Journal
JOURNAL OF SPEECH LANGUAGE AND HEARING RESEARCH
Volume 56, Issue 1, Pages 123-136Publisher
AMER SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOC
DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2012/11-0161)
Keywords
cerebral palsy; Down syndrome; children; speech disorders
Funding
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) [R01DC00822]
- University of Washington Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences
- Human Subjects Recruitment Research Core (NIDCD Grant) [P30 DC04661]
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Purpose: In this study, the authors compared indirect estimates of jaw-muscle tension in children with suspected muscle-tone abnormalities with age-and gender-matched controls. Method: Jaw movement and muscle activation were measured in children (ages 3 years, 11 months, to 10 years) with suspected muscle-tone abnormalities (Down syndrome or spastic cerebral palsy; n = 10) and controls (n = 11). Two measures were used to infer jaw tension: a kinematic index of mass-normalized stiffness and electromechanical delay (EMD). The kinematic index used video-based kinematics to obtain the slope of the peak velocity-displacement relationship. The EMD was derived from the interval between the onset of suprahyoid muscle activity and the onset of jaw depression. Results: Neither measure differentiated the groups. The kinematic index revealed differences between stressed and unstressed syllables in 3-syllable productions by the participants with cerebral palsy and controls, but not in 2-syllable productions by the participants with Down syndrome and controls. Conclusion: This preliminary investigation included the novel application of 2 measures to infer the jaw-muscle tension of children with suspected tone abnormalities. Although the results do not support the hypothesis that suspected muscle-tone abnormalities affect jaw movement sufficiently to influence speech production, considerations for interpreting the findings include methodological limitations and possible compensatory muscle coactivation.
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