Adult-directed speech

The acoustic and phonetic characteristics of this IDS are well recognized, and seem to be universal (e.g. Grieser and Kuhl, 1988 Kuhl et al., 1997 Kuhl, 2000). It has been found that IDS is characteristically higher in pitch than adult-directed speech (ADS), and contains exaggerated pitch contours, shorter utterances, longer pauses and hyperarticulation of vowels (Stem et al., 1983 Femald and Simon 1984 Andruski and Kuhl, 1996 Kuhl et al., 1997 Trainer et al., 2000 Burnham et al., 2002). 

A pre-existing data-set of infant-, foreigner- and adult-directed speech samples in WAV format formed the basis of the data-set (Knoll and Uther, 2(X)4). Pitch contours were randomly selected from these groups and then modified to a standardized format that could be used for the DAISY, EA and qualitative conditions. The extracted pitch contours comprised the specific target words sheep , shark and shoe, which were chosen because they had been found to be prosodicaUy highlighted in IDS and FDS in a previous study (KnoU and Uther, 2004). A total of 167 pitch contours (IDS = 60, ADS = 53, FDS = 54) were extracted from these words. 

Hypothyrodism and hyperthyroidism can both be due to a number of causes, one of which is metabolic dysfunction. Hypothyroidism is caused by undersecretion, of thyroid hormones. In one form of childhood hypothyroidism, children born with abnormally small thyroids produce insufficient levels of the thyroid hormones T3 and T4, which are important for metabolically directed bone development. If detected in the first 6 months of life, this disorder can be treated with synthetic thyroid hormones such that its effects can be avoided. The most severe early onset hypothyroidisms are characterized by Cretinism, a type of dwarfism, and mental retardation. Adult hypothyroidism is called myxedema. Myxedema symptoms include slowed speech, yellowed skin, and generally slowed body functions. Myxedema can also be treated with synthetic T4, but if left untreated, can lead to coma. 

Smdies directly investigating the effect on oxytocin autistic symptoms were pioneered by Eric Hollander and colleagues. In 2003 they reported a reduction of repetitive behaviors in 15 adults with autism after an oxytocin infusion (Hollander et al., 2003). Using a comparable mode of application, they could recently also demonstrate an effect of oxytocin treatment on social cognition in terms of affective speech comprehension (Hollander et al., 2007). Interestingly in this smdy, those patients who received oxytocin first showed a prolonged effect of the treatment while those patients who received placebo first showed a fast reversal of their ability... 

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