VOWEL PRODUCTION IN APHASIA

Abstract

This study explored a voice characteristics in aphasic patients suffering from the damage of the left and right cerebral hemispheres regardless of the aphasia type. A series of acoustic analyses were conducted including fundamental frequency in Hz (Fo), duration of the vowel "a" phonation, jitter and shimmer. A pattern of 20 male aphasic patients was included in the research. At the aphasics with the damage of the right cerebral hemisphere means show higher value of the basic laryngeal tone (Fo) but shorter fonation. Respondents with aphasia caused by a left hemisphere damage achieved better scores on variable duration of the vowel "a". It seems that disorder in aphasics with right lesion primarily reflects an inability to implement particular types of articulatory gestures or articulatory parameters rather than an inability to implement particular vowel.