Prosodic characteristics of speech pre- and post-right hemisphere stroke

Lee X. Blonder, John E. Pickering, Robin L. Heath, Charles D. Smith, Steven M. Butler

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

Case-control studies have shown right hemisphere specialization in the production of intonation in speech. We examined spontaneous prosody in audiotapes of interviews with a 77-year-old right-handed woman recorded 6 months before and 6 weeks after she suffered a stroke affecting the right frontotemporo-parietal regions and the right basal ganglia. Post-stroke, the patient had a normal Mini-Mental Status Examination Score of 29, hemispatial neglect, and impairments in the comprehension of facial expression and prosody. Self-rated mood was within normal limits. We compared beginning, peak, and ending fundamental frequencies (fo) in breath groups, the timing of these fo changes, rate of speech, pause duration, and breath-group duration. We found that post-stroke, the patient had a more restricted fo contour, no changes in the timing of peak fo, an increased rite of speech, less variability in pause duration, and no changes in breath-group duration.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)318-335
Number of pages18
JournalBrain and Language
Volume51
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1995

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Language and Linguistics
  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Linguistics and Language
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Speech and Hearing

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