November 19, 2015

Patients Improve Speech by Watching 3-D Tongue Images


Technology recently allowed researchers to switch from 2-D to the Opti-Speech technology,
which shows the 3-D images of the tongue.

(November 19, 2015)  A new study done by UT Dallas researchers indicates that watching 3-D images of tongue movements can help individuals learn speech sounds.

According to Dr. William Katz, co-author of the study and professor at the Callier Center for Communication Disorders, the findings could be especially helpful for stroke patients seeking to improve their speech articulation.

“These results show that individuals can be taught consonant sounds in part by watching 3-D tongue images,” said Katz, who teaches in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. “But we also are seeking to use visual feedback to get at the underlying nature of apraxia and other related disorders.”

The study, which appears in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, was small but showed that participants became more accurate in learning new sounds when they were exposed to visual feedback training.


journal reference >>