Measurement of parameters of the speech product such as vocal tone, loudness, pitch, voice quality, articulation, resonance, phonation, phonetic structure and prosody.

Communication through a system of conventional vocal symbols.

The process whereby an utterance is decoded into a representation in terms of linguistic units (sequences of phonetic segments which combine to form lexical and grammatical morphemes).

The acoustic aspects of speech in terms of frequency, intensity, and time.

Acquired or developmental conditions marked by an impaired ability to comprehend or generate spoken forms of language.

Ability to make speech sounds that are recognizable.

The science or study of speech sounds and their production, transmission, and reception, and their analysis, classification, and transcription. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

Treatment for individuals with speech defects and disorders that involves counseling and use of various exercises and aids to help the development of new speech habits.

Tests of accuracy in pronouncing speech sounds, e.g., Iowa Pressure Articulation Test, Deep Test of Articulation, Templin-Darley Tests of Articulation, Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation, Screening Speech Articulation Test, Arizona Articulation Proficiency Scale.

An aphasia characterized by impairment of expressive LANGUAGE (speech, writing, signs) and relative preservation of receptive language abilities (i.e., comprehension). This condition is caused by lesions of the motor association cortex in the FRONTAL LOBE (BROCA AREA and adjacent cortical and white matter regions).

A disturbance in the normal fluency and time patterning of speech that is inappropriate for the individual's age. This disturbance is characterized by frequent repetitions or prolongations of sounds or syllables. Various other types of speech dysfluencies may also be involved including interjections, broken words, audible or silent blocking, circumlocutions, words produced with an excess of physical tension, and monosyllabic whole word repetitions. Stuttering may occur as a developmental condition in childhood or as an acquired disorder which may be associated with BRAIN INFARCTIONS and other BRAIN DISEASES. (From DSM-IV, 1994)

Disorders of speech articulation caused by imperfect coordination of pharynx, larynx, tongue, or face muscles. This may result from CRANIAL NERVE DISEASES; NEUROMUSCULAR DISEASES; CEREBELLAR DISEASES; BASAL GANGLIA DISEASES; BRAIN STEM diseases; or diseases of the corticobulbar tracts (see PYRAMIDAL TRACTS). The cortical language centers are intact in this condition. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p489)

Bony structure of the mouth that holds the teeth. It consists of the MANDIBLE and the MAXILLA.

Either of the two fleshy, full-blooded margins of the mouth.

Measurement of the ability to hear speech under various conditions of intensity and noise interference using sound-field as well as earphones and bone oscillators.

Disorders of the quality of speech characterized by the substitution, omission, distortion, and addition of phonemes.

A verbal or nonverbal means of communicating ideas or feelings.

That component of SPEECH which gives the primary distinction to a given speaker's VOICE when pitch and loudness are excluded. It involves both phonatory and resonatory characteristics. Some of the descriptions of voice quality are harshness, breathiness and nasality.

The sounds produced by humans by the passage of air through the LARYNX and over the VOCAL CORDS, and then modified by the resonance organs, the NASOPHARYNX, and the MOUTH.

The science of language, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and historical linguistics. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

The graphic registration of the frequency and intensity of sounds, such as speech, infant crying, and animal vocalizations.

A discipline concerned with relations between messages and the characteristics of individuals who select and interpret them; it deals directly with the processes of encoding (phonetics) and decoding (psychoacoustics) as they relate states of messages to states of communicators.

A mechanism of communicating one's own sensory system information about a task, movement or skill.

The process of producing vocal sounds by means of VOCAL CORDS vibrating in an expiratory blast of air.

The gradual expansion in complexity and meaning of symbols and sounds as perceived and interpreted by the individual through a maturational and learning process. Stages in development include babbling, cooing, word imitation with cognition, and use of short sentences.

Includes both producing and responding to words, either written or spoken.

Use of sound to elicit a response in the nervous system.

Electronic hearing devices typically used for patients with normal outer and middle ear function, but defective inner ear function. In the COCHLEA, the hair cells (HAIR CELLS, VESTIBULAR) may be absent or damaged but there are residual nerve fibers. The device electrically stimulates the COCHLEAR NERVE to create sound sensation.

Tests designed to assess language behavior and abilities. They include tests of vocabulary, comprehension, grammar and functional use of language, e.g., Development Sentence Scoring, Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Scale, Parsons Language Sample, Utah Test of Language Development, Michigan Language Inventory and Verbal Language Development Scale, Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities, Northwestern Syntax Screening Test, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Ammons Full-Range Picture Vocabulary Test, and Assessment of Children's Language Comprehension.

Tests of the ability to hear and understand speech as determined by scoring the number of words in a word list repeated correctly.

Surgical insertion of an electronic hearing device (COCHLEAR IMPLANTS) with electrodes to the COCHLEAR NERVE in the inner ear to create sound sensation in patients with residual nerve fibers.

A group of muscles attached to the SOFT PALATE (or velum) and the PHARYNX. They include the superior constrictor, the PALATOPHARYNGEUS, the levator veli palatini muscle, and the muscularis uvulae. This sphincter is situated between the oral and nasal cavities. A competent velopharyngeal sphincter is essential for normal speech and swallowing.

The sum or the stock of words used by a language, a group, or an individual. (From Webster, 3d ed)

A general term for the complete loss of the ability to hear from both ears.

A tubular organ of VOICE production. It is located in the anterior neck, superior to the TRACHEA and inferior to the tongue and HYOID BONE.

The process whereby auditory stimuli are selected, organized, and interpreted by the organism.

A muscular organ in the mouth that is covered with pink tissue called mucosa, tiny bumps called papillae, and thousands of taste buds. The tongue is anchored to the mouth and is vital for chewing, swallowing, and for speech.

The language and sounds expressed by a child at a particular maturational stage in development.

Imaging techniques used to colocalize sites of brain functions or physiological activity with brain structures.

Software capable of recognizing dictation and transcribing the spoken words into written text.

Non-invasive method of demonstrating internal anatomy based on the principle that atomic nuclei in a strong magnetic field absorb pulses of radiofrequency energy and emit them as radiowaves which can be reconstructed into computerized images. The concept includes proton spin tomographic techniques.

A cognitive disorder marked by an impaired ability to comprehend or express language in its written or spoken form. This condition is caused by diseases which affect the language areas of the dominant hemisphere. Clinical features are used to classify the various subtypes of this condition. General categories include receptive, expressive, and mixed forms of aphasia.

The oval-shaped oral cavity located at the apex of the digestive tract and consisting of two parts: the vestibule and the oral cavity proper.

The ability or act of sensing and transducing ACOUSTIC STIMULATION to the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. It is also called audition.

A test to determine the lowest sound intensity level at which fifty percent or more of the spondaic test words (words of two syllables having equal stress) are repeated correctly.

Impairment in the comprehension of speech and meaning of words, both spoken and written, and of the meanings conveyed by their grammatical relationships in sentences. It is caused by lesions that primarily affect Wernicke's area, which lies in the posterior perisylvian region of the temporal lobe of the dominant hemisphere. (From Brain & Bannister, Clinical Neurology, 7th ed, p141; Kandel et al., Principles of Neural Science, 3d ed, p846)

The relationships between symbols and their meanings.

Behavioral manifestations of cerebral dominance in which there is preferential use and superior functioning of either the left or the right side, as in the preferred use of the right hand or right foot.

Any sound which is unwanted or interferes with HEARING other sounds.

The part of the cerebral hemisphere anterior to the central sulcus, and anterior and superior to the lateral sulcus.

A pair of cone-shaped elastic mucous membrane projecting from the laryngeal wall and forming a narrow slit between them. Each contains a thickened free edge (vocal ligament) extending from the THYROID CARTILAGE to the ARYTENOID CARTILAGE, and a VOCAL MUSCLE that shortens or relaxes the vocal cord to control sound production.

The mimicking of the behavior of one individual by another.

A method of speech used after laryngectomy, with sound produced by vibration of the column of air in the esophagus against the contracting cricopharyngeal sphincter. (Dorland, 27th ed)

The properties, processes, and behavior of biological systems under the action of mechanical forces.

Methods of enabling a patient without a larynx or with a non-functional larynx to produce voice or speech. The methods may be pneumatic or electronic.

The part of CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM that is contained within the skull (CRANIUM). Arising from the NEURAL TUBE, the embryonic brain is comprised of three major parts including PROSENCEPHALON (the forebrain); MESENCEPHALON (the midbrain); and RHOMBENCEPHALON (the hindbrain). The developed brain consists of CEREBRUM; CEREBELLUM; and other structures in the BRAIN STEM.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

A technique of inputting two-dimensional images into a computer and then enhancing or analyzing the imagery into a form that is more useful to the human observer.

The time from the onset of a stimulus until a response is observed.

Computer-assisted processing of electric, ultrasonic, or electronic signals to interpret function and activity.