J. COMMUN. DISORD. 32 (1999), 141–186 © 1999 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. 0021-9924/99/$–see front matter 655 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10010 PII S0021-9924(99)00004-0 ACOUSTIC STUDIES OF DYSARTHRIC SPEECH: METHODS, PROGRESS, AND POTENTIAL RAY D. KENT, Ph.D. GARY WEISMER, Ph.D. Communicative Disorders, University of Wisconsin—Madison JANE F. KENT Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin—Madison HOURI K. VORPERIAN University of Wisconsin—Madison JOSEPH R. DUFFY Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic Educational Objectives: (1) The reader will be able to describe the major types of acoustic analysis available for the study of speech, (2) specify the components needed for a modern speech analysis laboratory, including equipment for recording and analysis, and (3) list pos- sible measurements for various aspects of phonation, articulation and resonance, as they might be manifest in neurologically disordered speech. KEY WORDS: Dysarthria; Acoustic analysis; Phonation; Articulation; Resonance; Speech production INTRODUCTION Acoustic studies of dysarthria are both challenging and informative. The chal- lenge arises because the dysarthrias can be complex disorders with potential dis- ruptions occurring throughout the speech production system. Some disruptions may mask others, and the acoustic signal can be greatly diminished in the con- trasts that are needed for precise measurements. Acoustic analysis can be informa- tive because it affords quantitative analyses that carry potential for sub- system description and for determining the correlates of perceptual judgments of intelligibility, quality, and dysarthria type. Therefore, acoustic analysis can be Address correspondence to Ray D. Kent, Ph.D., Waisman Center, 4 th floor, University of Wiscon- sin–Madison, 1500 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53705-2280. Tel: (608) 263-7109; fax: (608) 263- 0529; e-mail: kentray@waisman.wisc.edu.