By V.C. Marino, G.M. Schulz,
W.N. Williams, P.W Wharton, and J.C.R. Dutka, and M Paulk
To
date, little quantitative information is available on the impact of fistula(s)
on tongue movement during speech production.
Additionally, the impact that a sustained perturbation has on tongue
movement is still unknown. This
single-subject study investigated long –term effect that an experimental
opening has on subject’s tongue movement.
The subject produced ten trials of single CVC words with initial and
final voiceless plosives embedded in a carrier phrase. Tongue tip and tongue medium movement
measures were obtained using the Articulograph AG100
when (1) the replicate obturator was occluded; (2)
immediately after a 20 mm2 opening was drilled in the anterior portion of the obturator, and (3) five days after wearing the replicate obturator with the anterior “fistula”. The results of this
study suggested that experiencing an experimental opening for five days had a
significant effect on tongue movement when compared to tongue movements
observed immediately after creating the opening. Tongue movement after five days was not
different than tongue movement observed during the control condition, indicating
that the subject may have “normalized” his articulatory
production to that previously observed in the control condition.