Case Study

Question 1

Type of dysarthria

Answer 1

Mixed - hypokinetic, spastic, ataxic

Hypokinetic-spastic - 50%
Hypokinetic-spastic-ataxia - 38%

Question 2

Motor symptoms of MSA-P

Answer 2

Rigidity, Bradykinesia, tremor, poor balance

Question 3

Dysarthria in MSA-P

Answer 3

• reduced volume of voice
• slow rate
• inappropriate silences
• imprecise articulation
• voice stoppages
• audible inspiration
• monopitch

Question 4

Communication in MSA-P

Answer 4

• increasing cognitive difficulties; results in difficulty processing language to understand
• plan for the loss of speech - voice banking

Question 5

Hypokinetic dysarthria

Answer 5

• result of damage to the basal ganglia (helps muscles move)
• slow, monotone, rigid sounding speech
• hoarseness, roughness, breathiness, imprecise with consonants

Question 6

Ataxic dysarthria

Answer 6

• damage to cerebellum (helps coordinate muscle movement)
• trouble producing vowels and consonants
• irregular or slow rhythm of speech, with pauses and abrupt explosions of sound
• excessively equal stress on every syllable

Question 7

Spastic dysarthria

Answer 7

• damage to the upper Neurons on one or both sides of the brain
• strained or harsh
• impaired co-ordination and control of movement
• reduced muscle tone (hypotonia)
• difficulties evident in speech tasks (multi-syllabic words or utterances of greater length

Question 8

MSA affects what part of the brain

Answer 8

Cerebellum and basal ganglia

Question 9

What to subsystems of speech to assess

Answer 9

Prosody, articulation, resonance, phonation, breathing/respiration

Question 10

Speech characteristics

Answer 10

• speak quietly and in one tone
• don’t convey much emotion
• speech breathy or hoarse
• might slur words, mumble or trail off
• unsteady and flat

Question 11

MSA-P and dysarthria

Answer 11

(Rusz et al, 2019)
- 50% MSA-P had moderate dysarthria
- 28% MSA-P has severe dysarthria
- 50% of MSA-P had hypokinetic-spastic
- 38% of MSA-P had hypokinetic-spastic-ataxic