OBJECTIVES Research suggests that people with Parkinson's disease (PwPD) do not only suffer from motor but also non-motor impairment. This interdisciplinary study investigated how prominence marking is influenced by problems on the motoric and cognitive level. MATERIALS AND METHODS We collected speech production data from 38 native German speakers: 19 PwPD (under medication) with a mild to moderate motor impairment, 13 males and 6 females (mean 66.2 years old, SD = 7.7), and 19 healthy age- and gender-matched control participants (mean 65.4 years old, SD = 9.3). Target words were produced in an accented and unaccented condition within a speech production task. The data were analyzed for intensity, syllable duration, F0 and vowel production. Furthermore, we assessed motor impairment and cognitive functions, i.e. working memory, task-switching, attention control and speed of information processing. RESULTS Both groups were able to mark prominence by increasing pitch, syllable duration and intensity and by adjusting their vowel production. Comparisons between PwPD and control participants revealed that the vowel space was smaller in PwPD even in mildly impaired speakers. Further, task-switching as an executive function, which was tested with the trail making test, was correlated with modulation of F0 and intensity in PwPD: the worse the task-switching performance, the stronger intensity and F0 were modulated (target overshoot). Moreover, motor impairment within the PwPD group was related to a decrease in the acoustic vowel space (target undershoot), which further resulted in a decrease in speech intelligibility and naturalness. This behaviour of target over- and undershoot indicates an inefficient way of prominence marking in PwPD with mildly affected speech. CONCLUSION PwPD with signs of mild dysarthria did not differ from the control speakers with respect to their strategies of prominence marking. However, only the PwPD overused F0 and intensity in prominent positions. Overmodulation of F0 and intensity was correlated with the patient's task-switching ability and reflected abnormalities in the regulatory mechanism for expressing prosodic prominence. This is the first study to report a link between cognitive skills and speech production at the phonetic level in PwPD.

中文翻译：

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帕金森语音中的突出标记及其与运动表现和认知能力的相关性。

目的研究表明，帕金森氏症（PwPD）的人不仅患有运动障碍，而且患有非运动障碍。这项跨学科研究调查了运动和认知水平上的问题如何影响突出标记。材料和方法我们收集了38位德语为母语的母语人士的语音产生数据：19位PwPD（服药期间），患有轻度至中度运动障碍，男性13位，女性6位（平均年龄66.2岁，SD = 7.7），以及19岁的健康年龄和性别匹配的对照参与者（平均年龄65.4岁，SD = 9.3）。在语音制作任务中，目标词是在重音和不重音的条件下产生的。分析数据的强度，音节持续时间，F0和元音产生。此外，我们评估了运动障碍和认知功能，例如工作记忆，任务切换，注意控制和信息处理速度。结果两组都可以通过增加音调，音节持续时间和强度以及调整元音产生来突出发音。PwPD与对照组参与者之间的比较显示，即使在轻度说话者中，PwPD中的元音空间也较小。此外，通过跟踪测试测试的作为任务执行功能的任务切换与PwPD中F0和强度的调制相关：任务切换性能越差，强度和F0越强（目标超调）。此外，PwPD组内的运动障碍与声学元音空间的减少（目标下冲）有关，这进一步导致语音清晰度和自然度下降。目标过冲和下冲的行为表明，在语音受到轻度影响的PwPD中，突出标记的效率不高。结论伴有轻度构音障碍迹象的PwPD与突出说话者的突出标记策略没有区别。但是，只有PwPD在显眼位置过度使用了F0和强度。F0和强度的过度调节与患者的任务切换能力相关，并反映了韵律突出的调节机制中的异常。这是第一项报告在PwPD语音水平上认知技能与语音产生之间的联系的研究。结论具有轻度构音障碍迹象的PwPD与突出说话者的突出标记策略没有区别。但是，只有PwPD在显眼位置过度使用了F0和强度。F0和强度的过度调节与患者的任务切换能力相关，并反映了异常韵律表达的调节机制中的异常。这是第一项报告在PwPD语音水平上认知技能与语音产生之间的联系的研究。结论伴有轻度构音障碍迹象的PwPD与突出说话者的突出标记策略没有区别。但是，只有PwPD在显眼位置过度使用了F0和强度。F0和强度的过度调节与患者的任务切换能力相关，并反映了异常韵律表达的调节机制中的异常。这是第一项报告在PwPD语音水平上认知技能与语音产生之间的联系的研究。