Influence of Cognitive Function on Speech and Articulation Rate in Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

We examined cognitive predictors of speech and articulation rate in 50 individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 23 healthy controls. We measured speech and articulation rate from audio-recordings of participants reading aloud and talking extemporaneously on a topic of their choice (i.e., self-generated speech). Articulation rate was calculated for each speech sample by removing lexically irrelevant vocalizations and pauses of >200 ms. Speech rate was similarly calculated including pauses. Concurrently, the Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Function in Multiple Sclerosis (MACFIMS) battery, as well as standardized tests of sentence intelligibility and syllable repetition were administered. Analysis of variance showed that MS patients were slower on three of the four rate measures. Greater variance in rate measures was accounted for by cognitive variables for the MS group than controls. An information processing speed composite, as measured by the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) and the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), was the strongest predictor among cognitive tests. A composite of memory tests related to self-generated speech, above and beyond information processing speed, but not to oral reading. Self-generated speech, in this study, was not found to relate more strongly to cognitive tests than simple reading. Implications for further research are discussed.

Effects of cognitive impairment on prosodic parameters of speech production planning in multiple sclerosis

“…() and Rodgers et al . () reported in both read and spontaneous speech consistent effects of processing demands on articulation rate, which was slower for MS patients with low cognitive ability than for healthy adults. Feenaughty et al .…”

“…Concerning MS, at least three studies investigated speech timing as a function of CI (Arrondo, Sepulcre, Duque, Toledo, & Villoslada, ; Feenaughty, Tjaden, Benedict, & Weinstock‐Guttman, ; Rodgers, Tjaden, Feenaughty, Weinstock‐Guttman, & Benedict, ).…”

“…Rodgers et al . () further examined single cognitive predictors of speech and rate measures. They found a moderate association between information processing speed composite scores (as assessed through the Pacet Auditory Serial Addition Test ‐ PASAT, Gronwall, ; and the Symbol Digit Modality Test ‐ SDMT, Smith, ) and speech articulation in both read and spontaneous speech for MS but not for healthy controls (HC).…”

“…Furthermore, following Rodgers et al . (), we investigated which cognitive test relates better to speech and articulation rate. We expected that the PASAT – as a composite measure assessing speed of processing – may relate better than other tests to the rate measures.…”

Slowed articulation rate is a sensitive diagnostic marker for identifying non-fluent primary progressive aphasia

“…In the current sample, 10 of 11 participants diagnosed with nfvPPA had apraxic speech characteristics as judged by a speech language pathologist, thus providing additional support for the suggestion that slowed articulation rate is a characteristic speech feature in this group. Both apraxia of speech and dysarthria disrupt speech motor output, and a supporting body of research has established a connection between motor speech impairment and reduced articulation rate in other speech-disordered populations, including ALS (Yunusova et al, 2010) and multiple sclerosis (Rodgers, Tjaden, Feenaughty, Weinstock-Guttman, & Benedict, 2013). …”