Tongue-palate contact patterns during speech production have been measured by electropalatography (EPG). A conventional EPG system produces only a flat contact pattern, and does not provide data for either the three-dimensional aspect nor tightness of tongue-palate contact. This paper describes work integrating two recently developed palatography techniques, i.e., three-dimensional electropalatography (3D-EPG) [M. Wakumoto and S. Masaki, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 102, 3166(A) (1997)], and pressure sensitive palatography (PSPG) [M. Wakumoto et al., Proceedings of ICSLP98]. The former displays the electrode pattern on a realistic palatal shape, and the latter measures contact pressure by a thin sheet sensor array. The two systems are combined using the following procedures: (1) individual palatal shape and contact patterns in the 3D field during consonant production are acquired by 3D-EPG, (2) dynamic tongue-palatal contact pressure during the same consonant production at the same contact area is monitored by PSPG. A preliminary experiment revealed contact pressure differences between voiceless and voiced consonants ([t] > [d]) while the contact area for these consonants were almost identical. This result suggests that the combined method can usefully augment the study of tongue-palate contact during consonant closures.
Recent reports on modeled simulation of near infrared photons' paths in the adult head have shown that the cerebrospinal fluid functions as an optical guide, suggesting that non-invasive haemodynamic measurement of the deep layer of the cerebral cortex is difficult. Thus, the authors investigated the volume of the cortex measured by near infrared spectroscopy with the absorbance difference technique. This technique uses two radiation detector probes to yield short and long photon paths in order to realise selective measurement of the cortex by minimising the interference from the superficial layers covering the cortex. The results show that the volume of the cortex measured by this technique is larger in the temporal area than in the frontal area. Therefore, it is concluded that the photons' path in the temporal area reaches the deep layer of the cortex and that it is possible to measure the haemodynamic response of the auditory cortex in the deep temporal area of the adult head to sound stimuli.
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