This preliminary study tested the effect of speech therapy on hypophonia and its potential to counteract micrographia in people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Data was collected from 3 subjects undergoing speech diagnostics at University of Toledo Speech Clinic. Subjects were asked to speak and write a series of syllables in both a single and dual task paradigm. In the dual task they were asked to speak in their normal, soft, and loud voice. Data was recorded before and after an intensive 12 session speech treatment protocol, where they were trained to speak with intent. Average speech intensity and handwriting stroke area were calculated. Average speech amplitude increased from normal dual task to loud dual task before and after therapy. Following therapy, speech amplitude for soft voice decreased indicating therapy was helpful in modulating amplitude. Handwriting did not show facilitation from speech therapy regarding micrographia. However, variability between repetitions reduced after therapy, showing some coordination between speech and hand movements but coordination is affected by complexity of task and primacy of task.

@inproceedings{rakhangi24_issp,
  title     = {{The effect of concurrent linguistic and nonlinguistic task on speech motor performance in Parkinson's Disease}},
  author    = {Hanna Rakhangi and Dema Herzallah and Olumide Oyebode and Jennifer Peterson and Caroline Menezes},
  year      = {2024},
  booktitle = {{ISSP 2024 - 13th International Seminar on Speech Production}},
  pages     = {103--106},
  doi       = {10.21437/issp.2024-27},
}