A SPEAKING TASK-ANALYSIS OF THE DYSARTHRIA IN CEREBELLAR DISEASE

Cerebellar disease affects a number of skilled movements, including th ose in speech. Ataxic dysarthria, the speech disorder that typically a ccompanies cerebellar disease, was studied by acoustic methods. Contro l subjects and subjects with ataxic dysarthria were recorded while per forming a number of speaking tasks, including sustained vowel phonatio n, syllable repetition, monosyllabic word production (intelligibility test), sentence recitation, and conversation. Acoustic data derived fr om the speech samples confirmed the hypothesis that temporal dysregula tion is a primary component of the speech disorder. The data also show that the nature of the disorder varies with the speaking task. This r esult agrees with observations on other motor systems in subjects with cerebellar disease and may be evidence of a dissociation of impairmen ts. Suggestions are offered on the selection of measures fora given ta sk and on the role of the cerebellum in the regulation of speaking.