Comparing token-based and trajectory-based vowel space metrics for assessing speech in Parkinson’s disease

Defne Abur, Megan Cushman, Courtney J Dunsmuir and Cara E Stepp

PLOS ONE, 2026, vol. 21, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: This study assessed the ability of three acoustic measures of vowel space, two token-based and one trajectory-based, to quantify speech differences in people with Parkinson’s disease compared to controls and correlations with speech intelligibility. Fifty-six speakers (28 people with Parkinson’s and 28 controls) read a custom reading passage containing corner vowels. For token-based measures, the triangular vowel space area (tVSA) in kHz2 and the unitless ratio of vowel articulation index (VAI) were calculated. For the trajectory-based measure, the articulatory-acoustic vowel space (AAVS) in kHz2 was calculated. Speakers also read five unique sentences varying in word length, which were used to collect speech intelligibility ratings. Analyses of Variance revealed that all vowel space measures yielded group differences. Binary logistic regression revealed that only the token-based measures were able to statistically discriminate PwPD from controls, however all models performed poorly (R2

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0353680

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0353680

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