Shimon Sapir - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Shimon Sapir
Annual Conference of the International Speech Communication Association, 2005
The purpose of the study was to assess the validity of a new version of the Token Test (TT) which... more The purpose of the study was to assess the validity of a new version of the Token Test (TT) which is aimed at detecting deficits in auditory verbal working memory (henceforth WMTT). Twenty eight young healthy adults, 14 with and 14 without dyslexia, all paid volunteers, took part ...
Journal of Communication Disorders, 2009
In a preliminary study, we documented significant changes in formant transitions associated with ... more In a preliminary study, we documented significant changes in formant transitions associated with successful manual circumlaryngeal treatment (MCT) of muscle tension dysphonia (MTD), suggesting improvement in speech articulation. The present study explores further the effects of MTD on vowel articulation by means of additional vowel acoustic measures. Pre- and post-treatment audio recordings of 111 women with MTD were analyzed acoustically
Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica, 2002
Thirty-five individuals with idiopathic Parkinson&amp... more Thirty-five individuals with idiopathic Parkinson's disease were enrolled in speech treatment. Twenty-two were enrolled in a high-effort phonatory-respiratory treatment program (Lee Silverman Voice Treatment, LSVT) and 13 were enrolled in a high-effort respiratory treatment program (RET). Perceptual judgments of speech loudness and quality were made independently by 6 listeners on recordings of the 'Rainbow Passage'. These recordings had been obtained just before treatment (pre) and at 12 months' follow-up (FU12). The speech samples in the LSVT group, but not in the RET group, were significantly more likely to be perceived 'louder' and 'better quality' at FU12 than at pre (p < 0.0001). These findings, along with others, suggest that the long-term effects of the LSVT are perceptible, clinically significant and treatment-specific.
Seminars in Speech and Language, 2006
Poznań Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 2000
Poznań Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 2000
Pain, 2006
The effects of cognitive and competing sensory processing tasks on pain perception and as a funct... more The effects of cognitive and competing sensory processing tasks on pain perception and as a function of time are only partially understood. To study these effects, we compared the simultaneous effects of noxious heat stimulation (HS), auditory stimulation (AS) (sinusoidally modulated speech-like signal, SMSLS), and a cognitive task (CT) (rate change detection of the SMSLS) on pain perception and task performance over repeated experimental runs. Sixty healthy paid volunteers were randomly assigned to four groups, one exposed to AS while performing the CT, one to HS (46 degrees C/6 min), one to AS and HS, and one to AS and HS while performing the CT. Each group performed the experimental run four times, each run for 6 min. Immediately after each run, the subjects rated pain intensity using a VAS (0-100). Two-way RM-ANOVA for analyzing pain intensities among the three heat pain groups demonstrated significant differences of VAS ratings (F(2,179) = 4.57, P = 0.019), being highest in the HS group (55 +/- 0.7SEM), followed by the AS+HS (39 +/- 6.8) and AS + HS + CT (33 +/- 0.7) groups. Post-hoc analyses revealed that group HS differed significantly from group AS + HS + CT and from group AS + HS (P < 0.05, SNK), whereas group AS+HS did not differ significantly from group AS + HS + CT. Neither pain rating, nor rate of errors on the CT varied significantly across runs. These findings point to a significant influence of competing passive sensory processing on pain perception, with the cognitive task not necessarily adding to the perception of pain. Advantages and shortcomings of the present experimental model for future pain studies are discussed.
Journal of Voice, 2001
Perceptual ratings of hoarseness and breathiness were used to assess the efficacy of two intensiv... more Perceptual ratings of hoarseness and breathiness were used to assess the efficacy of two intensive methods for treating dysarthrophonia in individuals with idiopathic Parkinson disease. One method emphasized phonatory-respiratory effort (the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment, LSVT) and the other emphasized respiratory effort alone (RET). Perceptual ratings were performed by two expert listeners based on random order presentation of the patients' pretreatment and posttreatment recordings of the "Rainbow Passage." The listeners were blinded to the patients and their treatment group. Statistically significant pretreatment to posttreatment improvement in hoarseness and breathiness was observed in the LSVT group but not in the RET group. The present findings are consistent with acoustic and physiologic findings reported previously, providing further evidence for the efficacy of the LSVT.
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 2009
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 2001
Objectives—To assess long term (24 months) eVects of the Lee Silverman voice treatment (LSVT®), a... more Objectives—To assess long term (24 months) eVects of the Lee Silverman voice treatment (LSVT®), a method designed to improve vocal function in patients with Parkinson's disease. Methods—Thirty three patients with idio- pathic Parkinson's disease were stratified and randomly assigned to two treatment groups. One group received the LSVT®, which emphasises high phonatory- respiratory eVort. The other group re- ceived respiratory
Journal of Communication Disorders, 2007
The purpose of the present study was to assess the extent to which reading disabilities (RD) in y... more The purpose of the present study was to assess the extent to which reading disabilities (RD) in young adults are related to deficits in specific aspects of temporary storage of verbal information, namely, memory span and the central executive (CE) component of working memory. Thirty-two native Hebrew-speaking young adults with and without RD were administered a battery of memory tasks. These tasks included Digit Span Forward and Backward tests and a new version of the Token Test (TT) which is aimed at detecting subtle deficits in auditory verbal working memory. Results showed significantly poorer performance of the RD participants than the controls on the memory tests, especially on tasks that tax the CE. These findings, albeit preliminary, support the general working memory deficit hypothesis in individuals with RD, indicating that both memory span and the CE are deficient. As a result of this activity, the reader will able to describe the different components of the verbal working memory and the debate concerning the origin of working memory deficits in individuals with reading disabilities. The reader will also be able to apply clinical suggestions as to how one might assess components of working memory.
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 1992
Future Neurology, 2006
... Discusses physiological and neurophysiological mechanisms underlying voice and speech disorde... more ... Discusses physiological and neurophysiological mechanisms underlying voice and speech disorders in Parkinsons disease (PD) and the impact of Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT ® ) on these disorders. ... 55 . Scott S, Caird F: speech therapy for Parkinson's disease. ...
Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 2008
Researchers estimate that 89% of people with Parkinson&am... more Researchers estimate that 89% of people with Parkinson's disease (PD) have a speech or voice disorder including disorders of laryngeal, respiratory, and articulatory function. Despite the high incidence of speech and voice impairment, studies suggest that only 3-4% of people with PD receive speech treatment. The authors review the literature on the characteristics and features of speech and voice disorders in people with PD, the types of treatment techniques available, including medical, surgical, and behavioral therapies, and provide recommendations for the current efficacy of treatment interventions and directions of future research.
Dyslexia, 2007
The role of central auditory processing in reading skill development and reading disorders is unc... more The role of central auditory processing in reading skill development and reading disorders is unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine whether individuals with specific reading disabilities (SRD) have deficits in processing rapidly presented, serially ordered non-speech auditory signals. To this end, we compared 12 children with SRD and 12 children without SRD on their ability to detect differences and similarities in pure tones of 1000 and 2000 Hz when these signals were presented in pairs (same or different tones, randomly ordered) with short (50 ms) versus long (500 ms) inter-stimulus intervals (ISI). Results showed that the children with SRD had significant difficulty in discriminating between pure tones with short, but not long ISI, whereas the controls performed well with both short and long ISI. The two groups did not differ significantly on measures of attention (d2) and performance IQ, and there were no significant correlations between these measures and ISI performance. There were significant correlations between the short ISI performance and phonologic awareness test results when the two groups were combined. These findings support the specific rapid auditory processing deficit hypothesis of SRD. Examination of intra-subject variability in performance indicated that children from the SRD group showed both decrement in performance with time on task and high overall variability in performance as compared to the controls. These findings underpin the importance of using time-series analyses of performance.
![Research paper thumbnail of Effects of Intensive Voice Treatment (the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment [LSVT]) on Ataxic Dysarthria: A Case Study](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/42903460/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 2004
2014 IEEE International Conference on Software Science, Technology and Engineering, 2014
Annual Conference of the International Speech Communication Association, 2005
The purpose of the study was to assess the validity of a new version of the Token Test (TT) which... more The purpose of the study was to assess the validity of a new version of the Token Test (TT) which is aimed at detecting deficits in auditory verbal working memory (henceforth WMTT). Twenty eight young healthy adults, 14 with and 14 without dyslexia, all paid volunteers, took part ...
Journal of Communication Disorders, 2009
In a preliminary study, we documented significant changes in formant transitions associated with ... more In a preliminary study, we documented significant changes in formant transitions associated with successful manual circumlaryngeal treatment (MCT) of muscle tension dysphonia (MTD), suggesting improvement in speech articulation. The present study explores further the effects of MTD on vowel articulation by means of additional vowel acoustic measures. Pre- and post-treatment audio recordings of 111 women with MTD were analyzed acoustically
Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica, 2002
Thirty-five individuals with idiopathic Parkinson&amp... more Thirty-five individuals with idiopathic Parkinson's disease were enrolled in speech treatment. Twenty-two were enrolled in a high-effort phonatory-respiratory treatment program (Lee Silverman Voice Treatment, LSVT) and 13 were enrolled in a high-effort respiratory treatment program (RET). Perceptual judgments of speech loudness and quality were made independently by 6 listeners on recordings of the 'Rainbow Passage'. These recordings had been obtained just before treatment (pre) and at 12 months' follow-up (FU12). The speech samples in the LSVT group, but not in the RET group, were significantly more likely to be perceived 'louder' and 'better quality' at FU12 than at pre (p < 0.0001). These findings, along with others, suggest that the long-term effects of the LSVT are perceptible, clinically significant and treatment-specific.
Seminars in Speech and Language, 2006
Poznań Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 2000
Poznań Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 2000
Pain, 2006
The effects of cognitive and competing sensory processing tasks on pain perception and as a funct... more The effects of cognitive and competing sensory processing tasks on pain perception and as a function of time are only partially understood. To study these effects, we compared the simultaneous effects of noxious heat stimulation (HS), auditory stimulation (AS) (sinusoidally modulated speech-like signal, SMSLS), and a cognitive task (CT) (rate change detection of the SMSLS) on pain perception and task performance over repeated experimental runs. Sixty healthy paid volunteers were randomly assigned to four groups, one exposed to AS while performing the CT, one to HS (46 degrees C/6 min), one to AS and HS, and one to AS and HS while performing the CT. Each group performed the experimental run four times, each run for 6 min. Immediately after each run, the subjects rated pain intensity using a VAS (0-100). Two-way RM-ANOVA for analyzing pain intensities among the three heat pain groups demonstrated significant differences of VAS ratings (F(2,179) = 4.57, P = 0.019), being highest in the HS group (55 +/- 0.7SEM), followed by the AS+HS (39 +/- 6.8) and AS + HS + CT (33 +/- 0.7) groups. Post-hoc analyses revealed that group HS differed significantly from group AS + HS + CT and from group AS + HS (P < 0.05, SNK), whereas group AS+HS did not differ significantly from group AS + HS + CT. Neither pain rating, nor rate of errors on the CT varied significantly across runs. These findings point to a significant influence of competing passive sensory processing on pain perception, with the cognitive task not necessarily adding to the perception of pain. Advantages and shortcomings of the present experimental model for future pain studies are discussed.
Journal of Voice, 2001
Perceptual ratings of hoarseness and breathiness were used to assess the efficacy of two intensiv... more Perceptual ratings of hoarseness and breathiness were used to assess the efficacy of two intensive methods for treating dysarthrophonia in individuals with idiopathic Parkinson disease. One method emphasized phonatory-respiratory effort (the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment, LSVT) and the other emphasized respiratory effort alone (RET). Perceptual ratings were performed by two expert listeners based on random order presentation of the patients' pretreatment and posttreatment recordings of the "Rainbow Passage." The listeners were blinded to the patients and their treatment group. Statistically significant pretreatment to posttreatment improvement in hoarseness and breathiness was observed in the LSVT group but not in the RET group. The present findings are consistent with acoustic and physiologic findings reported previously, providing further evidence for the efficacy of the LSVT.
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 2009
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 2001
Objectives—To assess long term (24 months) eVects of the Lee Silverman voice treatment (LSVT®), a... more Objectives—To assess long term (24 months) eVects of the Lee Silverman voice treatment (LSVT®), a method designed to improve vocal function in patients with Parkinson's disease. Methods—Thirty three patients with idio- pathic Parkinson's disease were stratified and randomly assigned to two treatment groups. One group received the LSVT®, which emphasises high phonatory- respiratory eVort. The other group re- ceived respiratory
Journal of Communication Disorders, 2007
The purpose of the present study was to assess the extent to which reading disabilities (RD) in y... more The purpose of the present study was to assess the extent to which reading disabilities (RD) in young adults are related to deficits in specific aspects of temporary storage of verbal information, namely, memory span and the central executive (CE) component of working memory. Thirty-two native Hebrew-speaking young adults with and without RD were administered a battery of memory tasks. These tasks included Digit Span Forward and Backward tests and a new version of the Token Test (TT) which is aimed at detecting subtle deficits in auditory verbal working memory. Results showed significantly poorer performance of the RD participants than the controls on the memory tests, especially on tasks that tax the CE. These findings, albeit preliminary, support the general working memory deficit hypothesis in individuals with RD, indicating that both memory span and the CE are deficient. As a result of this activity, the reader will able to describe the different components of the verbal working memory and the debate concerning the origin of working memory deficits in individuals with reading disabilities. The reader will also be able to apply clinical suggestions as to how one might assess components of working memory.
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 1992
Future Neurology, 2006
... Discusses physiological and neurophysiological mechanisms underlying voice and speech disorde... more ... Discusses physiological and neurophysiological mechanisms underlying voice and speech disorders in Parkinsons disease (PD) and the impact of Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT ® ) on these disorders. ... 55 . Scott S, Caird F: speech therapy for Parkinson's disease. ...
Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 2008
Researchers estimate that 89% of people with Parkinson&am... more Researchers estimate that 89% of people with Parkinson's disease (PD) have a speech or voice disorder including disorders of laryngeal, respiratory, and articulatory function. Despite the high incidence of speech and voice impairment, studies suggest that only 3-4% of people with PD receive speech treatment. The authors review the literature on the characteristics and features of speech and voice disorders in people with PD, the types of treatment techniques available, including medical, surgical, and behavioral therapies, and provide recommendations for the current efficacy of treatment interventions and directions of future research.
Dyslexia, 2007
The role of central auditory processing in reading skill development and reading disorders is unc... more The role of central auditory processing in reading skill development and reading disorders is unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine whether individuals with specific reading disabilities (SRD) have deficits in processing rapidly presented, serially ordered non-speech auditory signals. To this end, we compared 12 children with SRD and 12 children without SRD on their ability to detect differences and similarities in pure tones of 1000 and 2000 Hz when these signals were presented in pairs (same or different tones, randomly ordered) with short (50 ms) versus long (500 ms) inter-stimulus intervals (ISI). Results showed that the children with SRD had significant difficulty in discriminating between pure tones with short, but not long ISI, whereas the controls performed well with both short and long ISI. The two groups did not differ significantly on measures of attention (d2) and performance IQ, and there were no significant correlations between these measures and ISI performance. There were significant correlations between the short ISI performance and phonologic awareness test results when the two groups were combined. These findings support the specific rapid auditory processing deficit hypothesis of SRD. Examination of intra-subject variability in performance indicated that children from the SRD group showed both decrement in performance with time on task and high overall variability in performance as compared to the controls. These findings underpin the importance of using time-series analyses of performance.
American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 2004
2014 IEEE International Conference on Software Science, Technology and Engineering, 2014