Hypernasality associated with basal ganglia dysfunction: evidence from Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease

PeerJ

article

Michal Novotný¹  Jan Rusz¹  Roman Čmejla¹  Hana Růžičková²  Jiří Klempíř²  Evžen Růžička² 

[1] Department of Circuit Theory, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague;Department of Neurology and Centre of Clinical Neuroscience, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague;Institute of Anatomy, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague

关键词: Nasality;    Parkinson Disease;    Huntington Disease;    Dysarthria;    1/3-octave spectra;    Acoustic analysis;    Speech disorders;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.2530

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAlthough increased nasality can originate from basal ganglia dysfunction, data regarding hypernasality in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Huntington’s disease (HD) are very sparse. The aim of the current study was to analyze acoustic and perceptual correlates of velopharyngeal seal closure in 37 PD and 37 HD participants in comparison to 37 healthy control speakers.MethodsAcoustical analysis was based on sustained phonation of the vowel /i/ and perceptual analysis was based on monologue. Perceptual analysis was performed by 10 raters using The Great Ormond Street Speech Assessment ’98. Acoustic parameters related to changes in a 1/3-octave band centered on 1 kHz were proposed to reflect nasality level and behavior through utterance.ResultsPerceptual analysis showed the occurrence of mild to moderate hypernasality in 65% of PD, 89% of HD and 22% of control speakers. Based on acoustic analyses, 27% of PD, 54% of HD and 19% of control speakers showed an increased occurrence of hypernasality. In addition, 78% of HD patients demonstrated a high occurrence of intermittent hypernasality. Further results indicated relationships between the acoustic parameter representing fluctuation of nasality and perceptual assessment (r = 0.51, p < 0.001) as well as the Unified Huntington Disease Rating Scale chorea composite subscore (r = 0.42, p = 0.01).ConclusionsIn conclusion the acoustic assessment showed that abnormal nasality was not a common feature of PD, whereas patients with HD manifested intermittent hypernasality associated with chorea.

【 授权许可】

CC BY