Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR最新文献

{"title":"Automatic Prediction of Vocal Strain Scores in Singing Voice Using Audio and Electroglottographic Modalities.","authors":"Yuanyuan Liu, Okko Räsänen, Tero Ikävalko, Tua Hakanpää, Vesa Ronkainen, Anne-Maria Laukkanen","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-01016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-01016","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This study developed machine learning models to predict perceptual strain scores in the singing voice using audio and electroglottographic (EGG) recordings. The study examined the predictive capability of distinct feature sets extracted from audio and EGG modalities and assessed the contributions of participant metadata (META) and feature selection to model performance.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Data were split into mutually exclusive train-validation (<i>n</i> = 16 singers, <i>n</i> ≈ 450 samples) and independent test (<i>n</i> = 11 singers, <i>n</i> ≈ 240 samples) sets to ensure singer-independent generalization. Extracted features included mel-frequency cepstral coefficients, extended Geneva minimalistic acoustic parameter set, wavelet scattering coefficients, and domain-specific descriptors (audio: amplitude modulation; EGG: glottal dynamics), along with singer META. Using leave-one-singer-out cross-validation, we trained regression models (support vector regressor, random forest, and ridge) to predict the expert strain ratings. Recursive feature elimination was employed to optimize feature subsets, and feature-level fusion was implemented to assess multimodal integration.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>During the training-validation phase, the highest Spearman correlations were ρ = .823 (<i>p</i> < .001) for the audio-only model and ρ = .777 (<i>p</i> < .001) for the EGG-only model. On the held-out test set, the audio-only model achieved ρ = .812 (<i>p</i> < .001), while the EGG-only model reached ρ = .759 (<i>p</i> < .001). The optimal overall performance on the test data set (ρ = .825, <i>p</i> < .001) was achieved by a ridge model integrating selected features from audio and META.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Despite the higher numerical performance of audio-based models, EGG features demonstrated robust predictive potential and superior interpretability within the context of professional singing. The results confirm that combining multimodal data with rigorous feature selection provides a robust framework for the objective assessment of singing voice strain. Direct linkage analysis further verified the tight coupling between glottal and acoustic parameters, grounding the multimodal approach in proven vocal physics.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"1-23"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149027433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Eye Tracking in Visuoperceptual Diagnostic Tasks in Health Care: A Scoping Review and Thematic Synthesis With Implications for Speech-Language Pathology.","authors":"Busra Ensar-Yilmaz, Aysegul Sari-Suluker, Jeff Searl","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00974","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00974","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Eye tracking provides objective measurement of visuoperceptual behavior during diagnostic interpretation. Although widely used in health care research, little is known about how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) visually engage with dynamic imaging. This scoping review mapped current research on clinicians' gaze behavior during visuoperceptual diagnostic tasks and synthesized methodological trends, outcome themes, and limitations to inform future speech-language pathology-focused eye-tracking research.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines, five databases were searched for studies published between January 2000 and September 2025. Ninety-three studies met inclusion criteria. Data were extracted on study characteristics, diagnostic task characteristics, eye-tracking methodology, gaze outcomes, and reported limitations. Descriptive statistics summarized methodological features, and thematic analysis synthesized outcome trends and barriers.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Most studies were cross-sectional and conducted in radiology and pathology; only three studies involved SLP participants. Remote eye-tracking devices and static 2D image stimuli predominated, while wearable devices, high sample rate, and dynamic stimuli were uncommon. Thematic synthesis identified five outcome themes (expertise development, visual search behavior, diagnostic reasoning and performance, technological factors, and cognitive load and processing) and four barrier themes (generalizability concerns, data quality and measurement issues, technical and software limitations, and cognitive and behavioral factors).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Eye tracking reveals meaningful differences in perceptual efficiency and diagnostic accuracy, yet speech-language pathology-focused evidence is limited. Future work should incorporate longitudinal expertise development, high-speed sampling and wearable tracking, dynamic area of interest automation, real-world clinical contexts, and standardized reporting to inform future clinician training and diagnostic performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"1-46"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149013538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Are Bilingual Children With Speech, Language, and Communication Needs More at Risk for Heritage Language Attrition Than Their Typically Developing Peers?","authors":"Youran Lin, Johanne Paradis","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-01074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-01074","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>We examined the language environment and proficiency of bilingual children with typical development (TD) and with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCNs). We asked whether the children with SLCNs had more reduced heritage language (HL) experiences than did their TD peers and whether this was associated with a weaker HL and a stronger societal language (SL).</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Children (<i>N</i> = 48, <i>M</i>_age = 7.89 years) with TD and with SLCNs and their parents participated in this study; all were learning English as their SL with diverse HLs. Parents responded to a detailed questionnaire (Quantifying Bilingual Experience). Children completed a sentence repetition task in English.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The SLCN group had more lifetime input and output in the SL than in the HL, but the TD group showed the opposite pattern. The SLCN group had more current SL input and a less rich HL environment than did the TD group. The SLCN group was less willing to use their HL and had lower HL proficiency compared with the TD group. Reduction in HL experiences was not associated with the strength of SL abilities, as measured by parent report and by performance on a sentence repetition task. Reduced HL experiences were related to lower proficiency in the HL.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Bilingual children with SLCNs are more at risk for HL attrition than their TD peers. Since reduced HL experiences did not improve children's SL abilities, our findings are contrary to the belief that bilingualism is detrimental to SL development in children with SLCNs.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"1-25"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149013543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Perceived Naturalness and Acoustic Characteristics of Habitual Versus Clear Speech for Individuals With Hearing Loss.","authors":"Polina Shuminsky, Jason H Davidow","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00691","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00691","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This study examined the impact of clear speech on perceived naturalness. We compared habitual speech (HS), untrained clear speech (UCS), and clear speech after a brief training (trained clear speech [TCS]) and examined whether acoustic variables differed between conditions and predicted naturalness.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Twelve adult female talkers read sentences in three conditions (HS, UCS, TCS). Twenty-eight normal-hearing adults rated naturalness on a 1-9 scale. Along with naturalness, acoustic measures of speech rate, number of pauses, and pause duration were obtained and compared between speaking conditions via linear mixed-effects models (LMMs).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>LMMs showed a significant effect of speaking condition on the four dependent variables (<i>p</i> < .001), and all pairwise comparisons, except one, were significant. HS was rated most natural (3.56) and was produced at the fastest rate (3.89 syllables/s), whereas TCS was least natural (5.65) and performed at the slowest rate (1.72 syllables/s), with the most and longest pauses. All variables revealed substantial between-talkers variability in regard to baseline measures and when shifting to UCS and TCS. Speech naturalness ratings showed important between-listeners variability. Speech rate strongly predicted perceived naturalness, and the number of pauses and pause duration were also associated with it.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>A 30-min clear speech training reduced speech naturalness compared to HS and UCS. A slower speech rate and increased pausing were associated with inferior naturalness ratings, although these features may not fully explain the reduced naturalness of TCS. The findings highlight an intelligibility-naturalness trade-off: Strategies that improve clarity can make speech sound less natural. Clinical protocols may benefit from promoting clarity-enhancing techniques that avoid excessive slowing or disruption of prosody and/or from providing real-time naturalness and intelligibility ratings as feedback during training.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"1-17"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148993603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Neural Correlates of the Acceptable Noise Level and Self-Reported Listening Skills in Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder.","authors":"Sharon E Miller, Olivia Zant, Chelsea Anderson, Erin Schafer, Donguk Lee, Boji P W Lam, Hadis Shahrohki Kahnooj","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00233","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00233","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This brain-behavior study investigated the relationship between auditory sensory gating and noise acceptance in listeners with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Relationships between self-reported listening skills and auditory sensory gating were also examined.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Neural responses to pure-tone stimuli were elicited using a traditional, passive gating paradigm in 12 listeners with ASD and 12 neurotypical control listeners. Noise acceptance was quantified in all listeners using the acceptable noise level (ANL) measure. Self-reported listening abilities were measured using the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ). Relationships between neural and behavioral measures were analyzed using linear mixed-effects regression.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Listeners with ASD accepted less noise when listening to concurrent speech, had higher intensity most comfortable levels for speech, and reported significantly more difficulties on the SSQ compared to the control group. Regression analyses showed that, across groups, weaker P1 gating was associated with poorer noise acceptance. In addition, there were differential effects of P2 gating on self-reported listening deficits on the SSQ between the ASD and control groups.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In listeners with and without ASD, weaker pre-attentive P1 gating was significantly associated with higher ANLs (i.e., poorer noise acceptance). In contrast, weaker later stage cortical inhibition was related to greater reported listening deficits on the SSQ in listeners with ASD only.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"1-13"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148993625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multimodal Language Processing in Children With Developmental Language Disorder: The Influence of Verbal and Visuospatial Memory.","authors":"Albert Giberga, Núria Esteve-Gibert","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00734","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00734","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This study investigates how verbal and visuospatial memory capacities contribute to the processing and comprehension of pragmatic meanings that are expressed multimodally in children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD).</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Seventy-seven children (33 with DLD, 44 typically developing [TD]), aged 5-10 years, completed standardized memory tasks and participated in a visual-world eye-tracking experiment assessing both online processing and offline comprehension of sentences with simple and complex pragmatic meanings (interrogativity and indirect requests, respectively). Sentences were presented under three conditions: baseline (no prosodic nor gestural cues to target meanings), prosodically enhanced (target meanings enhanced through prosodic cues), and multimodally enhanced (target meanings enhanced through prosodic and gestural cues).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In accordance with previous findings, children with DLD showed significantly lower verbal and visuospatial memory scores than their TD peers, with more pronounced difficulties in the verbal domain. Higher verbal memory was associated with more attention to the audiovisually presented speaker during online sentence processing in general, regardless of the experimental condition or children's group. Visuospatial memory predicted children's ability to benefit from prosodic and multimodal cues in offline comprehension in both groups, particularly when interpreting pragmatically complex meanings.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These findings suggest that, in children both with and without DLD, verbal memory engages online attention during multimodal language processing in general, and visuospatial memory plays a bigger role in comprehending multimodal information that signals complex communicative intents.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"1-14"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148993586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Acoustic and Perceptual Speech Production Differences in Preschoolers With a History of Late and Typical Talking.","authors":"Philip Curtis, Amanda Seidl, Boshang Yin, Sharon Christ, Arielle Borovsky","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00758","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00758","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>While an emerging body of research has demonstrated that late talkers (LTs) show continued subclinical deficits in language abilities, less is known about their development of speech production skills. The current study investigated speech production abilities among 3-year-old children with a history of late talking (hLTs) or typical talking (hTTs) using three measures of speech production skills.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>We assessed speech production skills in a sample of 3-year-old children who were previously identified as LTs or typical talkers (44 hTTs, 31 hLTs) using a norm-referenced assessment of articulation abilities, a caregiver-report measure of speech intelligibility, and fine-grained acoustic analyses of both earlier- and later-acquired speech contrasts. We compared groups using continuous measures of performance.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Across all three measurement methods/types, hLTs showed poorer speech production skills compared to hTTs.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study demonstrates that, like on measures of lexical and syntactic development, hLTs experience subclinical differences in speech production skills during the preschool period. Furthermore, these differences were detected using three distinct measurement types that varied in resource intensity and granularity. We consider theoretical and clinical implications.</p><p><strong>Supplemental material: </strong>https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.33618868.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148993558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Characterizing the Speech Breathing Kinematics of Older Adults With Presbyphonia.","authors":"Brian Saccente-Kennedy, Jessica E Huber, Maude Desjardins, Martin Wiegand, Matthew Maddocks, Roganie Govender","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00117","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Age-related changes to laryngeal and respiratory systems contribute to presbyphonia, yet the speech breathing behaviors that accompany or exacerbate ageing voice problems remain poorly characterized. This study examined speech breathing kinematics in older adults with presbyphonia and compared them with published data from vocally healthy peers.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Thirty-five adults with presbyphonia (20 men, 15 women; <i>M</i>_age = 79.8 years) completed reading and monologue tasks in comfortable and background noise conditions while inductive plethysmography and calibrated acoustics were recorded. Primary outcome was lung volume initiation (LVI) expressed as % vital capacity (%VC) relative to end-expiratory level. Secondary measures included lung volume termination (LVT), lung volume excursion (LVE), LVE per syllable, expiratory flow, inspiratory flow, utterance length, rate of speech, and sound pressure level. Group and noise condition comparisons were made against normative cohorts using two-sample <i>t</i> tests and descriptive comparisons; mixed-effects models assessed utterance length effects.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Compared with typical older adults, participants with presbyphonia initiated speech at significantly lower LVI across tasks and loudness conditions (mean difference monologue: -8.8 %VC and -15.4 %VC, <i>p</i> = .004 and <i>p</i> < .001; mean difference loud monologue: -11.5 %VC, <i>p</i> = .008; mean difference oral reading: -7.8 %VC, <i>p</i> < .001). They also showed descriptively smaller LVE, shorter utterances, faster speech, higher expiratory flows, and markedly lower inspiratory flows. In noise, presbyphonic speakers increased LVI, LVE, and inspiratory flow, whereas typical older adults did not. Utterance length influenced LVI, LVT, rate of speech, and expiratory flow in both groups, though presbyphonic speakers exhibited greater expiratory flow reductions and smaller speech rate increases from already elevated baselines.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Older adults with presbyphonia show a distinct speech breathing profile: lower LVI, reduced LVE, shorter utterances and faster rates of speech, elevated expiratory flow, and lower inspiratory flow, all of which partially normalize with increased speech intensity. These findings suggest that altered respiratory kinematics may be part of the symptomatology of presbyphonia. Clinical management should consider speech breathing alongside laryngeal-focused interventions. Future studies should include contemporaneous, well-matched controls and determine whether respiratory-focused therapies improve speech breathing patterns and voice outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"1-24"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148979293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of Vowel Type on Aerodynamic Measures of Estimated Subglottal Pressure and Airflow.","authors":"Shaheen N Awan, Jordan A Awan, Victoria S McKenna, Sophia Gifford, Emily Burns, Zheming Sun, Jun Chen, David A Eddins","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00135","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00135","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Introduction: &lt;/strong&gt;The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential effect of factors such as tongue height and advancement and vocal tract constrictions on aerodynamic measures of voice (mean airflow [MAF] and estimated subglottal pressure [Psub]). A key question was whether the choice of elicitation vowel would have a substantial impact on normative expectations and subsequent clinical decision making that may be based on measures of MAF or Psub.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Method: &lt;/strong&gt;Forty-three nondysphonic male (&lt;i&gt;n&lt;/i&gt; = 13) and female (&lt;i&gt;n&lt;/i&gt; = 30) participants between the ages of 18 and 30 years were tested using the Phonatory Aerodynamic System (Model 6600, Pentax Medical Inc.). MAF was measured from sustained vowels /i/, /u/, and /α/ in their comfortable pitch and loudness using the comfortable sustained phonation protocol. MAF and Psub were also measured from repetitions of the syllable /pV/, where V was the target vowel (/i, u, α/. Measurement of vocal fundamental frequency (&lt;i&gt;F&lt;/i&gt;0) during vowel production in the aforementioned protocols was also measured. The order of sustained vowel versus syllable production tasks and the target vowels were counterbalanced across subjects.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Analysis of MAF in comfortable sustained phonation showed a significant main effect of vowel type (small effect size), with post hoc analysis indicating that the MAF observed for /i/ was significantly lower than that observed for /α/ (0.139 vs. 0.152 L/s, respectively). MAF for the vowel /u/ fell in between (0.147 L/s), with differences in MAF between /i/ versus /u/ and /α/ versus /u/ being nonsignificant. In contrast, the analysis of MAF in syllable context showed no significant main effect of vowel. The main effect of vowel was significant for measures of Psub obtained in the syllable context (small effect size), with syllables including the high-impedance vowel /i/ observed to have significantly higher Psub compared with syllables including the low-impedance vowel /α/ (7.96 vs. 7.54 cm H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O, respectively). Mean Psub for the syllables including /u/ was again observed to fall in between (7.64 cm H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O), with differences in Psub between /i/ versus /u/ and /α/ versus /u/ being nonsignificant. Measures of MAF and Psub from different vowel contexts were highly correlated. Vocal &lt;i&gt;F&lt;/i&gt;0 was not observed to be a significant predictor of MAF or Psub.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;Although the generally small effect sizes for the effect of vowel type on aerodynamic measures indicate that this finding may be of little practical significance, the results of this study support the view that vowel type has a predictable and measurable effect on measures of MAF (in comfortable sustained phonation) and Psub in syllable context. Supraglottal impedance changes secondary to articulatory differences between vowels are primarily responsible for the differences between vowels on MAF and Psub versus &lt;i","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148946516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multi-Atlas-Based Segmentation of Pediatric Vocal Tract Anatomy in Dynamic Magnetic Resonance Imaging.","authors":"Hahn Kang, Fangxu Xing, Imani R Gilbert, Jiyoon Kim, Abigail Kostolansky, Bradley Sutton, Jonghye Woo, Jamie L Perry","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00495","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00495","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Segmentation of velopharyngeal and vocal tract anatomy is crucial for quantifying structures and analyzing dynamics during speech. Automatic methods are needed to replace labor-intensive and poorly reproducible manual segmentation. To address this, we compared four multi-atlas-based methods to determine which provides the most accurate segmentation of the tongue, velum, and adenoid and how segmentation accuracy varies with the number of temporal frames.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Five spatiotemporal atlases of speech tasks were built, each with around 80 frames. We performed diffeomorphic registration of 10-40 frames of each atlas, then propagated labels to evaluate how the number of frames impacts performance. Four label fusion techniques-majority voting label fusion (MVLF), simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STAPLE), multi-atlas label fusion (MALF), and corrective learning (CL)-were applied to evaluate segmentation accuracy. Performance was assessed using dice similarity coefficient (DSC) values across increasing numbers of input frames (10-40).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>CL consistently produced the highest segmentation accuracy, with average DSC improving from 0.89 at 10 frames to 0.92 at 40 frames. In contrast, MVLF, STAPLE, and MALF showed relatively flat trends, with DSC values ranging from 0.82 to 0.87. Statistical analysis confirmed that only CL exhibited a significant positive association between frame count and DSC.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>CL demonstrates superior performance in segmenting pediatric vocal tract structures in dynamic magnetic resonance imaging, particularly as the number of temporal frames increases. These findings support the use of CL in analyzing speech-related anatomy and highlight its potential to replace manual segmentation in small specialized data sets.</p><p><strong>Supplemental material: </strong>https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.33107006.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"4222-4231"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13577944/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148715159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}