Dysarthria Types

Flaccid Dysarthria

• Damage: lower motor neurons OR PNS

• Flaccid: weak, limp

• characteristics: weakness, hypotonia, atrophy, fasciculations, breathiness, hypernasality & imprecise consonants

Dysarthria

• speech disorder caused by impaired control of the muslces used for speech

• affects breathing, voice, articulation & prosody

• slurred, weak, strained, slow, abnormal

Lower motor neuron

• carries signals from the spinal cord or brainstem directly to muscles

• activate muscle movement

• damage: weak, floppy, atrophy, reduces tone, reflexes & causes muscle twitching

FLACCID DYSARTHRIA

Peripheral nervous system PNS

• nerves outside the brain and spinal cord

• connect the CNS to muscles, skin, and organs

• damage: communication b/w brain and muslces disrupted, leading to weakness, sensory loss or impaired movement

• FLACCID DYSARTHRIA (weak/breathy)

Hypotonia

• reduced muscle tone

• poor posture, weak facial expression, difficulty w/ speech & swallowing

• FLACCID - reduced speech strength/control

Atrophy

• wasting away of body tissues (muscle) b/c it is not being used normally OR lost its nerve supply

• nerve damage, aging, or chronic disease

• FLACCID DYSARTHRIA (LMN, PNS)

Fasciculations

• small involuntary muscle twitches that often seen under the skin

• damage to motor nerve supply LMN

• FLACCID

Spastic Dysarthria

• UMN on both sides of the body

• spastic: stiff, tight, overly active, increased tone and resistance to movement

• speech: strained, slow, effortful

• BILATERAL umn damage

• increased muscle tone, slow speech, strained-strangled voice, imprecise consonants & hypernasality

upper motor neuron

• nerve cell that sends movement commands down to the LMN

• UMN: spastic & unilateral UMN dysarthria

• severe spastic pattern = bilateral

• milder = unilateral

• they plan & control voluntary movement

Cerebellar system

• cerebellum & connections

• regulate coordination, timing, balance & smooth movement

• DOES NOT INITIATE MOVEMENT

• fine-tunes it so its accurate/well-times

• uncoordinated or poorly timed movements

• ATAXIC dysarthria

• characteristics: coordination, timing, artic, prosody

Ataxic dysarthria

• damage to cerebellar system

• ataxia = lack of coordination

• irregular, uneven, poorly timed

• coordination timing articulation prosody

basal ganglia

• regulate movement

• starting, stopping, smoothing, scaling movement

• too slow & reduced or too excessive and involuntary

• HYPO & HYPERkinetic dysarthria

HYPOkinetic dysarthria

• basal ganglia dysfunction results in reduced movement

• smaller/less forceful, or diminished

• speech: quiet, monotone, rushed —> PD

• reduced loudness, monopitch, reduced stress, imprecise consonants and short rushes of speech

HYPERkinetic dysarthria

• basal ganglia dysfunction leads to excessive involuntary movement

• excessive uncontrolled abnormal

• HUNTINGTONS

Mixed dysarthria

• two or more dysarthria types

• ALS, MS

ALS

• amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

• progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons

• upper and lower

• MIXED flaccid & spastic dysarthria

PD

• neurological condition that affects movement, usually causing

• tremor, slowness & rigidity (basal ganglia)

• softer, flatter less expressive speech

• HYPOKINETIC DYSARTHRIA