Biomaterial Database

Audiovisual speech perception in Williams syndrome. 2002

M Böhning, and R Campbell, and A Karmiloff-Smith

Department of Linguistics, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.

People with the genetic disorder of Williams syndrome (WS) show an anomalous cognitive profile, wherein some purely verbal and social communicative abilities are relatively proficient, while visuo-spatial skills can be extremely impaired. Face processing, while apparently relatively spared among visuo-spatial skills, can show deficits suggesting developmental immaturity. In this context, the exploration of visual and audiovisual speech perception in WS is of interest. A new test based on tokens from a single natural English speaker of the form /(inverted v)ba:/, /(inverted v) va:/, /(inverted v)(theta)a:/, /(inverted v)da:/ and /(inverted v)ga:/, digitally manipulated and presented in unimodal (vision alone, audition alone) and audiovisual conditions, was presented for participants to identify each token. Compared with age-matched controls, WS participants were impaired at visual but not auditory identification, and in audiovisual testing showed correspondingly reduced effects of vision on report of auditory token identity. Audiovisual integration was nevertheless demonstrable in WS. Speech-reading may require skills which do not reach age-appropriate levels in WS, despite their age-appropriate (auditory) phonological abilities.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008085	Lipreading	The process by which an observer comprehends speech by watching the movements of the speaker's lips without hearing the speaker's voice.	Speechreading,Lip Reading,Lip Readings,Lipreadings,Reading, Lip,Readings, Lip,Speechreadings
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D009415	Nerve Net	A meshlike structure composed of interconnecting nerve cells that are separated at the synaptic junction or joined to one another by cytoplasmic processes. In invertebrates, for example, the nerve net allows nerve impulses to spread over a wide area of the net because synapses can pass information in any direction.	Neural Networks (Anatomic),Nerve Nets,Net, Nerve,Nets, Nerve,Network, Neural (Anatomic),Networks, Neural (Anatomic),Neural Network (Anatomic)
D010700	Phonetics	The science or study of speech sounds and their production, transmission, and reception, and their analysis, classification, and transcription. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)	Speech Sounds,Sound, Speech,Sounds, Speech,Speech Sound
D002540	Cerebral Cortex	The thin layer of GRAY MATTER on the surface of the CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES that develops from the TELENCEPHALON and folds into gyri and sulci. It reaches its highest development in humans and is responsible for intellectual faculties and higher mental functions.	Allocortex,Archipallium,Cortex Cerebri,Cortical Plate,Paleocortex,Periallocortex,Allocortices,Archipalliums,Cerebral Cortices,Cortex Cerebrus,Cortex, Cerebral,Cortical Plates,Paleocortices,Periallocortices,Plate, Cortical
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000293	Adolescent	A person 13 to 18 years of age.	Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths