Session Information
Date: Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Session Title: Phenomenology and clinical assessment of movement disorders
Session Time: 12:00pm-1:30pm
Location: Exhibit Hall located in Hall B, Level 2
Objective: To assess the relationship between upper limb bradykinesia and hypokinetic dysarthria in Parkinson’s disease (PD) using instrumental investigations of speech and limb motor function.
Background: Hypokinetic dysarthria in PD has been traditionally attributed to bradykinesia of the laryngeal muscles. However, the majority of previous studies failed to find a direct connection between speech abnormalities and limb bradykinesia.
Methods: 22 patients (10 M, 12 F), mean age 64 (48-82) yrs, with mild to moderate PD, mean Hoehn & Yahr stage 2 (range 1-2.5), disease duration 9.3 (1-24) yrs, participated to the study. The finger tapping subtest of the Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological battery (HRFT), Purdue Pegboard Test (PPT), Bradykinesia-Akinesia Incoordination Test (BT), and expert ratings of videotaped finger tapping according to MDS-UPDRS were performed to measure manual dexterity and motor slowing. To acoustically investigate speech, two articulation measures of vowel space area (VSA, representing precision of vowel articulation) and number of pauses (NoP, representing precision of stop consonants articulation) were extracted from the monologue task. Spearman correlations were applied, the level of significance was set to p< 0.01.
Results: We found positive correlations between PPT and VSA (r = 0.58, p = 0.005) as well as between PPT and NoP (r = 0.55, p = 0.008). Positive correlation was also found between BT and NoP (r = 0.56, p = 0.006). No other significant associations between speech and limb function were seen. Admittedly, performance in PPT was related to performance in BT (r = 0.61, p< 0.001).
Conclusions: The associations we found between deterioration in PPT and BT performances and decline in precision of vowel and consonant articulation indicate that bradykinesia and hypokinetic dysarthria in PD share similar pathophysiological mechanisms.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
E. Ruzicka, J. Rusz, T. Tykalova, K. Zarubova, R. Krupicka, R. Jech. Comparative analysis of upper limb motor function and articulation disorder in Parkinson’s disease [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2016; 31 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/comparative-analysis-of-upper-limb-motor-function-and-articulation-disorder-in-parkinsons-disease/. Accessed June 15, 2025.« Back to 2016 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/comparative-analysis-of-upper-limb-motor-function-and-articulation-disorder-in-parkinsons-disease/