Motor speech signature of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia

Abstract

Objective: To provide a comprehensive description of motor speech function in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD).Methods: Forty-eight individuals (24 bvFTD and 24 age-and sex-matched healthy controls) provided speech samples. These varied in complexity and thus cognitive demand. Their language was assessed using the Progressive Aphasia Language Scale and verbal fluency tasks. Speech was analyzed perceptually to describe the nature of deficits and acoustically to quantify differences between patients with bvFTD and healthy controls. Cortical thickness and subcortical volume derived from MRI scans were correlated with speech outcomes in patients with bvFTD.Results: Speech of affected individuals was significantly different from that of healthy controls. The speech signature of patients with bvFTD is characterized by a reduced rate (75%) and accuracy (65%) on alternating syllable production tasks, and prosodic deficits including reduced speech rate (45%), prolonged intervals (54%), and use of short phrases (41%). Groups differed on acoustic measures derived from the reading, unprepared monologue, and diadochokinetic tasks but not the days of the week or sustained vowel tasks. Variability of silence length was associated with cortical thickness of the inferior frontal gyrus and insula and speech rate with the precentral gyrus. Conclusions:One in 8 patients presented with moderate speech timing deficits with a further twothirds rated as mild or subclinical. Subtle but measurable deficits in prosody are common in bvFTD and should be considered during disease management. Language function correlated with speech timing measures derived from the unprepared monologue only. Neurology ® 2017;89:837-844 GLOSSARY ALS 5 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; AMR 5 alternating motion rate; bvFTD 5 behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia; CBD 5 corticobasal degeneration; CI 5 confidence interval; DDK 5 diadochokinesis; FTD 5 frontotemporal dementia; lvPPA 5 logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia; nvPPA 5 nonfluent variant primary progressive aphasia; PALS 5 Progressive Aphasia Language Scale; PPA 5 primary progressive aphasia; PSP 5 progressive supranuclear palsy; ROI 5 region of interest; SMR 5 sequential motion rate; svPPA 5 semantic variant primary progressive aphasia.

Interpersonal prosodic correlation in frontotemporal dementia

“…In addition, contrary to some prior research on bvFTD, we found no diagnostic group differences in standard deviation of fundamental frequency. This negative finding aligns with other research, however, and may represent differences in statistical technique, the speech elicitation task, and/or in the sample selection (e.g., bvFTD is a heterogeneous disorder, and may be prone to unrecognized differences in prosodic accommodation between subtypes).…”

Speech metrics, general disability, brain imaging and quality of life in multiple sclerosis

“…rated all audio recordings blinded to the presence of MS and disease severity. Twenty-six speech characteristics were analysed [25] ( Table 1). Briefly, a normal or unremarkable speech feature was scored as zero, whereas increasing deviation was scored using a four-point ordinal scale (e.g.…”

What speech can tell us: A systematic review of dysarthria characteristics in Multiple Sclerosis

“…It is reasonable to assume that any condition that slows speech rate would affect cognitive scores derived from verbal output. Similarly, where individuals present with concomitant cognitive and motor deficits, the competing demands of each process can place stress on each domain, potentially leading to exacerbation of the perceived deficit in a formal testing setting (68,69). This is not unique to MSpeople with Myasthenia Gravis (a disease of the neuro-muscular junction) scored below controls in all NPT requiring a verbal response (and in one test that required rapid hand response) but normally in other NPT (70).…”