A Perceptual Learning Approach for Dysarthria Remediation: An Updated Review

Purpose Early studies of perceptual learning of dysarthric speech, those summarized in Borrie, McAuliffe, and Liss (2012), yielded preliminary evidence that listeners could learn to better understand the speech of a person with dysarthria, revealing a potentially promising avenue for future intelligibility interventions. Since then, a programmatic body of research grounded in models of perceptual processing has unfolded. The current review provides an updated account of the state of the evidence in this area and offers direction for moving this work toward clinical implementation. Method The studies that have investigated perceptual learning of dysarthric speech (N = 24) are summarized and synthesized first according to the proposed learning source and then by highlighting the parameters that appear to mediate learning, culminating with additional learning outcomes. Results The recent literature has established strong empirical evidence of intelligibility improvements following familiarization with dysarthric speech and a theoretical account of the mechanisms that facilitate improved processing of the neurologically degraded acoustic signal. Conclusions There are no existing intelligibility interventions for individuals with dysarthria who cannot behaviorally modify their speech. However, there is now robust support for the development of an approach that shifts the weight of behavioral change from speaker to listener, exploiting perceptual learning to ease the intelligibility burden of dysarthria. To move this work from bench to bedside, recommendations for translational studies that establish best practices and candidacy for listener-targeted dysarthria remediation, perceptual training, are provided.