一个实施CSAP的数据示例，以展示所提议的流程。总之，CSAP提供了一个用于研究言语输出模式的综合框架，在不同的叙述任务中纳入了流畅性指标和沉默指标，从而能够对健康人群和临床人群的连贯言语进行详细量化。我们强调在连贯言语研究中采用统一方法的重要性，以便整合结果得出更可靠和更具普遍性的结论。
