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Current Neurology and Neuroscience... Jul 2023Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a motor speech disorder that has long been recognized to occur secondary to acute neurologic insults and, more recently, to neurodegenerative... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a motor speech disorder that has long been recognized to occur secondary to acute neurologic insults and, more recently, to neurodegenerative diseases as a harbinger for progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal syndrome. This article reviews recent findings regarding the clinic phenotypes of AOS, neuroimaging correlates, and the underlying disease processes.
RECENT FINDINGS
Two clinical subtypes of AOS map onto two underlying 4-repeat tauopathies. New imaging techniques have recently been applied to the study of progressive AOS. There is no data on the impact of behavioral intervention, although studies of nonfluent/agrammatic primary progressive aphasia that include patients with AOS suggest some benefit in speech intelligibility and maintenance. While recent findings suggest subtypes of AOS exist that are linked to molecular pathology and have important implications for disease progression, further research is needed to assess outcome of behavioral and other types of intervention.
Topics: Humans; Speech; Apraxias; Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive; Neuroimaging; Neurodegenerative Diseases
PubMed: 37269450
DOI: 10.1007/s11910-023-01275-1 -
Practical Neurology Jan 2024Gait disorders are a common feature of neurological disease. The gait examination is an essential part of the neurological clinical assessment, providing valuable clues... (Review)
Review
Gait disorders are a common feature of neurological disease. The gait examination is an essential part of the neurological clinical assessment, providing valuable clues to a myriad of causes. Understanding how to examine gait is not only essential for neurological diagnosis but also for treatment and prognosis. Here, we review aspects of the clinical history and examination of neurological gait to help guide gait disorder assessment. We focus particularly on how to differentiate between common gait abnormalities and highlight the characteristic features of the more prevalent neurological gait patterns such as ataxia, waddling, steppage, spastic gait, Parkinson's disease and functional gait disorders. We also offer diagnostic clues for some unusual gait presentations, such as dystonic, stiff-person and choreiform gait, along with red flags that help differentiate atypical parkinsonism from Parkinson's disease.
Topics: Humans; Parkinson Disease; Parkinsonian Disorders; Gait; Cerebellar Ataxia; Ataxia; Gait Disorders, Neurologic
PubMed: 38135498
DOI: 10.1136/pn-2023-003917 -
Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics Aug 2023In this study, we investigated the lexical tones and vowels produced by ten speakers diagnosed with aphasia and coexisting apraxia of speech (A-AOS) and ten healthy...
In this study, we investigated the lexical tones and vowels produced by ten speakers diagnosed with aphasia and coexisting apraxia of speech (A-AOS) and ten healthy participants, to compare their tone and vowel disruptions. We first judged the productions of both A-AOS and healthy participants and classified them into three categories, i.e. those by healthy speakers and rated as correct, those by A-AOS participants and rated as correct, and those by A-AOS participants and rated as incorrect. We then compared the perceptual results for the three groups based on their respective acoustic correlates to reveal the relations among different accuracy groups. Results showed that the numbers of tone and vowel disruptions by A-AOS speakers occurred on a comparable scale. In perception, approximately equal numbers of tones and vowels produced by A-AOS participants were identified as correct; however, acoustic parameters showed that, unlike vowels, the patients' tones categorised as correct by native Mandarin listeners differed considerably from those of the healthy speakers, suggesting that for Mandarin A-AOS patients, tones were in fact more disrupted than vowels in acoustic terms. Native Mandarin listeners seemed to be more tolerant of less well-targeted tones than less-well targeted vowels. The clinical implication is that tonal and segmental practice should be incorporated for Mandarin A-AOS patients to enhance their overall motor speech control.
Topics: Humans; Speech Perception; Speech; Phonetics; Apraxias; Aphasia; Speech Acoustics
PubMed: 35656744
DOI: 10.1080/02699206.2022.2081611 -
Clinical Rheumatology Sep 2023
Topics: Humans; Cogan Syndrome; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Vasculitis
PubMed: 37270719
DOI: 10.1007/s10067-023-06642-4