DIFFERENTIAL PHONATORY CHARACTERISTICS OF 4 WOMEN WITH AMYOTROPHIC-LATERAL-SCLEROSIS

Patients with specific neural subsystem involvement are often reported to present with particular perceptual characteristics of voice. This has been true for diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) , a progressive disease in which mixed neurologic signs are present. T his article reports acoustic data on the phonatory performance of four women diagnosed with ALS who had initial bulbar signs and progressive phonatory deterioration. The data presented here demonstrate that the phonatory characteristics of women with ALS are not uniform, but in f act may vary greatly from patient to patient.