A Speech Analysis Comparison of People with Parkinson's Disease and Healthy Controls

This study explores the effects of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and a dance intervention on vocal features—specifically fundamental frequency standard deviation (F0SD) and intensity standard deviation (IntSD)—in individuals with PD and healthy controls over five years. The findings suggest that while both groups exhibited changes in these vocal features over time, the differences between the PD and control groups were moderate and likely masked by individual variability. F0SD, in particular, showed distinct patterns of change over time between the two groups, aligning with known voice impairments in PD. However, changes in IntSD appeared to be more influenced by the normal aging process rather than PD itself. Despite the lack of significant post-dance improvements, the study highlights the potential value of speech features as biomarkers for PD, emphasizing the need for larger, more intensive studies to fully understand the effects of interventions like dance on vocal performance in PD.