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Bulbar and speech motor assessment in ALS: Challenges and future directions
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Bulbar and speech motor assessment in ALS: Challenges and future directions

Jordan R. Green, Yana Yunusova, Mili S. Kuruvilla, Jun Wang, Gary L. Pattee, Lori Synhorst, Lorne Zinman and James D. Berry
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal degeneration, Vol.14(7-8), pp.494-500
12/01/2013
DOI: 10.3109/21678421.2013.817585
PMCID: PMC3833808
PMID: 23898888
url
https://europepmc.org/articles/pmc3833808View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Bulbar motor deterioration due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) leads to the eventual impairment of speech and swallowing functions. Despite these devastating consequences, no standardized diagnostic procedure for assessing bulbar dysfunction in ALS exists and adequate objective markers of bulbar deterioration have not been identified. In this paper, we consider objective measures of speech motor function, which show promise for forming the basis of a comprehensive, quantitative bulbar motor assessment in ALS. These measures are based on the assessment of four speech subsystems: respiratory, phonatory, articulatory, and resonatory. The goal of this research is to design a non-invasive, comprehensive bulbar motor assessment instrument intended for early detection, monitoring of disease progression, and clinical trial application. Preliminary data from an ongoing study of bulbar motor decline are presented, which demonstrate the potential clinical efficacy of the speech subsystem approach.
 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Bulbar motor oral motor speaking rate speech assessment speech intelligibility speech movement analysis

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