Speech, Linguistic and Acoustic Markers in Parkinson's Disease

University of Massachusetts, Worcester58 enrolled

Overview

The Investigators aim to identify speech and language markers that provide information on cognitive function and predict cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease. The Investigators will administer speech tasks and cognitive assessments to participants with Parkinson's disease and healthy controls. The Investigators will also explore the associations between genetic factors and speech and cognitive status in Parkinson's disease.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

Conditions

Parkinson Disease Cognitive Impairment, Mild Speech

Interventions

Cognitive BatteryDIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Participants will be asked to complete a series of cognitive testing (testing of concentration, memory, and other thinking abilities).

Voice, Speech and Language AnalysisBEHAVIORAL

Participants will be asked to perform speaking and reading tasks, which will be recorded. Participants will be asked to complete a laptop-based test of language comprehension.

Questionnaires and Clinical AssessmentsBEHAVIORAL

Participants with Parkinson's disease will complete an examination of their symptoms and questionnaires assessing disease symptoms, mood and activities of daily living. Healthy controls participants will be asked to complete questionnaires on mood.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Parkinson's Disease (or healthy control) * Disease duration ≥ 2 years * Mild cognitive impairment or normal cognition Exclusion Criteria: * Diagnosis of dementia (MoCA \<21) * Adults unable to consent * Age \< 18 * Pregnant women * Prisoners * Non-English speakers * Any neurological disorder other than PD * Deep brain stimulator placement * Severe, unstable psychiatric disorder * Unintelligible speech due to effects of PD * Visual acuity or color vision impairment that would interfere with cognitive testing * Other voice, speech or swallowing disorders or history of surgery involving palate/nasopharynx/larynx/vocal cords

Locations (1)

UMass Medical School/UMass Memorial Medical Center

Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Mild Cognitive Impairment

Mild cognitive impairment classified by Movement Disorders Society Task Force Level II Critieria

Time frame: baseline

Mean Fundamental Frequency

These acoustic measures during spontaneous speech (picture description) were calculated using Praat

Time frame: baseline

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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