Prosody and levodopa in Parkinson's disease

Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2013 Nov;71(11):835-40. doi: 10.1590/0004-282X20130141.

Abstract

Objective: Research is scarce regarding the use of prosodic parameters in the expression of attitudes in Parkinson's disease (PD). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the parameters used in prosodic expression of attitudes in individuals with idiopathic PD and the effect of levodopa on these parameters.

Method: We studied the use of levodopa in 10 individuals with idiopathic PD during the "off" and "on" periods, and 10 individuals without neurological abnormalities.

Results: PD patients showed lower frequency measurements and longer duration measurements. The levodopa caused reduction in the duration parameter.

Conclusion: PD patients use prosody to express their attitudes in the same way as controls in both off and on periods. However, when attitudes are not taken into account, levodopa is effective in improving the duration parameter.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Antiparkinson Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Levodopa / therapeutic use*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Parkinson Disease / drug therapy*
  • Parkinson Disease / physiopathology*
  • Reference Values
  • Speech / drug effects*
  • Speech / physiology*
  • Speech Acoustics
  • Speech Production Measurement
  • Time Factors
  • Voice Quality

Substances

  • Antiparkinson Agents
  • Levodopa