dysarthria Flashcards
dysarthria definition
Neurogenic speech sound disorder.
Characterized by abnormal strength, speed, range, steadiness, tone, and accuracy of the muscles and movements for speech production.
dysarthria NEUROPATHOLOGY
Due to stroke, infections, TBI, or progressive neurological diseases (e.g., PD, ALS, MS).
Different dysarthria types correspond to a different site of damage.
dysarthria COMMUNICATION DEFICITS
Depending on the site of damage and muscles affected, there will be different deficits.
Can happen at any or all 5 levels of speech production: respiration (RESP), phonation (PHON), resonance (RESON), articulation (ARTIC), prosody (PROS).
different dysarthrias chart, type, localization of damage, auditory signs & characteristic diseases
key feature of each dysarthria
if no key feature, name health condition associated
Ataxic - incoordination
Flaccid - Weakness
Spastic- Effortful
Hyperkinetic - Irregular
Hypokinetic- Reduction
Flaccid-Spastic - ALS
Ataxic-Spastic - MS
Unilateral UMN - weakness, incoordination & spasticity
differentiate between UMN damage and LMN
diff dysarthria chart with pathophysiological signs and site of lesion
ataxic dys characteristics
uncoordinated & cerebellum
- imprecise vowels & consonants “drunken speech”
- excessive and equal stress
- slow rate
- inappropriate silences within & between words
- gait disturbences
- monopitch, monoloud, harsh
- paradoxical breathing
- Distorted vowels
-Prolonged phonemes
- Irregular AMRs
■ telescoping/collapsing of syllables
Memory tool:
A.T.A.X.I.C.
Arhythmic speech: Irregular rhythm and inappropriate pauses.
Tone abnormalities: Voice may have a monopitch or monoloudness quality.
Articulatory imprecision: Slurred speech due to incoordination.
Xtra effort needed: Speaking may appear to be an effortful process.
Irregularities in speech rate: Might be excessively slow or, at times, too fast.
Coordination issues: This is the core issue—problems coordinating the movements of speech muscles.
flaccid dys
weakness, LMN
- weak inhalation
- breathy voice, audible inspirations, short phrases
- hypernasality, NAE
- imprecise consonants (esp. high pressure)
- imprecise AMRs, slow & slurred DDKs
- tongue fasciculations
- diminishes reflexes
- hypotonia
memory tool: spicy, breathy voice, makes you go weak (inhalation, hypotonia), cant even speak right just ooos and aahhhs (vowels), make ya quiver (fasciculations)
spastic dys
effortful, UMN
- Strangled (harsh, hyperadduction)
- Pitch breaks
- Articulatory imprecision
- Slow rate
- Tight muscles aka hypertonia
- Increased reflexes
- Cheweing/swallowing difficulty
- = excessive & equal stress
- slow & regular AMRS??
memory tool: SPASTIC + excessive & equal stress
- man doing karate and lifting weights at same time wants to strangle ya, with angry eyebrows and low pitch voice
hyperkinetic dysarthria characteristics
irregular, BG, involuntary movements:
imprecise consonants,
distorted vowels,
prolonged phonemes,
irregular articulatory breakdowns,
**slow and irregular AMRs, **
hypernasality,
variable (irregular) rate,
**strained/strangled voice, **
harsh voice,
inappropriate silences,
transient breathiness,
voice stoppages,
excess and equal stress,
loudness variation,
sudden forced inspiration/expiration*
memory tool for hypokinetic dysarthria characteristics
Reduction, BG
monopitch, monoloud
inappropriate silences
short rushes of speech
tendency for rapid/accelerated speech
rapid/blurred AMRS - fast and imprecise DDK
palilalia- delayed repetitions of words or phrases
mmory tool: hyPOPO lazy cop out of breath running for donut, mask like face, reduced lung capacity, rast rate, short rushes of speech, reduced stress, inapp. silences, C+V, mono pitch & loud
flaccid-spastic characteristics
memory tool: “FALS MIX” can remind you of the disease “ALS” and the “MIX” of flaccid and spastic characteristics.
Flaccid qualities: Weakness, atrophy, and fasciculations of the speech muscles.
Articulatory imprecision
Low muscle tone (initially): From the flaccid component.
Strained-strangled voice quality: From the spastic component.
Monopitch and monoloudness: Reduced prosodic variation.
Increased muscle tone (as it progresses): From the spastic component.
Xtra effort: Speaking may appear effortful due to muscle weakness and spasticity.
ataxic-spastic dysarthria
memory tool: P.H.A.R.M.S.
-Pitch & loudness problems
-HHarsh or breathy voice
-Articulatory imprecision:
-Reduced vital capacity: Limited breath affecting sustained speech.
-Misplaced emphasis: Impaired stress patterns in speech.
-Significant hypernasality
Or PHHARM: and put hypernasality with harsh & breathy
Flaccid (LMN)
- Lesion location:
LMN (cell, axon, NMJ, or muscle)
Common etiologies for LMN
: trauma, motor neuron disease, muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, Guillain-Barré Degenerative disease, Brainstem stroke (CVA)
Spastic (UMN)
- Lesion location:
UMN (bilateral; pyramidal or extrapyramidal)
Common etiologies UMN lesion spastic d
: stroke, TBI, motor neuron disease (ALP, PLS), unknown etiology (10%)
Unilateral UMN ____ subset of spastic)
(milder
- Common perceptual features of Unilateral UMN:
slow rate, imprecise articulation, irregular articulatory breakdowns, harsh voice, reduced loudness
- Common perceptual features: imprecise consonants, rapid “blurred” AMRs, variable rate of speech, short rushes of speech, harsh voice, breathy voice, monopitch, low pitch, reduced stress, inappropriate silences, monoloud
- Common etiologies for U UMN
: Parkinson’s disease/Parkinsonism, progressive supranuclear palsy, stroke, unknown etiology (4%), TBI
hyperkinesias
Chorea: rapid, random movements of body part(s)
o Dystonia: co-contraction of antagonistic muscles – “frozen”
o Myoclonus: involuntary, repetitive jerks of a body part
o Voice tremors, spasmodic dysphonia
common etilogolies hyperkinetic
unknown (67%), toxic/drug-induced, Huntington’s chorea, Tourette’s syndrome
ataxic cerebellum pathophysiology
- Pathophysiology: incoordination, reduced range of motion, inaccuracy in force/timing/direction of movements, hypotonia, dysmetria (the inability to control the distance, speed, and range of motion necessary to perform smoothly coordinated movements), sequencing errors
o Size, strength, and symmetry may be WNL at rest
o During movement/speech, over- or under-shoot targets
ataxic perceptual features
- Common perceptual features: imprecise consonant, irregular articulatory breakdowns, prolonged phonemes, distorted vowels, irregular AMRs, slow rate, prolonged intervals, harsh voice, monopitch, excess and equal stress, loudness variation*
common etiology for ataxia
- Common etiologies: cerebellar degeneration, multiple systems atrophy, multiple sclerosis, stroke/trauma, tumour
Manifestation of two or more dysarthrias in a single individual
o Encountered more often than any other individual type of dysarthria (~30-35% of all dysarthrias)
Common etiologies:
for. mixed dys
o Motor neuron disease (ALS): flaccid-spastic
o Multiple sclerosis: spastic-ataxic
o Progressive supranuclear palsy: hypokinetic-spastic-ataxic
o Friedrich’s ataxia: ataxic-spastic
another dysarthria +apraxia chart
AOS differential diagnosis
- Speech errors unrelated to muscle weakness, tone, range of motion, cognitive-linguistic difficulties
- Predominantly articulatory and prosodic effects
- Errors variable across trials/utterances
o Automatic speech > volitional speech - Substitution/addition errors, dysfluencies (start/restart patterns)
- Trial-and-error groping for correct articulatory postures; frequent attempts to self-correct
AOS vs. ataxic dysarthria
Differences:
o AMRs are usually irregular in ataxic dysarthria but regular in AOS (reverse for SMRs)
o “Islands of effort free speech” (bypass planning mechanism) are unusual in ataxic dysarthria and very usual in AOS
o Automatic speech is no better than volitional speech in ataxic dysarthria
o Ataxic speakers rarely grope for articulatory postures and do not usually attempt to correct articulatory errors
o Perceived substitutions are not as frequent in ataxic dysarthria as AOS
Speech subsystems
- Respiratory
- Phonatory/laryngeal
- Resonatory
- Articulatory
- *Prosodic (doesn’t just live in one system – is a combination of all systems together)
dysarthria is commonly found in…
- HD
- MS
- neuromuscular disease (e.g. myasthenia gravis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, muscular dystrophy)
- Nonfluent variant primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA)
- PD
- Stroke
- TBI
- Down syndrome
Psychosocial Impacts
Communication demands effort and may need assistance.
Time constraints can lead patients to abbreviate their messages.
Interruptions can make patients feel rushed.
Communication partners differ in their willingness to accommodate.
Components of MSD assessment
- Medical history/clinical interview
- Patient observations
- Non-speech examination
o Oral mechanism exam - Motor speech tasks
- Evaluation of speech production (instrumental and non-instrumental)
o Tasks by speech subsystem + prosody
§ Quantifiable measures!
o Passage reading
o Picture description
o Spontaneous conversation
o Intelligibility, comprehensibility, efficiency
ways to test respiratory subsystem
Motor control hierarchy (top down)
Primary motor cortex →
motor association cortex (pre-motor cortex, supplementary motor area) →
basal ganglia →
cerebellum →
lower motor neurons in brainstem/spinal cord →
peripheral nerves →
smooth/striated/cardiac muscles and glands