Fletcher Annalise R, Wisler Alan A, Budge Samantha, Nalley Brian, Borrie Stephanie A
Department of Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education, Utah State University, Logan.
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Utah State University, Logan.
Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2025 Jul 10;34(4):2170-2188. doi: 10.1044/2025_AJSLP-24-00343. Epub 2025 Jun 16.
When faced with challenging communicative situations, people with dysarthria are commonly advised to rephrase their message, using common words and keeping sentences short and manageable. However, it remains unclear whether relevant clinical populations can implement these changes on demand. The goals of this study were to (a) identify lexical changes that occur when speakers are prompted to rephrase sentences and (b) examine how rephrasing messages affects acoustic measures of speech production and listener perceptual ratings.
Speech samples were collected from 11 speakers with Parkinson's disease and 11 age-matched adults. In a baseline condition, speakers read 29 sentences from the Natural Stories Corpus. Following this, speakers received verbal instructions on how to rephrase statements and were prompted to make each sentence easier to understand (rephrasing condition). Transcripts from both conditions were analyzed to measure lexical diversity and sophistication. Sentence-level measures of average sound pressure level, pitch variability, speech rate, pause duration, and listener ratings of ease of understanding were also investigated.
Both speaker groups were able to significantly reduce the lexical diversity and sophistication of sentences following a brief educational protocol. However, rephrased speech stimuli were not judged as easier to understand. Acoustically, rephrased stimuli were associated with greater pause durations and a reduction in average speech intensity.
Speakers, both with and without a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, can simplify their language when prompted to do so. However, it is possible that the cognitive demands associated with rephrasing language could interfere with the clarity of speech production.
当面对具有挑战性的交流情境时，通常建议构音障碍患者重新表述他们的信息，使用常用词汇并保持句子简短且易于理解。然而，尚不清楚相关临床人群是否能够根据需要进行这些改变。本研究的目的是：（a）确定在提示说话者重新表述句子时发生的词汇变化；（b）研究重新表述信息如何影响言语产生的声学指标和听众的感知评分。
从11名帕金森病患者和11名年龄匹配的成年人中收集语音样本。在基线条件下，说话者阅读来自自然故事语料库的29个句子。在此之后，向说话者提供关于如何重新表述语句的口头指导，并促使他们使每个句子更易于理解（重新表述条件）。对两种条件下的文字记录进行分析，以测量词汇多样性和复杂性。还研究了句子层面的平均声压级、音高变异性、语速、停顿持续时间以及听众对易于理解程度的评分。
在经过简短的培训方案后，两个说话者组都能够显著降低句子的词汇多样性和复杂性。然而，重新表述的语音刺激并没有被判定为更易于理解。在声学方面，重新表述的刺激与更长的停顿持续时间和平均语音强度的降低有关。
无论是否被诊断为帕金森病，说话者在被提示时都可以简化他们的语言。然而，与重新表述语言相关的认知需求可能会干扰言语产生的清晰度。
