Cited by 61Dementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchVoice and Speech DisordersNeurobiology of Language and Bilingualism

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 47 of the 47 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Automatic measurement of prosody in behavioral variant FTD

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To help understand speech changes in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), we developed and implemented automatic methods of speech analysis for quantification of prosody, and evaluated clinical and anatomical correlations. METHODS: We analyzed semi-structured, digitized speech samples from 32 patients with bvFTD (21 male, mean age 63 ± 8.5, mean disease duration 4 ± 3.1 years) and 17 matched healthy controls (HC). We automatically extracted fundamental frequency (f0, the physical property of sound most closely correlating with perceived pitch) and computed pitch range on a logarithmic scale (semitone) that controls for individual and sex differences. We correlated f0 range with neuropsychiatric tests, and related f0 range to gray matter (GM) atrophy using 3T T1 MRI. RESULTS: = 0.03). Regression related reduced f0 range in bvFTD to GM atrophy in bilateral inferior and dorsomedial frontal as well as left anterior cingulate and anterior insular regions. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced f0 range reflects impaired prosody in bvFTD. This is associated with neuroanatomic networks implicated in language production and social disorders centered in the frontal lobe. These findings support the feasibility of automated speech analysis in frontotemporal dementia and other disorders.

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Crossref · 10.1212/wnl.0000000000004236

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  • A digital measure of intonational range in speaking has been developed as a potential proxy for apathy.

    “A digital measure of intonational range in speaking has been developed as a potential proxy for apathy. 52”

    From Developing digital health technologies for frontotemporal degeneration (2025) · cites this paper as [52]

    The Abstract and Sound processing section describe an automated measure of pitch range from digitized speech. But the Speech analysis section reports no correlation between pitch range and neuropsychiatric scores, and the Neuroimaging section says it does not exclusively reflect apathy. The paper therefore supports the measure’s development, not its use as a proxy for apathy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA) is characterized by slow speaking rate with frequent partial words or false starts and frequent, long pauses due to word-finding difficulties.

    “One of the non‐amnestic AD presentations, logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA), is characterized by slow speaking rate with frequent partial words or false starts and frequent, long pauses due to word‐finding difficulties.”

    From Automatic classification of AD pathology in FTD phenotypes using natural speech (2024) · cites this paper as [10]

    The Participants section describes nonaphasic patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, and the discussion concerns their prosody, not lvPPA. Searches for lvPPA, word-finding pauses, partial words, and false starts found no passage in our copy describing the claimed lvPPA speech pattern. Page numbers were not available. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • In behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, ASLA captures prosodic and linguistic alterations as well as their worsening in the course of disease.

    “In behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, they capture prosodic 24 and linguistic 72 alterations as well as their worsening in the course of dis ease. 57”

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Citations

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. LDC Hmm Speech Activity Detector (v 1.0.4) [computer program]. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania; 2013.
  2. Praat: Doing Phonetics by Computer (v 5.4.11) [computer program]. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam; 2013.
  3. Collect_Pitch_Data_From_Files. Praat (v 4.7) [computer program]. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam; 2003.
  4. Collier R Gelfer C. Physiological explanations of f0 declination. In: Van den BroeckeMPR CohenA eds. Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences; Utrecht the Netherlands; 1984.

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Metadata

Authors
Nevler, N., Ash, S., Jester, C., Irwin, D. J., Liberman, M., & Grossman, M.
Affiliations
University of Pennsylvania (US)
Venue
Neurology
Published
2017-08-15
Volume
89
Issue
7
Pages
650-656
ISSN
  • 0028-3878 (ISSN-L)
  • 1526-632X
OpenAlex
W2736901965
Cited by
61
References
47
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 2
FWCI
3.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Neurology (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute on Aging (R01AG038490, P01AG017586)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (P50NS053488, K23NS088341)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Speech and Hearing › Voice and Speech Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
Keywords
behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, prosody, fundamental frequency, pitch range, automated speech analysis, gray matter atrophy, frontal lobe, anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula, neuropsychiatric symptoms, language production
MeSH terms
Aged, Atrophy, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted, Speech, Speech Production Measurement, Prefrontal Cortex, Frontotemporal Dementia, Gray Matter

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