title: How language flows when movements don't: An automated analysis of spontaneous discourse in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: To assess the impact of Parkinson's disease (PD) on spontaneous discourse, we conducted computerized analyses of brief monologues produced by 51 patients and 50 controls. We explored differences in semantic fields (via latent semantic analysis), grammatical choices (using part-of-speech tagging), and word-level repetitions (with graph embedding tools). Although overall output was quantitatively similar between groups, patients relied less heavily on action-related concepts and used more subordinate structures. Also, a classification tool operating on grammatical patterns identified monologues as pertaining to patients or controls with 75% accuracy. Finally, while the incidence of dysfluent word repetitions was similar between groups, it allowed inferring the patients' level of motor impairment with 77% accuracy. Our results highlight the relevance of studying naturalistic discourse features to tap the integrity of neural (and, particularly, motor) networks, beyond the possibilities of standard token-level instruments.
authors: Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Pacheco de Melo 1860, C1126AAB Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917, C1033AAJ Buenos Aires, Argentina; Faculty of Elementary and Special Education (FEEyE), National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo), Sobremonte 74, C5500 Mendoza, Argentina. Electronic address: adolfomartingarcia@gmail.com.
authors: Adolfo M
authors: AM
authors: García
authors: National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917, C1033AAJ Buenos Aires, Argentina; Department of Computer Science, School of Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, Pabellón I, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428EGA Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors: Facundo
authors: F
authors: Carrillo
authors: Faculty of Engineering, University of Antioquia, Calle 67 N° 53-108, C1226 Medellín, Colombia; Pattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Martensstrasse 3, 91058 Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany.
authors: Juan Rafael
authors: JR
authors: Orozco-Arroyave
authors: Neuroscience Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia, Calle 62 N° 52-59, C1226 Medellín, Colombia; School of Public Health, University of Antioquia, Calle 62 N° 52-59, C1226 Medellín, Colombia.
authors: Natalia
authors: N
authors: Trujillo
authors: Faculty of Engineering, University of Antioquia, Calle 67 N° 53-108, C1226 Medellín, Colombia.
authors: Jesús F
authors: JF
authors: Vargas Bonilla
authors: Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Pacheco de Melo 1860, C1126AAB Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors: Sol
authors: S
authors: Fittipaldi
authors: Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Pacheco de Melo 1860, C1126AAB Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors: Federico
authors: F
authors: Adolfi
authors: Pattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Martensstrasse 3, 91058 Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany.
authors: Elmar
authors: E
authors: Nöth
authors: Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience, Torcuato Di Tella University, Av. Figueroa Alcorta 7350, C1428BCW Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors: Mariano
authors: M
authors: Sigman
authors: National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917, C1033AAJ Buenos Aires, Argentina; Department of Computer Science, School of Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, Pabellón I, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428EGA Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors: Diego
authors: D
authors: Fernández Slezak
authors: Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Pacheco de Melo 1860, C1126AAB Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917, C1033AAJ Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Calle 90, N° 46-112, C2754 Barranquilla, Colombia; Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Diagonal Las Torres 2640, Santiago, Chile; Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council (ACR), 16 University Avenue, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
authors: Agustín
authors: A
authors: Ibáñez
authors: Computational Biology Center, IBM, T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, 1101 Kitchawan Rd., Yorktwon Heights, New York, NY 10598, USA.
authors: Guillermo A
authors: GA
authors: Cecchi
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009048:Motor Skills; D009068:Movement; D009415:Nerve Net; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012660:Semantics; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Grammatical features; Graph embedding; Latent semantic analysis; Parkinson’s disease; Part-of-speech tagging; Semantic fields; Spontaneous discourse; Word repetition