Dysarthria

About: Dysarthria is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2402 publications have been published within this topic receiving 56554 citations.

Investigating quality of life and communication in Saudi Arabian individuals with progressive dysarthria

Abstract: One functional factor commonly affected by neurodegenerative diseases is communication. Many people with neurodegenerative disease experience a progressive motor speech disorder: dysarthria. It is known that communication is essential for full social participation but there is limited evidence on the role it plays in quality of life (QoL). The aim of this thesis is to explore the QoL of Saudi Arabian individuals with progressive dysarthria associated with neurodegenerative disease. The thesis includes the development of new intelligibility and functional communication measures for use with an Arabic speaking population. It also explores the relationship between QoL and communication for individuals with neurodegenerative disease. Qualitative and quantitative research methodologies were used. Research participants were recruited from a specialist hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 16 people participated in the first part and 34 in the second, all of whom had been diagnosed with neurodegenerative disease associated with different severities of progressive dysarthria. In addition, caregivers participated to explore the difference between their perceptions of participants’ QoL and functional communication and that of the participants themselves. It was established that QoL, as measured by the ASIP, showed the most frequent relationship with functional measures of communication. Additionally, qualitative analysis of interviews highlighted themes related to physical, psychological, social, and environmental factors. Communication was mainly discussed in relation to changes and restrictions in participation and interaction. Finally caregiver and patient perspectives were found to be similar when asked to rate the participants’ QoL and functional communication. Although this research is not without limitations as reflected by some of the methodologies used as well as variable population features within the disease groups, it is an important first step in looking at a Saudi Arabian population with progressive dysarthria and exploring methods for assessing intelligibility, functional communication and the relationship between communication and QoL.

Single Word–Based Acoustic Vowel Space in Individuals With Dysarthria Secondary to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Abstract: Purpose The current study investigated the potential of a single word–based acoustic vowel space to characterize speech in individuals with dysarthria secondary to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (AL...

Assessment of Dysphonia in Children with Pompe Disease Using Auditory-Perceptual and Acoustic/Physiologic Methods

Abstract: Bulbar and respiratory weakness occur commonly in children with Pompe disease and frequently lead to dysarthria. However, changes in vocal quality associated with this motor speech disorder are poorly described. The goal of this study was to characterize the vocal function of children with Pompe disease using auditory-perceptual and physiologic/acoustic methods. High-quality voice recordings were collected from 21 children with Pompe disease. The Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, and Strain (GRBAS) scale was used to assess voice quality and ratings were compared to physiologic/acoustic measurements collected during sustained phonation tasks, reading of a standard passage, and repetition of a short phrase at maximal volume. Based on ratings of grade, dysphonia was present in 90% of participants and was most commonly rated as mild or moderate in severity. Duration of sustained phonation tasks was reduced and shimmer was increased in comparison to published reference values for children without dysphonia. Specific measures of loudness were found to have statistically significant relationships with perceptual ratings of grade, breathiness, asthenia, and strain. Our data suggest that dysphonia is common in children with Pompe disease and primarily reflects impairments in respiratory and laryngeal function; however, the primary cause of dysphonia remains unclear. Future studies should seek to quantify the relative contribution of deficits in individual speech subsystems on voice quality and motor speech performance more broadly.

Recognising emotions in dysarthric speech using typical speech data

Abstract: Effective communication relies on the comprehension of both verbal and nonverbal information. People with dysarthria may lose their ability to produce intelligible and audible speech sounds which in time may affect their way of conveying emotions, that are mostly expressed using nonverbal signals. Recent research shows some promise on automatically recognising the verbal part of dysarthric speech. However, this is the first study that investigates the ability to automatically recognise the nonverbal part. A parallel database of dysarthric and typical emotional speech is collected, and approaches to discriminating between emotions using models trained on either dysarthric (speaker dependent, matched) or typical (speaker independent, unmatched) speech are investigated for four speakers with dysarthria caused by cerebral palsy and Parkinson’s disease. Promising results are achieved in both scenarios using SVM classifiers, opening new doors to improved, more expressive voice input communication aids.

Wernekinck Commissure Syndrome with Holmes Tremor: A Report of Two Cases and Review of Literature

Abstract: Wernekinck commissure syndrome is a rare midbrain infarction, it consists of several symptoms including bilateral cerebellar ataxia, ophthalmoplegia, and palatal tremor. Holmes tremor is a rare clinical syndrome characterized by a combination of resting, postural, and action tremors. We describe two cases of Wernekinck commissure syndrome with Holmes tremor. To the best of our knowledge, it has been rarely reported in the literature to date. Both of the cases were presented with acute onset of bilateral cerebellar ataxia, dysarthria, and Holmes tremor. In the treatment, one patient was given “clonazepam and benheisol,” the other was received acupuncture therapy, both of them showed a marked improvement in ataxia and tremor.