A comparison of the prosodic characteristics of the speech of people with Parkinson\u27s disease and Friedreich\u27s ataxia with neurologically normal speakers

The realization of prosody (speech rate, fundamental frequency, intonation) was investigated in a group of 10 individuals with Parkinson\u27s disease and a group of 10 individuals with Friedreich\u27s ataxia. Data from these two neurologically disordered groups were compared to individuals without neurological impairment. Both neurologically impaired groups retained some aspects of normal speech prosody, while other aspects were affected to a significant degree. The prosodic characteristics of speakers with Parkinson\u27s disease were distinct from those of speakers with Friedreich\u27s ataxia. These results were interpreted in terms of prosodic competence and prosodic performance. © 1998 S. Karger AG