Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-p2v8j Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2024-05-24T01:54:37.124Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Acoustic Markers Associated with Impairment in Language Processing in Alzheimer's Disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Juan J. G. Meilán ,
Francisco Martínez-Sánchez ,
Juan Carro ,
José A. Sánchez  and
Enrique Pérez
Juan J. G. Meilán*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Salamanca (Spain)
Francisco Martínez-Sánchez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia (Spain)
Juan Carro
Affiliation:
Universidad de Salamanca (Spain)
José A. Sánchez
Affiliation:
Centro de Referencia Estatal de Alzheimer (Spain)
Enrique Pérez
Affiliation:
Centro de Referencia Estatal de Alzheimer (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Juan José G. Meilán. Universidad de Salamanca, Department of Psychology. Avda. de la Merced, 109-131. E-37005 Salamanca, (Spain). Fax: + 34-923294608. E-mail: meilan@usal.es
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study broaches in a novel way the analysis of cognitive impairment characteristic of the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Specifically, we attempt to determine the acoustic speech parameters that are sensitive to the onset of the disease, and their association with the language deficit characteristic of AD. Speech analysis was carried out on 21 elderly patients with AD using Praat software, which analyzes the acoustic components of speech. The data obtained were subjected to stepwise regression, using the overall scores obtained in the test as the criterion variable, and the scores on the frequency, amplitude and periodicity variables as predictors of performance. We found that the percentage of voiceless segments explains a significant portion of the variance in the overall scores obtained in the neuropsychological test. This component seems to be related mainly to the patient's ability in phonological fluency. This finding could permit the creation of a diagnostic test for AD through analysis of the acoustic speech parameters at very low cost in terms of both time and resources.

El estudio aborda una manera novedosa el análisis de los deterioros cognitivos característicos de las primeras fases de la Enfermedad de Alzheimer (EA). En concreto, se pretende determinar los parámetros acústicos del habla sensibles al inicio de la enfermedad, y su asociación con el déficit lingüístico característico de la EA. Realizamos un análisis del habla a 21 mayores con EA, por medio del software Praat que analiza los componentes acústicos del habla. Los datos obtenidos se analizaron mediante la técnica de regresión paso a paso, con las puntuaciones globales obtenidas en las diferentes pruebas neuropsicológicas como variable criterio, (entre otras el test de Cuetos-Vega de procesamiento lingüístico) y las puntuaciones en las variables de frecuencia, amplitud y periodicidad del sonido como predictores de su ejecución. Obtuvimos que el porcentaje de segmentos sordos explica una parte significativa de la varianza de la puntuación global obtenida en la prueba neuropsicológica. Este componente parece estar relacionado, principalmente, con la capacidad de fluidez fonológica del paciente. Esto podría permitir la elaboración de una prueba de diagnóstico de la EA a través del análisis de los parámetros acústicos del habla con un coste temporal y material muy bajo.

Keywords

Alzheimerphonologyspeechverbal fluencyAlzheimerfonologíaalocuciónfluided verbal
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , July 2012 , pp. 487 - 494
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alonso, J., de León, J., Alonso, I., & Ferrer, M. A. (2001). Automatic detection of pathologies in the voice by HOS based parameters. EURASIP Journal on Applied Signal Processing, 4, 275–284. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/S1110865701000336CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Appell, J., Kertesz, A., & Fisman, M. (1982). A study of language functioning in Alzheimer patients. Brain Language, 17, 73–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0093-934X(82)90006-2CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alzheimer, A., Forstl, H., & Levy, R. (1991). On certain peculiar diseases of old age. History of Psychiatry, 2, 71–101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0957154X9100200505CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bayles, K. (2003). Effects of working memory deficits on the communicative functioning of Alzheimer's dementia patients. Journal of Communication Disorders, 36, 209–219. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9924(03)00020-0CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boersma, P. (1993). Accurate short-term analysis of the fundamental frequency and the harmonics-to-noise ratio of a sampled sound. IFA Proceedings, 7, 97–110.Google Scholar
Boersma, P., & Weenink, D. (2010). Praat: Doing phonetics by computer (version 5.1.29). [Computer program]. Retrieved from http://www.praat.org/.Google Scholar
Brückl, M., & Sendlmeier, W. (2003). Aging female voices: An acoustic and perceptive analysis. In Proceedings of VOQUAL'03. Geneva, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Croot, K., Hodges, J. R., Xuereb, J., & Patterson, K. (2000). Phonological and articulatory impairment in Alzheimer's disease: A case series. Brain and Language, 75, 277–309. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/brln.2000.2357CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cuetos-Vega, F., Menéndez-González, M., & Calatayud-Noruega, T. (2007). Descripción de un nuevo test de detección temprana de la enfermedad de Alzheimer. [Description of a novel test for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease]. Revista de Neurolología, 44, 469–474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emery, O. B. (1988). Language and memory processing in senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type. Language, memory and aging. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Faber-Langendoen, K., Morris, J. C., Knesevich, J. W., LaBarge, E., Miller, J. P., & Berg, L. (1988). Aphasia in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. Annals of Neurology, 23, 365–370. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ana.410230409CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fernández, S., Ruba, D., Marqués, M., & Sarraqueta, L. (2006). Voz del anciano. [The speech of aging]. Revista de Medicina Universidad de Navarra, 50, 44–48.Google Scholar
Ferri, C. P., Prince, M., Brayne, C., Brodaty, H., Fratiglioni, L., Ganguli, M. … Scazufca, M. (2005). Global prevalence of dementia: A Delphi consensus study. Lancet, 366, 2112–2117. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67889-0CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E., & Mchugh, P. R. (1975). ‘Mini-Mental State’: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forbes-McKay, K. E., & Venneri, A. (2005). Detecting subtle spontaneous language decline in early Alzheimer's disease with a picture description task. Neurologial Sciences, 26, 243–254. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10072-005-0467-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forbes-McKay, K. E., Ellis, A. W., Shanks, M. F., & Venneri, A. (2005). The age of acquisition of words produced in a semantic fluency task can reliably differentiate normal from pathological age related cognitive decline. Neuropsychologia, 43, 1625–1632. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2005.01.008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frutos-Alegría, M. T., Moltó-Jordà, J. M., Morera-Guitart, J., Sánchez-Pérez, A., & Ferrer-Navajas, M. (2007). Perfil neuropsicológico del deterioro cognitivo leve con afectación de múltiples áreas cognitivas. Importancia de la amnesia en la distinción de dos subtipos de pacientes. [The neuropsychological profile of mild cognitive impairment with involvement of multiple cognitive areas. The importance of amnesia in distinguishing two subtypes of patients]. Revista de Neurología, 44, 455–459CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goddard, J., Schlotthauer, G., Torres, M. E., & Rufiner, H. L. (2009). Dimensionality reduction for visualization of normal and pathological speech data. Biomedical Signal Processing and Control, 4, 194–201. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bspc.2009.01.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gorno-Tempini, M. L., Brambati, S. M., Ginex, V., Ogar, J., Dronkers, N. F., Marcone, A. … Miller, B. L. (2008). The logopenic/phonological variant of primary progressive aphasia. Neurology, 71, 1227–1234. http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000320506.79811.daCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoffmann, I., Nemeth, D., Dye, C., Pakaski, M., Irinyi, T., & Kalman, J. (2010). Temporal parameters of spontaneous speech in Alzheimer's disease. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 12, 29–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/17549500903137256CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hutchinson, J. M., & Jensen, M. (1980). A pragmatic evaluation of discourse communication in normal senile elderly in a nursing home in Elderly. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Kaufman, A. S., & Lichtenberger, E. (2006). Assessing Adolescent and Adult Intelligence (3rd Ed.). Hoboken, NJ: WileyGoogle Scholar
Kemper, S., Marquis, J., & Thompson, M. (2001). Longitudinal change in language production: Effects of aging and dementia on grammatical complexity and propositional content. Psychology and Aging, 16, 600–614. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.16.4.600CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Linville, S. E. (2001). Vocal Aging. San Diego, CA: Singular Publishing Group.Google Scholar
Linville, S. E. (2004). Voice disorders of aging. In Kent, R. D. (Ed.), The MIT encyclopaedia of communication disorders. Boston, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Martínez-Sánchez, F. (2010). Trastornos del habla y la voz en la enfermedad de Parkinson. [Speech and voice disorders in Parkinson's disease]. Revista de Neurología, 51, 542–550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mertens, P. (2004). The prosogram: Semi-automatic transcription of prosody based on a tonal perception model. In Proceedings of Speech Prosody. Retrieved from http://bach.arts.kuleuven.be/pmertens/papers/sp2004.pdfGoogle Scholar
Pascual-Millán, L. F., Martínez-Quiñones, J., Modrego-Pardo, P., Mostacero-Miguel, E., López del Val, L. J., & Morales-Asín, F. (1990). El set-test en el diagnóstico de las demencias. [The set-test in the diagnosis of dementia]. Revista de Neurología, 5, 82–85.Google Scholar
Paulraj, M. P., Sazali, B. Y., Ahamad, N. A., & Sathees, K. N. (2010). Segmentation of voiced portion for voice pathology classification using fuzzy logic. Challenges and Innovations in Information Technology 2010, 561–566.Google Scholar
Peraita, H., Galeote, M. A., & González, M. J. (1999). Deterioro de la memoria semántica en pacientes de Alzheimer. [Semantic Memory Impaired in Alzheimer Disease People]. Psicothema, 11, 917–937Google Scholar
Pérez-Martínez, D. A., Baztán, J. J., González-Becerra, M., & Socorro, A. (2005). Evaluación de la utilidad diagnóstica de una adaptación española del Memory Impairment Screen de Buschke para detectar demencia y deterioro cognitivo. [Evaluation of the diagnostic value of a spanish adaptation of the Buschke Memory impairment screen in the detection of dementia and cognitive impairment]. Revista de Neurología, 40, 644–648.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petersen, R. C., Smith, G. E., Waring, C., Ivnik, R. J., Tangalos, E. G., & Kokmen, E. (1999). Mild cognitive impairment. Clinical characterization and outcome. Archives of Neurolology, 56, 303–308. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archneur.56.3.303CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ravindran, G., Shenbagadevi, S., & Salai Selvam, V. (2010). Cepstral and linear prediction techniques for improving intelligibility and audibility of impaired speech. Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering, 3, 85–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jbise.2010.31013CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schötz, S. (2007). Acoustic analysis of adult speaker age. In Müller, C. (Ed.), Speaker classification I, lecture notes in computer science. Heindelberg, Germany: Springer-Verlag. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74200-5_5Google Scholar
Shipp, T., Qi, Y., Huntley, R., & Hollien, H. (1992). Acoustic and temporal correlates of perceived age. Journal of Voice, 6, 211–216. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0892-1997(05)80145-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taler, V., Baum, S. R, Chertkow, H., & Saumier, D. (2008). Comprehension of grammatical and emotional prosody is impaired in Alzheimer's Disease. Neuropsychology, 22, 188–195. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0894-4105.22.2.188CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Testa, J. A., Beatty, W. W., Gleason, B. A., Orbelo, D. M., & Ross, E. D. (2001). Impaired affective prosody in Alzheimer disease: relationship to aphasic deficits and emotional behaviors. Neurology, 57, 1474–1481.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tirado, V., Muñoz, C., Aguirre, C., Pineda, D. A., & Lopera, R. (2004). Desempeño de portadores y no portadores de la mutación E280A para enfermedad de Alzheimer familiar en una prueba de denominación. [Performance of carriers and non-carriers of the E280A mutation for familial Alzheimer's disease in a naming test]. Revista de Neurología, 39, 322–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomoeda, C. K., & Bayles, K. A. (1993). Longitudinal effects of Alzheimer disease on discourse production. Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders, 7, 223–236.Google ScholarPubMed
Ullman, M. T. (2004). Contributions of memory circuits to language: The declarative/procedural model. Cognition, 92, 231–270. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2003.10.008CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valls-Pedret, C., Molinuevo, J. L., & Rami, L. (2010) Diagnóstico precoz de la enfermedad de Alzheimer. Fase prodrómica y preclínica. [Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: the prodromal and preclinical phase]. Revista de Neurología, 51, 471–480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar