%0 Journal Article
%T Effect of LSVT on Lexical Tone in Speakers with Parkinson's Disease
%A Tara L. Whitehill
%A Lorinda Kwan
%A Flora P.-H. Lee
%A Mia M.-N. Chow
%J Parkinson's Disease
%D 2011
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.4061/2011/897494
%X Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) has well-documented treatment efficacy for individuals with hypokinetic dysarthria associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). Positive changes have been noted after treatment not only for vocal loudness but also for many other speech dimensions, including intonation (monotonicity). There have been few studies investigating the effect of LSVT on lexical tone which, like intonation, is controlled by variations in fundamental frequency. This study involved 12 Cantonese speakers with idiopathic PD who were enrolled in a standard LVST treatment protocol. Speech data were collected 3-4 days before treatment and 1 day after treatment. A wide variety of perceptual and acoustic variables were analyzed. The results showed significant improvements in loudness and intonation after treatment, but no significant changes in lexical tone. These results have theoretical implications for the relationship between tone and intonation and for models of the physiological control of fundamental frequency. 1. Effect of LSVT on Lexical Tone in Speakers with Parkinson¡¯s Disease Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT), which focuses on increasing vocal loudness, was developed for the treatment of voice and speech impairment in individuals with Parkinson¡¯s disease (PD). The treatment protocol involves intensive treatment delivery (a one-hour session, four days a week for four weeks) and has been fully described elsewhere [1]. LSVT has well-documented treatment efficacy (e.g., [2, 3]). Positive changes have been noted not only for vocal loudness but also for many other speech dimensions, including intonation [1, 2]. Monotonicity, a disruption in intonation, is considered one of the hallmarks of hypokinetic dysarthria [4]. An estimated 60¨C70% of the world¡¯s languages are tonal [5]; that is, where words of different meaning can be marked by variations in tone alone. Whereas intonation is associated with variation in fundamental frequency at the phrasal level, lexical tone is associated with variation in fundamental frequency at the syllable level. Cantonese (Chinese) has six contrastive tones, which vary according to pitch height and pitch contour [6]. Using the numerical system developed by Chao [7], where the first number represents the beginning level of the tone and the second number indicates the finishing level of the tone, the six lexical tones of Cantonese are 55 (high level), 35 (high rising), 33 (mid level), 21 (low falling), 23 (low rising), and 22 (low level). There have been few studies of hypokinetic dysarthria in speakers of lexical
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/pd/2011/897494/