Adolfo M García1,2,3,4, Tomás Arias-Vergara5,6,7, Juan C Vasquez-Correa5,6, Elmar Nöth8, Maria Schuster7, Ariane E Welch9, Yamile Bocanegra10, Ana Baena10, Juan R Orozco-Arroyave5,6. 1. Cognitive Neuroscience Center, Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2. National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina. 3. Departamento de Lingüística y Literatura, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile. 4. Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA. 5. GITA Lab, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Antioquia UdeA, Medellín, Colombia. 6. Pattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen, Nürnberg, Germany. 7. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany. 8. Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. 9. Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA. 10. Grupo de Neurociencias de Antioquia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Dysarthric symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) vary greatly across cohorts. Abundant research suggests that such heterogeneity could reflect subject-level and task-related cognitive factors. However, the interplay of these variables during motor speech remains underexplored, let alone by administering validated materials to carefully matched samples with varying cognitive profiles and combining automated tools with machine learning methods. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to identify which speech dimensions best identify patients with PD in cognitively heterogeneous, cognitively preserved, and cognitively impaired groups through tasks with low (reading) and high (retelling) processing demands. METHODS: We used support vector machines to analyze prosodic, articulatory, and phonemic identifiability features. Patient groups were compared with healthy control subjects and against each other in both tasks, using each measure separately and in combination. RESULTS: Relative to control subjects, patients in cognitively heterogeneous and cognitively preserved groups were best discriminated by combined dysarthric signs during reading (accuracy = 84% and 80.2%). Conversely, patients with cognitive impairment were maximally discriminated from control subjects when considering phonemic identifiability during retelling (accuracy = 86.9%). This same pattern maximally distinguished between cognitively spared and impaired patients (accuracy = 72.1%). Also, cognitive (executive) symptom severity was predicted by prosody in cognitively preserved patients and by phonemic identifiability in cognitively heterogeneous and impaired groups. No measure predicted overall motor dysfunction in any group. CONCLUSIONS: Predominant dysarthric symptoms appear to be best captured through undemanding tasks in cognitively heterogeneous and preserved cohorts and through cognitively loaded tasks in patients with cognitive impairment. Further applications of this framework could enhance dysarthria assessments in PD.
BACKGROUND: Dysarthric symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) vary greatly across cohorts. Abundant research suggests that such heterogeneity could reflect subject-level and task-related cognitive factors. However, the interplay of these variables during motor speech remains underexplored, let alone by administering validated materials to carefully matched samples with varying cognitive profiles and combining automated tools with machine learning methods. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to identify which speech dimensions best identify patients with PD in cognitively heterogeneous, cognitively preserved, and cognitively impaired groups through tasks with low (reading) and high (retelling) processing demands. METHODS: We used support vector machines to analyze prosodic, articulatory, and phonemic identifiability features. Patient groups were compared with healthy control subjects and against each other in both tasks, using each measure separately and in combination. RESULTS: Relative to control subjects, patients in cognitively heterogeneous and cognitively preserved groups were best discriminated by combined dysarthric signs during reading (accuracy = 84% and 80.2%). Conversely, patients with cognitive impairment were maximally discriminated from control subjects when considering phonemic identifiability during retelling (accuracy = 86.9%). This same pattern maximally distinguished between cognitively spared and impaired patients (accuracy = 72.1%). Also, cognitive (executive) symptom severity was predicted by prosody in cognitively preserved patients and by phonemic identifiability in cognitively heterogeneous and impaired groups. No measure predicted overall motor dysfunction in any group. CONCLUSIONS: Predominant dysarthric symptoms appear to be best captured through undemanding tasks in cognitively heterogeneous and preserved cohorts and through cognitively loaded tasks in patients with cognitive impairment. Further applications of this framework could enhance dysarthria assessments in PD.
Authors: Adolfo M García; Ariane E Welch; Maria Luisa Mandelli; Maya L Henry; Sladjana Lukic; María José Torres Prioris; Jessica Deleon; Buddhika M Ratnasiri; Diego L Lorca-Puls; Bruce L Miller; William Seeley; Adam P Vogel; Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini Journal: Neurology Date: 2022-05-27 Impact factor: 11.800