A COMPARISON OF THE PROSODIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SPEECH OF PEOPLE WITH PARKINSONS-DISEASE AND FRIEDREICHS ATAXIA WITH NEUROLOGICALLY NORMAL SPEAKERS

The realization of prosody (speech rate, fundamental frequency, intona tion) was investigated in a group of 10 individuals with Parkinson's d isease and a group of 10 individuals with Friedreich's ataxia. Data fr om these two neurologically disordered groups were compared to individ uals without neurological impairment. Both neurologically impaired gro ups retained some aspects of normal speech prosody, while other aspect s were affected to a significant degree. The prosodic characteristics of speakers with Parkinson's disease were distinct from those of speak ers with Friedreich's ataxia. These results were interpreted in terms of prosodic competence and prosodic performance.