Speech as a digital biomarker in multiple sclerosis: Automatic analysis of speech metrics using a multi-speech-task protocol in a cross-sectional MS cohort study
1Center of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany.
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Summary
Speech abnormalities in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) are linked to disease severity. Acoustic and linguistic speech features offer insights into motor and cognitive symptoms in pwMS.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Speech-Language Pathology
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Speech abnormalities are common in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS).
- Previous research primarily analyzed acoustic speech features, overlooking linguistic aspects.
- This study aims to analyze both acoustic and linguistic speech features and their correlation with cardinal symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between acoustic and linguistic speech features and cardinal symptoms in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS).
- To identify specific speech abnormalities associated with disease severity and neurological impairment in MS.
- To explore the influence of cognitive load on speech production in pwMS.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study involving 282 native German speakers (137 pwMS, 145 healthy controls).
- Speech recording using a comprehensive protocol including narrative, articulatory, and phonatory tasks.
- Speech analysis utilizing the SIGMA speech features library for acoustic and linguistic feature extraction.
Main Results:
- People with MS (pwMS) exhibited significant phonation and articulation instabilities (e.g., jitter, loudness variations) during cognitively demanding narrative tasks compared to healthy controls.
- Speech abnormalities, including jitter and loudness peaks, showed significant correlations with the Expanded Disability Status Scale, indicating a link to disease severity.
- Phonatory instabilities, pitch and loudness variations, and reduced speech duration were associated with MS disease severity, motor, and cognitive symptoms.
Conclusions:
- Phonatory instabilities and altered speech characteristics are associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) disease severity and neurological impairment.
- Cognitively demanding tasks exacerbate speech motor control deficits in pwMS, suggesting an interaction between cognitive and motor functions in speech production.
- Acoustic and linguistic speech analysis provides valuable biomarkers for assessing disease progression and functional impact in MS.