Hypokinetic Dysarthria Case Study

Hypokinetic dysarthria is a motor speech disorder where it is linked with the basal ganglia control circuit pathology. The disorder can manifest in the patient’s voice, articulation, respiration, and prosody. It can cause harsh-hoarse voice quality, reduce range of motion (ROM), reduced vocal cords, reduced phonation time, reduced and monoloudness of pitch, and/or low rate with intermittent rapid bursts. The disorder is associated with the basal ganglia control circuit pathology which consists of the basal ganglia and its connections. The basal ganglia are a group of subcortical gray matter that is found hidden within the cerebral hemispheres. It includes caudate nucleus, lentiform nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus. The first part of the control circuit falls from the cortex. These fibers transmit information of planned imminent movements to the basal ganglia, and the basal ganglia smooths and refines these imminent movement. The basal ganglia send refined neural impulses for planned movements up to the motor cortex, then they are transmitted through the pyramidal system to the lower motor neurons (LMNs). The basal ganglia functions regulate muscle control and movements that support goal-directed movements. It controls postural adjustments during skilled movements, adjust movements to the environment, and assists in learning new movements. Basal …show more content…
The patient was being evaluated by speech pathologists due to having concerns of his swallowing abilities. The patient has not visited speech therapy due to the fact his speech was intelligible. The patient showed signs of tremor and bradykinesia which refers to abnormal slowness of movement. The patient’s speech characteristics were monopitch, reduced stress, monoloudness, imprecise consonants, inappropriate silences, short rushes, and harsh voice quality.