Management of Dysarthria in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) stands as the leading neurodegenerative disorder affecting the motor system. One of the hallmarks of ALS, especially its bulbar form, is dysarthria, which significantly impairs the quality of life of ALS patients. This review provides a comprehensive overview of t...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Cells |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/14/14/1048 |
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| author | Elena Pasqualucci Diletta Angeletti Pamela Rosso Elena Fico Federica Zoccali Paola Tirassa Armando De Virgilio Marco de Vincentiis Cinzia Severini |
| author_facet | Elena Pasqualucci Diletta Angeletti Pamela Rosso Elena Fico Federica Zoccali Paola Tirassa Armando De Virgilio Marco de Vincentiis Cinzia Severini |
| author_sort | Elena Pasqualucci |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) stands as the leading neurodegenerative disorder affecting the motor system. One of the hallmarks of ALS, especially its bulbar form, is dysarthria, which significantly impairs the quality of life of ALS patients. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge on the clinical manifestations, diagnostic differentiation, underlying mechanisms, diagnostic tools, and therapeutic strategies for the treatment of dysarthria in ALS. We update on the most promising digital speech biomarkers of ALS that are critical for early and differential diagnosis. Advances in artificial intelligence and digital speech processing have transformed the analysis of speech patterns, and offer the opportunity to start therapy early to improve vocal function, as speech rate appears to decline significantly before the diagnosis of ALS is confirmed. In addition, we discuss the impact of interventions that can improve vocal function and quality of life for patients, such as compensatory speech techniques, surgical options, improving lung function and respiratory muscle strength, and percutaneous dilated tracheostomy, possibly with adjunctive therapies to treat respiratory insufficiency, and finally assistive devices for alternative communication. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4f816fcd144d44e78db69a2b7fd5bed1 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2073-4409 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cells |
| spelling | doaj-art-4f816fcd144d44e78db69a2b7fd5bed12025-08-20T02:45:54ZengMDPI AGCells2073-44092025-07-011414104810.3390/cells14141048Management of Dysarthria in Amyotrophic Lateral SclerosisElena Pasqualucci0Diletta Angeletti1Pamela Rosso2Elena Fico3Federica Zoccali4Paola Tirassa5Armando De Virgilio6Marco de Vincentiis7Cinzia Severini8Department of Sense Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Sense Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, ItalyInsitute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, National Research Council of Italy, 00161 Rome, ItalyInsitute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, National Research Council of Italy, 00161 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Sense Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, ItalyInsitute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, National Research Council of Italy, 00161 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Sense Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Sense Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, ItalyInsitute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, National Research Council of Italy, 00161 Rome, ItalyAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) stands as the leading neurodegenerative disorder affecting the motor system. One of the hallmarks of ALS, especially its bulbar form, is dysarthria, which significantly impairs the quality of life of ALS patients. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge on the clinical manifestations, diagnostic differentiation, underlying mechanisms, diagnostic tools, and therapeutic strategies for the treatment of dysarthria in ALS. We update on the most promising digital speech biomarkers of ALS that are critical for early and differential diagnosis. Advances in artificial intelligence and digital speech processing have transformed the analysis of speech patterns, and offer the opportunity to start therapy early to improve vocal function, as speech rate appears to decline significantly before the diagnosis of ALS is confirmed. In addition, we discuss the impact of interventions that can improve vocal function and quality of life for patients, such as compensatory speech techniques, surgical options, improving lung function and respiratory muscle strength, and percutaneous dilated tracheostomy, possibly with adjunctive therapies to treat respiratory insufficiency, and finally assistive devices for alternative communication.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/14/14/1048amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)dysarthriadiagnosisspeech biomarkersspeech therapy |
| spellingShingle | Elena Pasqualucci Diletta Angeletti Pamela Rosso Elena Fico Federica Zoccali Paola Tirassa Armando De Virgilio Marco de Vincentiis Cinzia Severini Management of Dysarthria in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Cells amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) dysarthria diagnosis speech biomarkers speech therapy |
| title | Management of Dysarthria in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis |
| title_full | Management of Dysarthria in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis |
| title_fullStr | Management of Dysarthria in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Management of Dysarthria in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis |
| title_short | Management of Dysarthria in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis |
| title_sort | management of dysarthria in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis |
| topic | amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) dysarthria diagnosis speech biomarkers speech therapy |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/14/14/1048 |
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