Sex Differences in the Speech of Persons With and Without Parkinson's Disease.

BACKGROUND: Sex differences are apparent in the prevalence and the clinical presentation of Parkinson's disease (PD), but their effects on speech have been less studied. METHOD: Speech acoustics of persons with (34 females and 34 males) and without (age- and sex-matched) PD were examined, assessing the effects of PD diagnosis and sex on ratings of dysarthria severity and acoustic measures of phonation (fundamental frequency standard deviation, smoothed cepstral peak prominence), speech rate (net syllables per second, percent pause ratio), and articulation (articulatory-acoustic vowel space, release burst precision). RESULTS: Most measures were affected by PD (dysarthria severity, fundamental frequency standard deviation) and sex (smoothed cepstral peak prominence, net syllables per second, percent pause ratio, articulatory-acoustic vowel space), but without interactions between them. Release burst precision was differentially affected by sex in PD. Relative to those without PD, persons with PD produced fewer plosives with a single burst: females more frequently produced multiple bursts, whereas males more frequently produced no burst at all. CONCLUSIONS: Most metrics did not indicate that speech production is differentially affected by sex in PD. Sex was, however, associated with disparate effects on release burst precision in PD, which deserves further study. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.24388666.

Spectral analysis of strident fricatives in cisgender and transfeminine speakersa).

The spectral features of /s/ and /ʃ/ carry important sociophonetic information regarding a speaker's gender. Often, gender is misclassified as a binary of male or female, but this excludes people who may identify as transgender or nonbinary. In this study, we use a more expansive definition of gender to investigate the acoustics (duration and spectral moments) of /s/ and /ʃ/ across cisgender men, cisgender women, and transfeminine speakers in voiced and whispered speech and the relationship between spectral measures and transfeminine gender expression. We examined /s/ and /ʃ/ productions in words from 35 speakers (11 cisgender men, 17 cisgender women, 7 transfeminine speakers) and 34 speakers (11 cisgender men, 15 cisgender women, 8 transfeminine speakers), respectively. In general, /s/ and /ʃ/ center of gravity was highest in productions by cisgender women, followed by transfeminine speakers, and then cisgender men speakers. There were no other gender-related differences. Within transfeminine speakers, /s/ and /ʃ/ center of gravity and skewness were not related to the time proportion expressing their feminine spectrum gender or their Trans Women Voice Questionnaire scores. Taken together, the acoustics of /s/ and /ʃ/ may signal gender group identification but may not account for within-gender variation in transfeminine gender expression.

Effect of Anchor Term on Auditory-Perceptual Ratings of Feminine and Masculine Speakers.

BACKGROUND: Studies investigating auditory perception of gender expression vary greatly in the specific terms applied to gender expression in rating scales. PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of different anchor terms on listeners' auditory perceptions of gender expression in phonated and whispered speech. Additionally, token and speaker cues were examined to identify predictors of the auditory-perceptual ratings. METHOD: Inexperienced listeners (n = 105) completed an online rating study in which they were asked to use one of five visual analog scales (VASs) to rate cis men, cis women, and transfeminine speakers in both phonated and whispered speech. The VASs varied by anchor term (very female/very male, feminine/masculine, feminine female/masculine male, very feminine/not at all feminine, and not at all masculine/very masculine). RESULTS: Linear mixed-effects models revealed significant two-way interactions of gender expression by anchor term and gender expression by condition. In general, the feminine female/masculine male scale resulted in the most extreme ratings (closest to the end points), and the feminine/masculine scale resulted in the most central ratings. As expected, for all speakers, whispered speech was rated more centrally than phonated speech. Additionally, ratings of phonated speech were predicted by mean fundamental frequency (f o) within each speaker group and by smoothed cepstral peak prominence in cisgender speakers. In contrast, ratings of whispered speech, which lacks an f o, were predicted by indicators of vocal tract resonance (second formant and speaker height). CONCLUSIONS: The current results indicate that differences in the terms applied to rating scales limit generalization of results across studies. Identifying the patterns across listener ratings of gender expression provide a rationale for researchers and clinicians when making choices about terms. Additionally, beyond f o and vocal tract resonance, predictors of listener ratings vary based on the anchor terms used to describe gender expression. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.19617564.

Relationships Across Clinical Measures of Vocal Quality and Functioning and Their Relationship With Patient Perception.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among subjective auditory-perceptual ratings of vocal quality, objective acoustic and aerodynamic measures of vocal function, and patient-perceived severity of their vocal complaint. Method This study was a retrospective chart review of adult patients evaluated at a single outpatient center over a 1.5-year time period. Twenty-two clinical objective and subjective measures of voice were extracted from 676 charts (310 males, 366 females). To identify the underlying concepts addressed in an initial voice assessment, principal component analyses were conducted for males and females to account for sex differences. Linear regression models were conducted to examine the relationship between the principal components and patient perceived severity. Results Seven principal components were identified for both sexes and accounted for 75% and 71% of the variance in the clinical measures, respectively. Of these seven principal components, only two predicted male patient perceived severity, which accounted for 22% of the variance. In contrast, four principal components predicted female patient perceived severity of their voice disorder and accounted for 19% of the variance. Conclusions The results highlight the underlying aspects of vocal quality and functioning that are evaluated during an initial assessment. Male and female patients differ in which of these components may contribute self-perceived severity of a voice disorder. Identifying these underlying components may support clinical decision making when developing a clinical protocol and highlights the overlap between patient concerns and clinical measures. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16879603.

Effect of Phonation on Perception of Femininity/Masculinity in Transgender and Cisgender Speakers.

Many transwomen seek voice and communication therapy to support their transition from their gender assigned at birth to their gender identity. This has led to an increased need to examine the perception of gender and femininity/masculinity to develop evidence-based intervention practices. In this study, we explore the auditory perception of femininity/masculinity in normally phonated and whispered speech. Transwomen, ciswomen, and cismen were recorded producing /hVd/ words. Naïve listeners rated femininity/masculinity of a speaker's voice using a visual analog scale, rather than completing a binary gender identification task. The results revealed that listeners rated speakers more ambiguously in whispered speech than normally phonated speech. An analysis of speaker and token characteristics revealed that in the normally phonated condition listeners consistently use f0 to rate femininity/masculinity. In addition, some evidence was found for possible contributions of formant frequencies, particularly F2, and duration. Taken together, this provides additional evidence for the salience of f0 and F2 for voice and communication intervention among transwomen.

Acoustic differences between voiced and whispered speech in gender diverse speakers.

Whispered speech is a naturally produced mode of communication that lacks a fundamental frequency. Several other acoustic differences exist between whispered and voiced speech, such as speaking rate (measured as segment duration) and formant frequencies. Previous research has shown that listeners are less accurate at identifying linguistic information (e.g., identifying a speech sound) and speaker information (e.g., reporting speaker gender) from whispered speech. To further explore differences between voiced and whispered speech, acoustic differences were examined across three datasets (hVd, sVd, and ʃVd) and three speaker groups (ciswomen, transwomen, cismen). Consistent with previous studies, vowel duration was generally longer in whispered speech and formant frequencies were shifted higher, although the magnitude of these differences depended on vowel and gender. Despite the increase in duration, the acoustic vowel space area (measured either with a vowel quadrilateral or with a convex hull) was smaller in the whispered speech, suggesting that larger vowel space areas are not an automatic consequence of a lengthened articulation. Overall, these findings are consistent with previous literature showing acoustic differences between voiced and whispered speech beyond the articulatory change of eliminating fundamental frequency.