# The effects of unison production on speech fluency in people with aphasia

> **NIH NIH R15** · MGH INSTITUTE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS · 2021 · $143,984

## Abstract

Project Summary
Many treatments designed to improve spoken output in persons with aphasia (PWAs) incorporate unison speech,
having the person with aphasia speak along with the clinician or with a recording. The goal of this study is to
determine the individual and stimulus characteristics that predict the degree of benefit from speaking in unison,
and to investigate a possible mechanism for this benefit. This knowledge is important because understanding
who benefits from this commonly used and potentially powerful therapy component, under which conditions
they benefit, and why they do, is critical for customizing therapy for maximum therapeutic efficiency. Unison
speech is conducted one of two different timing patterns: (1) a natural conversational pattern, which is used in
everyday conversations, or (2) a metrical pattern, which follows a beat-based timing framework, as in songs or
some poems. In either case, precisely aligning one's speech with that of another person (i.e., entraining one's
speech) requires prediction: motor commands must be formulated before the corresponding input from the
other person has been heard and processed. While natural conversational timing requires the speaker to make
use of syntactic knowledge to align with the other person, a metrical pattern allows a speaker to predict speech
timing without relying heavily on syntactic knowledge. Given that many PWAs have an impaired ability to
process syntax (i.e., agrammatism), we hypothesize that most PWAs will benefit more from speaking in unison
to sentences with metrical vs. conversational timing patterns. However, there is great heterogeneity in linguistic,
motor speech, and timing skills across PWAs, so metrical and conversational timing patterns are likely to have
different degrees of effectiveness across individuals. Results from this study will evaluate how individual
characteristics and speech timing affect whether or not a person with aphasia will benefit from speaking in
unison, and will test whether predictive processing, as evidenced by true speech entrainment, is necessary for a
benefit of unison speech production to be realized.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10449148
- **Project number:** 3R15DC019231-01S1
- **Recipient organization:** MGH INSTITUTE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS
- **Principal Investigator:** Lauryn R. Zipse
- **Activity code:** R15 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $143,984
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-05-15 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10449148

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10449148, The effects of unison production on speech fluency in people with aphasia (3R15DC019231-01S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10449148. Licensed CC0.

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