dysarthria

Various neurological and motor disorders can give rise to dysarthria. The main causes can be classified as genetic, infectious, toxic, traumatic, vascular, neoplastic, demyelinating, degenerative, or other.{{Citation |last=Jayaraman |first=Dilip Kumar |title=Dysarthria |date=2024 |work=StatPearls |url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK592453/ |access-date=2024-04-19 |place=Treasure Island (FL) |publisher=StatPearls Publishing |pmid=37279355 |last2=M Das |first2=Joe}}{{cite book |last1=Duffy |first1=Joseph R. |title=Motor speech disorders: substrates, differential diagnosis, and management |date=2005 |publisher=Elsevier Mosby |location=St. Louis |isbn=9780323024525 |page=275 |edition=2nd |url=http://www.unm.edu/~atneel/shs531/duffy10.pdf}}

• Genetic: Wilson's disease, Tay–Sachs disease, and Sensory ataxic neuropathy, dysarthria, and ophthalmoparesis (SANDO syndrome)
• Infectious: Lyme disease (borreliosis) and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD)
• Toxic: Heavy metal poisoning and Alcohol
• Traumatic: Cerebral palsy (CP), Traumatic brain injury (TBI), Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)
• Vascular: Stroke and Transient ischemic attack (TIA)
• Neoplastic: Brain tumors
• Demyelinating: Multiple sclerosis (MS) and Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS)
• Degenerative: Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD), Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Niemann-Pick disease (NP disease), and Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA or FA)
• Other: Hypothermia, Hypoxic encephalopathy, Central pontine myelinolysis, and Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH)

These result in lesions to key areas of the brain involved in planning, executing, or regulating motor operations in skeletal muscles (i.e. muscles of the limbs), including muscles of the head and neck (dysfunction of which characterises dysarthria). These can result in dysfunction, or failure of: the motor or somatosensory cortex of the brain, corticobulbar pathways, the cerebellum, basal nuclei (consisting of the putamen, globus pallidus, caudate nucleus, substantia nigra etc.), brainstem (from which the cranial nerves originate), or the neuromuscular junction (in diseases such as myasthenia gravis) which block the nervous system's ability to activate motor units and effect correct range and strength of movements.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

Dysarthrias are classified in multiple ways based on the presentation of symptoms. Specific dysarthrias include spastic (resulting from bilateral damage to the upper motor neuron), flaccid (resulting from bilateral or unilateral damage to the lower motor neuron), ataxic (resulting from damage to cerebellum), unilateral upper motor neuron (presenting milder symptoms than bilateral UMN damage), hyperkinetic and hypokinetic (resulting from damage to parts of the basal ganglia, such as in Huntington's disease or Parkinsonism), and the mixed dysarthrias (where symptoms of more than one type of dysarthria are present). The majority of people with dysarthria are diagnosed as having 'mixed' dysarthria, as neural damage resulting in dysarthria is rarely contained to one part of the nervous system—for example, multiple strokes, traumatic brain injury, and some kinds of degenerative illnesses (such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) usually damage many different sectors of the nervous system.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

Ataxic dysarthria is an acquired neurological and sensorimotor speech deficit. It is a common diagnosis among the clinical spectrum of ataxic disorders.{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s00415-011-6192-9 |title=The scale for the assessment and rating of ataxia correlates with dysarthria assessment in Friedreich's ataxia |year=2011 |last1=Eigentler |first1=A |last2=Rhomberg |first2=J |last3=Nachbauer |first3=W |last4=Ritzer |first4=I |last5=Poewe |first5=W |last6=Boesch |first6=S |display-authors= 4 |journal=Journal of Neurology |volume=259 |issue=3 |pages=420–6 |pmid=21805332|s2cid=24242242 }} Since regulation of skilled movements is a primary function of the cerebellum, damage to the superior cerebellum and the superior cerebellar peduncle is believed to produce this form of dysarthria in ataxic patients.{{cite book |last1=Caplan |first1=Louis R. |year=2012 |chapter=Ataxia in Patients with Brain Infarcts and Hemorrhages |doi=10.1016/B978-0-444-51892-7.00008-5 |editor1-first=Sankara H. |editor1-last=Subramony |editor2-first=Alexandra |editor2-last=Dürr |title=Ataxic Disorders |series=Handbook of Clinical Neurology |isbn=978-0-444-51892-7 |volume=103 |pmid=21827886 |pages=147–60}} Growing evidence supports the likelihood of cerebellar involvement specifically affecting speech motor programming and execution pathways, producing the characteristic features associated with ataxic dysarthria. This link to speech motor control can explain the abnormalities in articulation and prosody, which are hallmarks of this disorder.{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/14734220601145459 |title=The neural basis of ataxic dysarthria |year=2007 |last1=Spencer |first1= K |last2=Slocomb |first2=D |journal=The Cerebellum |volume=6 |pages=58–65 |pmid=17366266 |issue=1|s2cid=19196473 }} Some of the most consistent abnormalities observed in patients with ataxia dysarthria are alterations of the normal timing pattern, with prolongation of certain segments and a tendency to equalize the duration of syllables when speaking. As the severity of the dysarthria increases, the patient may also lengthen more segments as well as increase the degree of lengthening of each individual segment.{{cite journal |last1=Kent |first1=RD |last2=Netsell |first2=R |last3=Abbs |first3=JH |title=Acoustic characteristics of dysarthria associated with cerebellar disease |journal=J Speech Hear Res |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=627–48 |date=September 1979 |pmid=502519 |doi=10.1044/jshr.2203.627 |url=http://jslhr.highwire.org/cgi/content/abstract/22/3/627 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716174552/http://jslhr.highwire.org/cgi/content/abstract/22/3/627 |archive-date=2012-07-16 |url-access=subscription }}

Common clinical features of ataxic dysarthria include abnormalities in speech modulation, rate of speech, explosive or scanning speech, slurred speech, irregular stress patterns, and vocalic and consonantal misarticulations.{{cite journal |pmid=20453409 |year=2010 |last1=Ogawa |first1=K |last2=Yoshihashi |first2=H |last3=Suzuki |first3=Y |last4=Kamei |first4=S |last5=Mizutani |first5=T |display-authors= 4 |title=Clinical study of the responsible lesion for dysarthria in the cerebellum |volume=49 |issue=9 |pages=861–4 |journal=Internal Medicine |doi=10.2169/internalmedicine.49.2913|doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |doi=10.1159/000184539 |title=Analysis of Diadochokinesis in Ataxic Dysarthria Using the Motor Speech Profile Program™ |year=2009 |last1=Wang |first1=Y-T |last2=Kent |first2=RD |last3=Duffy |first3=JR |last4=Thomas |first4=JE |journal=Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica |volume=61 |pages=1–11 |pmid=19088478 |issue=1 |pmc=2790744}}

Ataxic dysarthria is associated with damage to the left cerebellar hemisphere in right-handed patients.{{cite journal |url=http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/50292/410030402_ftp.pdf?sequence=1 |title=Speech Disorders in Cerebellar Disease |journal=Ann. Neurol. |year=1978 |volume=3 |issue=4|pages=285–290 |author=Lechtenberg, R. |author2=Gilman, S. |pmid=666268 |doi=10.1002/ana.410030402 |hdl=2027.42/50292 |s2cid=16595062 |hdl-access=free}}

Dysarthria may affect a single system; however, it is more commonly reflected in multiple motor–speech systems. The etiology, degree of neuropathy, existence of co-morbidities, and the individual's response all play a role in the effect the disorder has on the individual's quality of life. Severity ranges from occasional articulation difficulties to verbal speech that is completely unintelligible.

Individuals with dysarthria may experience challenges in the following:

• Timing
• Vocal quality
• Pitch
• Volume
• Breath control
• Speed
• Strength
• Steadiness
• Range
• Tone

Examples of specific observations include a continuous breathy voice, irregular breakdown of articulation, monopitch, distorted vowels, word flow without pauses, and hypernasality.

Articulation problems resulting from dysarthria are treated by speech language pathologists, using a variety of techniques. Techniques used depend on the effect the dysarthria has on control of the articulators. Traditional treatments target the correction of deficits in rate (of articulation), prosody (appropriate emphasis and inflection, affected e.g. by apraxia of speech, right hemisphere brain damage, etc.), intensity (loudness of the voice, affected e.g. in hypokinetic dysarthrias such as in Parkinson's), resonance (ability to alter the vocal tract and resonating spaces for correct speech sounds) and phonation (control of the vocal folds for appropriate voice quality and valving of the airway). These treatments have usually involved exercises to increase strength and control over articulator muscles (which may be flaccid and weak, or overly tight and difficult to move), and using alternate speaking techniques to increase speaker intelligibility (how well someone's speech is understood by peers). With the speech–language pathologist, there are several skills that are important to learn; safe chewing and swallowing techniques, avoiding conversations when feeling tired, repeat words and syllables over and over in order to learn the proper mouth movements, and techniques to deal with the frustration while speaking. Depending on the severity of the dysarthria, another possibility includes learning how to use a computer or flip cards in order to communicate more effectively.

More recent techniques based on the principles of motor learning (PML), such as LSVT (Lee Silverman voice treatment){{cite journal |doi=10.1055/s-2006-955118 |title=The Science and Practice of LSVT/LOUD: Neural Plasticity-Principled Approach to Treating Individuals with Parkinson Disease and Other Neurological Disorders |year=2006 |last1=Fox |first1=C |last2=Ramig |first2=L |last3=Ciucci |first3=M |last4=Sapir |first4=S |last5=McFarland |first5=D |last6=Farley |first6=B |display-authors= 4 |journal=Seminars in Speech and Language |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=283–99 |pmid=17117354}} speech therapy and specifically LSVT may improve voice and speech function in PD.{{cite book |chapter=Other key interventions |editor=The National Collaborating Centre for Chronic Conditions |title=Parkinson's Disease |chapter-url=http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG35/Guidance/pdf/English |publisher=Royal College of Physicians |location=London |year=2006 |isbn=1-86016-283-5 |pages=135–46 |access-date=2011-01-23 |archive-date=2010-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924153546/http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG35/Guidance/pdf/English |url-status=dead }} For Parkinson's, aim to retrain speech skills through building new generalised motor programs, and attach great importance to regular practice, through peer/partner support and self-management. Regularity of practice, and when to practice, are the main issues in PML treatments, as they may determine the likelihood of generalization of new motor skills, and therefore how effective a treatment is.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices that make coping with a dysarthria easier include speech synthesis and text-based telephones. These allow people who are unintelligible, or may be in the later stages of a progressive illness, to continue to be able to communicate without the need for fully intelligible speech.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

• Lists of language disorders

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin|2}}

• {{cite book |last=Duffy |first=Joseph R |title=Motor Speech Disorders: Substrates, Differential Diagnosis, And Management |edition=2nd |publisher=C.V. Mosby |location=Saint Louis |year=2005 |isbn=0-323-02452-1}}
• Gatokowska, Izbela. Diagnosing Dysarthria in Adults: A New Speech Assessment Method for Polish, English, and Spanish. AE Academic Publishing, 2020.
• {{cite book |last=Haines |first=Duane |title=Neuroanatomy: an atlas of structures, sections, and systems |publisher=Lippincott Williams & Wilkins |location=Hagerstown, MD |year=2004 |isbn=0-7817-4677-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/neuroanatomyatla00hain }}
• {{cite journal |doi=10.1044/1092-4388(2008/07-0185) |title=Changes in Speech Production Associated with Alphabet Supplementation |year=2008 |last1=Hustad |first1=KC |last2=Lee |first2=J |journal=Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research |volume=51 |issue=6 |pmid=18664687 |pages=1438–50}}
• {{cite journal |doi=10.1159/000091735 |title=Estimating the Intelligibility of Speakers with Dysarthria |year=2006 |last1=Hustad |first1=KC |journal=Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica |volume=58 |issue=3 |pages=217–28 |pmid=16636569|s2cid=19302344 }}
• {{cite journal |doi=10.1044/1058-0360(2006/025) |title=A Closer Look at Transcription Intelligibility for Speakers with Dysarthria: Evaluation of Scoring Paradigms and Linguistic Errors Made by Listeners |year=2006 |last1=Hustad |first1=KC |journal=American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=268–77 |pmid=16896176}}

{{refend}}

{{Wiktionary|dysarthria}}

{{Medical resources

| DiseasesDB=4015

| ICD10={{ICD10|R|47|1|r|47}}

| ICD9={{ICD9|784.5}}

| MeshID=D004401

| MedlinePlus=007470

}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090118004846/http://www.voicematters.net/ Online Speech and Voice Disorder Support (VoiceMatters.net)]
• [http://www.asha.org/public/speech/ American Speech-Language-Hearing Association]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140301135321/http://health.cat/ref/Dysarthria.html News About Dysarthria]

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Category:Symptoms and signs: Nervous system

Category:Communication disorders

Category:Symptoms and signs: Speech and voice