Intonation and Fluency in Emotionally Dysregulated French Patients with an Acquired Brain Injury: Case Studies

Publication

Auteur·e·s : Thalassio Briand, Camille Fauth, Marie Kuppelin

Abstract

Acquired brain injuries (ABI) often result in persistent emotional dysregulation. As part of a larger study, this paper explores the effectiveness of a dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) programme, a type of evidence-based psychotherapy that helps patients build emotional regulation skills. Current literature suggests that a significant proportion of disfluency, faster speech rate and large amplitudes in frequency variation may denote high emotional activation in speech. However, identifying emotional regulation remains a challenge, as dysregulation may manifest as emotional apathy in addition to extreme activation. This complicates establishing a direct link between intonation patterns and emotional dysregulation. Two ABI patients were recorded in 40-90 minutes semi-directive interviews, in which they narrated emotionally charged memories and described pictures. One patient was recorded five months prior to and immediately before beginning the therapy programme (t0-t1), and the other before and after the five-month programme (t1-t2). Our findings highlight more variation in intonation at t1 for both patients, and the patient who followed the programme decreased his speech rates over time. These may be indicators of the therapy’s effectiveness. Moreover, our results suggest that the ratio of disfluencies may not be a good indicator of emotional dysregulation in ABI patients.

Keywords

Fluency, Disfluencies, Emotion Dysregulation, Clinical Linguistics, Intonation, Speech Rate, Prosogram, Acquired Brain Injury, French

Authors

  • Thalassio Briand, University of Strasbourg - LiLPa UR 1339 & LiRiC Interdisciplinary Thematic Institute, Strasbourg, France
  • Camille Fauth, University of Strasbourg - LiLPa UR 1339 & LiRiC Interdisciplinary Thematic Institute, Strasbourg, France
  • Marie Kuppelin, INSERM UMR-S 1329, Strasbourg, France

Cite as

Briand, T., Fauth, C., Kuppelin, M. (2024) Intonation and Fluency in Emotionally Dysregulated French Patients with an Acquired Brain Injury: Case Studies. Proc. Speech Prosody 2024, 807-811, doi: 10.21437/SpeechProsody.2024-163