Differences in spontaneous speech fluency between Parkinson's disease and spinocerebellar ataxia type 3

Vanessa Brzoskowski Dos Santos; Annelise Ayres; Maiara Laís Mallmann Kieling; Elaine Cristina Miglorini; Laura Bannach Jardim; Artur Francisco Schumacher-Schuh; Carlos Roberto de Mello Rieder; Raphael Machado de Castilhos; Kristie Spencer; Rui Rothe-Neves; Maira Rozenfeld Olchik

doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1179287

Differences in spontaneous speech fluency between Parkinson's disease and spinocerebellar ataxia type 3

Front Neurol. 2023 May 5:14:1179287. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1179287. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Vanessa Brzoskowski Dos Santos^#^{1

2}, Annelise Ayres^#², Maiara Laís Mallmann Kieling^{1

2}, Elaine Cristina Miglorini¹, Laura Bannach Jardim^{1

2

3

4

5}, Artur Francisco Schumacher-Schuh^{1

6}, Carlos Roberto de Mello Rieder⁷, Raphael Machado de Castilhos^{1

6}, Kristie Spencer⁸, Rui Rothe-Neves⁹, Maira Rozenfeld Olchik^{1

2

10}

Affiliations

¹ Post-graduate Program in Medicine: Medical Sciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
² Neurology Service, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
³ Post-graduate Program in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
⁴ Medical Genetics Service, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
⁵ Department of Internal Medicine, University of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
⁶ Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
⁷ Post-Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
⁸ Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States.
⁹ Phonetics Laboratory of the Faculty of Letters, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
¹⁰ Department of Surgery and Orthopedics, Faculdade de Odontologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: The basal ganglia and cerebellum both have a role in speech production although the effect of isolated involvement of these structures on speech fluency remains unclear.

Objective: The study aimed to assess the differences in the articulatory pattern in patients with cerebellar vs. basal ganglia disorders.

Methods: A total of 20 individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD), 20 with spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3), and 40 controls (control group, CG) were included. Diadochokinesis (DDK) and monolog tasks were collected.

Results: The only variable that distinguished SCA3 carriers from the CG was the number of syllables in the monolog, with SCA3 patients of a significantly lower number. For patients with PD, the number of syllables, phonation time, DDK, and monolog were significantly lower than for CG. Patients with PD were significantly worse compared to patients with SCA3 in the number of syllables and phonation time in DDK, and phonation time in monolog. Additionally, there was a significant correlation between the number of syllables in the monolog and the MDS-UPDRS III for participants with PD, and the Friedreich Ataxia Rating Scale for participants with SCA3 suggesting a relationship between speech and general motor functioning.

Conclusion: The monolog task is better at discriminating individuals with cerebellar vs. Parkinson's diseases as well as differentiating healthy control and was related to the severity of the disease.

Keywords: Parkinson's disease; articulation disorders; dysarthria; speech disorders; spinocerebellar ataxia.

Grants and funding

This study received funding from the Brazilian Government through the doctoral scholarship kindly awarded to Vanessa Brzoskowski dos Santos by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). Financial support received from FIPE/HCPA.