Voice and Speech Studies in Parkinson Disease

Past and Present Research: Through research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH-NIDCD), the Office of Education (OE-NIDRR), and numerous private foundations (Davis Phinney Foundation, Parkinson's Alliance, Michael J Fox Foundation), past and present members of the Parkinson's Team have studied the effects of behavioral, surgical and pharmacological interventions on speech and voice disorders in Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders. Much of this research has centered around the effectiveness of intensive voice therapy (LSVT®) for improving speech and voice in PD. However, current efforts also extend to the study of non-speech behaviors, including swallow function and nonverbal communication.
Current projects include:

• The study of alternate speech therapies for Parkinson disease
• The study of underlying neural mechanisms of speech and voice in Parkinson disease, using PET imaging
• The study of the spreading of effects of voice and speech treatments to verbal and nonverbal communication systems, as well as to non-speech behaviors
• Applying principles of intensive voice therapy to physical therapy in Parkinson disease.