Kinematics of disease progression in bulbar ALS

The goal of this study was to investigate the deterioration of lip and jaw movements during speech longitudinally in three individuals diagnosed with bulbar amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study was motivated by the need to understand the relationship between physiologic changes in speech movements and clinical measures of speech performance such as speaking rate and speech intelligibility. Movements of the lip and jaw were quantified with respect to their size speed, and duration. The data revealed several changes in lip and jaw movement that coincided with ALS progression. In two out of three speakers, the changes in measures of path distance and speed anticipated the drop in speech intelligibility by approximately 3 months. With disease progression, increases in movement duration coincided with declines in speech intelligibility. Overall, the movement measures appeared to be sensitive to disease progression in ALS.

By the end of the manuscript, the reader should be able to: (1) describe the changes that occur in articulatory movements of the jaw and lower lip in ALS; (2) understand the relationship between physiologic measures of movement and speech intelligibility and speaking rate; (3) identify critical points in the disease progression and understand which quantitative measures reveal the state of the bulbar system at these time points.