Ataxic Dysarthria

Question 1

ATAXIC DYSARTHRIA
Speech errors
cerebellum what does it do ?
Damage ti what ?

Answer 1

 Motor speech disorder due to damage to cerebellum or its neural
pathways

 Cerebellum
 doesn’t initiate motor activity
 modulating and regulating motor activity
 inhibits and smoothes it out

 Speech errors:
 articulatory
 prosodic
 speech is unsteady and slurred

Question 2

ATAXIC DYSARTHRIA
Type of damage ?
Greek word ?0

Answer 2

 Damage to cerebellum or neural pathways that connect cerebellum
to other parts of central nervous system
 Ataxia-lack of coordination
 Lack of order in Greek

Question 3

 Cerebellum
What does it do ?
What does it have that allows it to do its function?
Some of the function
Signal into execution regarding ??

Answer 3

 Cerebellum
 Attached to brainstem
 Communicates with rest of CNS via three bundles of neural tracts
cerebellar peduncles
 coordinates timing and force of muscular contractions
 processes sensory information from all over body
 integrates information into execution of movement
 regarding force, speed, range, timing, and direction
Freed, 2020

Question 4

CEREBELLUM AND SPEECH MOVEMENTS
 Corticocerebellar control circuit
Functions
Order of where the signal goes

Answer 4

 Corticocerebellar control circuit
 Planned motor impulses of planned speech act sent from cortex to cerebellum
 Cerebellum coordinates and refines preliminary movements
 Coordinated motor impulses then sent to thalamus for more refinement before sent
to motor cortex and then to muscles

Question 5

CEREBELLUM AND SPEECH MOVEMENTS
Connections to extrapyramidal system
Functions
Makes what?

Answer 5

 Connections to extrapyramidal system
 Makes rapid adjustments in timing and force of movements
 Compensates for unexpected changes in circumstances of movement

Question 6

CEREBELLUM AND SPEECH MOVEMENTS
Difficulties coordinating voluntary movements
Cerebellar ataxia and ??
Cerebellar ataxia deficit in what ?

Answer 6

Difficulties coordinating voluntary movements
 Cerebellar ataxia: movement deficits of timing, force, range, and direction
 Vermis: midpoint of cerebellum between cerebellar hemispheres upon which
speech coordination is highly dependent

Question 7

CAUSES OF ATAXIC DYSARTHRIA
 Degenerative Diseases
Autosomal dominant cerebellar dysfunction

Answer 7

Autosomal dominant cerebellar dysfunction of late onset
Hereditary disease beginning in middle age

Question 8

CAUSES OF ATAXIC DYSARTHRIA
 Degenerative Diseases
Idiopathic sporadic

Answer 8

Idiopathic sporadic late-onset cerebellar ataxia
Similar to autosomal dominant cerebellar dysfunction, but with less neurologic
symptoms

Question 9

CAUSES OF ATAXIC DYSARTHRIA
 Degenerative Diseases
Friedreich’s ataxia

Answer 9

Friedreich’s ataxia
Progressive hereditary disease affecting spinal cord as well as cerebellum

Question 10

CAUSES OF ATAXIC DYSARTHRIA
 Degenerative Diseases
Olivopontocerebellar degeneration

Answer 10

Olivopontocerebellar degeneration
Progressive cerebellar disorder that runs in families

Question 11

STROKE

Answer 11

 Cerebellum has rich arterial blood supply

 Ataxic dysarthria can result in:
blockage to arteries serving cerebellum
ruptured aneurysms
arteriovenous malformations

 Cerebellar signs:
 limb ataxia
 problems with balance
 visual deficits
 ataxic dysarthria

Question 12

TOXIC CONDITIONS
Ataxic dysarthria resolves as toxic levels decrease
Type of toxins ?
What chemicals ?

Answer 12

Ataxic dysarthria resolves as toxic levels decrease
Lead and mercury poisoning
Long- and short-term alcohol consumption
Exposure to chemicals such as acrylamide and cyanide

Question 13

TOXIC CONDITIONS
Toxic levels
Anti seizure drug

Answer 13

Toxic levels that may not be irreversible
Phenytoin (Dilantin): antiseizure drug

Question 14

TOXIC CONDITIONS
Metabolic conditions

Answer 14

Metabolic conditions
Vitamin E or B12 deficiency
Severe cases of hypothyroidism
Hereditary disorders such as Wilson’s disease

Question 15

TRAUMATIC HEAD INJURY AND TUMORS
Types of tumor

Answer 15

Diffuse, as with most head injuries
 Twisting of the cerebellar peduncles because cerebellum is an appendage attached to brainstem

 Tumors
 Metastatic tumors: most common
 Low-grade astrocytoma
 Hemangioblastomas

Question 16

TRAUMATIC HEAD INJURY AND TUMORS
 Tumors

Answer 16

 Tumors
 Extent of ataxic dysarthria depends on location and size of tumor

Question 17

TRAUMATIC HEAD INJURY AND TUMORS
 Tumor can affect cerebellar function by:

Answer 17

 Tumor can affect cerebellar function by:
Growing in cerebellar tissue, perhaps directly destroying and compressing cerebellum
Growing near cerebellum, thereby compressing cerebellar tissue
Interfering with functions of cerebellar control circuits

Question 18

TRAUMATIC HEAD INJURY AND TUMORS
 Metastatic tumors:

Answer 18

 Metastatic tumors: most common
Formed when primary tumor sheds cancerous cells that seed a secondary (metastatic) tumor

Question 19

TRAUMATIC HEAD INJURY AND TUMORS
 Low-grade what?

Answer 19

 Low-grade actrocytoms
Slow-growing type of tumor appearing frequently in cerebellum, especially in children

Question 20

TRAUMATIC HEAD INJURY AND TUMORS
 Hemangioblastomas

Answer 20

 Hemangioblastomas
Benign tumors of proliferated blood vessels found occasionally in cerebellum

Question 21

OTHER POSSIBLE CAUSES
Types of bacteria?

Answer 21

 Viral infections invading cerebellum
 Infections such as trichinosis, typhus, and syphilis
 Bacterial abscess near cerebellum that compresses
surrounding brain tissue
Freed, 2020

Question 22

SPEECH CHARACTERISTICS OF ATAXIC
DYSARTHRIA
Speech scanning ?
Primary disorder of what ?

Answer 22

 Movements appear poorly coordinated
 Problems controlling timing/force for speech
 Slurred, monotonous articulation
 Primarily disorder of articulation and prosody

 Scanning speech:
 Slow
 deliberate production of syllables
 each syllable in word receiving equal stress

Question 23

ARTICULATION
What is the most prevelant speech error?
Type of breakdowns ?

Answer 23

 Articulation deficits significant problem
 Imprecise consonant production
Most prevalent speech error

 Distorted vowels
Imperfect articulation gives ataxic dysarthria slurred quality
Caused by cerebellar damage disrupting timing, force, range, and direction of movements

 Irregular articulatory breakdowns
Imprecise consonant and vowel productions vary from utterance to utterance
 Movements are distinct and jerky
 Prolongations of phonemes
 Prolongation of intervals between phonemes
 reduced rate of speaking, effortful
Freed, 2020

Question 24

Prosody
Prolonged what ?

Answer 24

 Equal and excess stress
 Darley calls that scanning speech.
Distinguishing characteristic of ataxic dysarthria
 Prolonged phonemes and prolonged intervals between phonemes
Slow movement on both single and repetitive motion tasks; hypotonia
 Monopitch and monoloudness
Caused by hypotonia of speech muscles

Question 25

Phonation

Answer 25

 Harsh vocal quality
decreased muscle tone in laryngeal and respiratory structures, preventing full contraction of these
muscle groups
 Voice tremor

Question 26

 Resonance

Answer 26

 Resonance
 Hypernasality
 Rarely serious problem in ataxic dysarthria
 Hyponasality
Intermittent
Due to timing errors between muscles of velum and other muscles of articulation