Detecting Bulbar Motor Involvement in ALS: Comparing speech and chewing tasks

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Biomechanical Engineering
• Speech-Language Pathology

Background:

• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting motor neurons.
• Bulbar dysfunction, a common manifestation of ALS, impacts speech and swallowing.
• Objective kinematic measures are needed to track disease progression and severity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare speech and chewing tasks for detecting Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
• To identify kinematic measures sensitive to bulbar decline and ALS severity.
• To establish potential candidate markers for bulbar deterioration in ALS.

Main Methods:

• Jaw kinematics were tracked during sentence production and chewing tasks.
• Measures included maximum speed and articulatory working space.
• Data were collected from 31 individuals with ALS and 17 healthy controls.

Main Results:

• Both sentence and chewing tasks effectively differentiated between ALS patients and controls.
• Jaw maximum speed was a more sensitive indicator of bulbar dysfunction than articulatory working space.
• Speech task distinguished between ALS severity subgroups; speech speed decreased, while chewing speed increased with disease severity.

Conclusions:

• Jaw movement speed during chewing and sentence tasks are influenced by bulbar deterioration in ALS.
• Jaw speed during a sentence task is a potential candidate marker for detecting bulbar disease onset and severity in ALS.