ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Speech and Language
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1580376
Executive dysfunctions impair and levodopa improves articulatory timing in Parkinson's disease
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- 2University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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This study investigates the effects of executive functions and levodopa on articulatory timing patterns in simple and complex syllable onsets (CV vs. CCV) in Parkinson's disease (PD). Kinematic speech data (EMA) of 25 individuals with PD in medication-OFF as well as medication-ON condition and 25 healthy controls (HC) were recorded, and group differences were examined. Results showed preserved articulatory coordination that is skewed in time in the PD group as well as a positive effect of levodopa on these patterns. Cluster analysis revealed an age-dependent decline in executive functions across groups that correlated with the shift pattern of the second consonant in CCV sequences for the PD group. This indicates that executive dysfunctions could give rise to changes in articulatory timing patterns as the disease progresses but independently of general motor severity.
Keywords: Parkinson's disease, executive dysfunctions, Speech Motor Control, syllable coordination, Levodopa, electromagnetic articulography
Received: 20 Feb 2025; Accepted: 16 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Herbig, Mücke, Barbe and Thies. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Tabea Thies, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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