Kiyoshi Oshima
Haskins Labs., 270 Crown St., New Haven, CT 06511-6695
Katherine S. Harris
CUNY Graduate School, New York, NY 10036
Haskins Labs., New Haven, CT 06511-6695
Fredericka Bell-Berti
St. John's Univ., Jamaica, NY 11439
Haskins Labs., New Haven, CT 06511-6695
This video demonstrates the application of electromyography (EMG) to the study of speech production. The origin of the electromyographic signal is the passage of the depolarization wave when a muscle fiber or nerve is stimulated. The particular merit of EMG in speech research is that it can provide information about the speech gesture in its natural units and that it directly reflects the motor command from the central nervous system carried by neural impulses. In other words, it is not merely a substitute for direct-viewing techniques but carries one a step farther back in the chain of speech events. Three general types of electrodes have been used in speech research: surface, needle, and hooked wire electrodes. Of these, surface and hooked wire electrodes have been the most useful for recording from the human articulatory muscles. A number of steps must be taken to deal with such signals, including rectification and integration. Applications and instrumentation are discussed, and the simultaneous recording of the EMG with other signals will be presented. [Work supported by NIH Grants DC-00121 and DC-00865 to the Haskins Labs.]