An analysis of speech rate strategies in aging

Abstract

Effects of age and speech rate on movement cycle duration were assessed using electromagnetic articulography. In a repetitive task syllables were articulated at eight rates, obtained by metronome and self-pacing. Results indicate that increased speech rate is associated with increasing movement cycle duration stability, while decreased rate leads to a decrease in uniformity of cycle duration, supporting the view that alterations in speech rate are associated with different motor control strategies involving durational manipulations. The relative contribution of closing movement durations increases with decreasing speech rate, and is a more dominant strategy for elderly speakers. Index Terms: aging, speech rate, kinematics, speech motor control

Frits van Brenk

External consultant in the Motor Speech Disorders Laboratory

My research and teaching interests include motor speech disorders, clinical linguistics, experimental psycholinguistics, speech science, and research methods.