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Updated: Aug 8, 2025
Utilizing Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Improve Language Function in Stroke Patients with Chronic Non-fluent Aphasia
Published on: July 2, 2013
Distinct phenotypes of stimulation-induced dysarthria represent different cortical networks in STN-DBS
Florian Lange1, Hazem Eldebakey1, Alexandra Hilgenberg2
1Department of Neurology, University Hospital and Julius Maximilian University, Josef-Schneider-Straße 11, 97080, Wuerzburg, Germany.
Background:
Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus is an effective treatment of Parkinson's disease, yet it is often associated with a general deterioration of speech intelligibility. Clustering the phenotypes of dysarthria has been proposed as a strategy to tackle these stimulation-induced speech problems.
Methods:
In this study, we examine a cohort of 24 patients to test the real-life application of the proposed clustering and attempt to attribute the clusters to specific brain networks with two different approaches of connectivity analysis.
Results:
Both our data-driven and hypothesis-driven approaches revealed strong connections of variants of stimulation-induced dysarthria to brain regions that are known actors of motor speech control. We showed a strong connection between the spastic dysarthria type and the precentral gyrus and supplementary motor area, prompting a possible disruption of corticobulbar fibers. The connection between the strained voice dysarthria and more frontal areas hints toward a deeper disruption of the motor programming of speech production.
Conclusions:
These results provide insights into the mechanism of stimulation-induced dysarthria in deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus and may guide reprogramming attempts for individual Parkinson's patients based on pathophysiological understanding of the affected networks.
