Apraxia of speech and the study of speech production impairments: Can we avoid further confusion? Reply to Romani (2021)

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Marja-Liisa Mailend ◽  
Edwin Maas ◽  
Brad H. Story
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Apraxia Of Speech

scholarly journals Identification and Remediation of Phonological and Motor Errors in Acquired Sound Production Impairment

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (6S) ◽  
pp. 1726-1738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Buchwald ◽  
Bernadine Gagnon ◽  
Michele Miozzo
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Consonant Cluster ◽  
Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Training Task ◽  
Production Errors ◽  
Repetition Task ◽  
Error Types

Purpose This study aimed to test whether an approach to distinguishing errors arising in phonological processing from those arising in motor planning also predicts the extent to which repetition-based training can lead to improved production of difficult sound sequences. Method Four individuals with acquired speech production impairment who produced consonant cluster errors involving deletion were examined using a repetition task. We compared the acoustic details of productions with deletion errors in target consonant clusters to singleton consonants. Changes in accuracy over the course of the study were also compared. Results Two individuals produced deletion errors consistent with a phonological locus of the errors, and 2 individuals produced errors consistent with a motoric locus of the errors. The 2 individuals who made phonologically driven errors showed no change in performance on a repetition training task, whereas the 2 individuals with motoric errors improved in their production of both trained and untrained items. Conclusions The results extend previous findings about a metric for identifying the source of sound production errors in individuals with both apraxia of speech and aphasia. In particular, this work may provide a tool for identifying predominant error types in individuals with complex deficits.

Selective phonological impairment: a case of apraxia of speech

Phonology ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Dogil ◽  
Jörg Mayer
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Distinctive Feature ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Motor Pattern ◽  
Feature Representation ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Phonological Structure ◽  
Phonetic Representation

The present study proposes a new interpretation of the underlying distortion in APRAXIA OF SPEECH. Apraxia of speech, in its pure form, is the only neurolinguistic syndrome for which it can be argued that phonological structure is selectively distorted.Apraxia of speech is a nosological entity in its own right which co-occurs with aphasia only occasionally. This…conviction rests on detailed descriptions of patients who have a severe and lasting disorder of speech production in the absence of any significant impairment of speech comprehension, reading or writing as well as of any significant paralysis or weakness of the speech musculature.(Lebrun 1990: 380)Based on the experimental investigation of poorly coarticulated speech of patients from two divergent languages (German and Xhosa) it is argued that apraxia of speech has to be seen as a defective implementation of phonological representations at the phonology–phonetics interface. We contend that phonological structure exhibits neither a homogeneously auditory pattern nor a motor pattern, but a complex encoding of sequences of speech sounds. Specifically, it is maintained that speech is encoded in the brain as a sequence of distinctive feature configurations. These configurations are specified with differing degrees of detail depending on the role the speech segments they underlie play in the phonological structure of a language. The transfer between phonological and phonetic representation encodes speech sounds as a sequence of vocal tract configurations. Like the distinctive feature representation, these configurations may be more or less specified. We argue that the severe and lasting disorders in speech production observed in apraxia of speech are caused by the distortion of this transfer between phonological and phonetic representation. The characteristic production deficits of apraxic patients are explained in terms of overspecification of phonetic representations.

Effects of Verb Network Strengthening Treatment on Sound-Level and Speech Production Errors in Individuals With Aphasia and Acquired Apraxia of Speech

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Kate C. Nealon ◽  
Lisa A. Edmonds
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Sound Level ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Speech Impairment ◽  
Language Therapy ◽  
Correct Number ◽  
Dual Diagnoses ◽  
A Prospective Study ◽  
Production Errors

Purpose This retrospective pilot study investigated whether sound-level and speech production errors decreased in confrontation naming following Verb Network Strengthening Treatment (VNeST) for four participants with acquired apraxia of speech (A-AOS) and aphasia for whom lexical retrieval was previously reported. Specifically, we investigated a potential increase in correct number of syllables per word and posttreatment changes across three domains of speech: segmental production, fluency, and prosody. It was hypothesized that treatment shown to increase lexical retrieval in persons with aphasia and A-AOS could potentially facilitate a reduction in sound-level and speech production errors consistent with dual diagnoses of A-AOS and aphasia. Method Naming responses from four participants with aphasia and A-AOS who previously participated in VNeST studies were investigated for correct number of syllables per word and measures of segmental speech, fluency, and prosody. Results Significant gains in at least one measure of speech production were reported for three of the participants. One participant demonstrated decreased segmental speech errors, two showed significant reduction on syllable segmentation, and two demonstrated a significant reduction on false starts and pauses. Significant gains in production of correct number of syllables were limited to one participant, and one participant did not demonstrate increased accuracy on any measure of speech production. Conclusions While speech production errors consistent with motor speech impairment cannot always be definitively distinguished from the confound of aphasia, two participants produced significantly decreased segmentation of syllables, a characteristic unique to A-AOS. The sound-level and speech production changes recorded may be attributed to a combination of interacting motor and language processes and resource allocation. In addition, specific components of VNeST may have contributed to speech production changes. Future work will focus on a prospective study of effects of language therapy (e.g., VNeST) on measures of speech production with investigation beyond the single-word level.

Combined Aphasia and Apraxia of Speech Treatment (CAAST): Effects of a Novel Therapy

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 2191-2207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie L. Wambaugh ◽  
Sandra Wright ◽  
Christina Nessler ◽  
Shannon C. Mauszycki
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Novel Therapy ◽  
Verbal Language ◽  
Treatment Techniques ◽  
Dependent Variables ◽  
Picture Stimuli ◽  
Speech Treatment

Purpose This investigation was designed to examine the effects of a newly developed treatment for aphasia and acquired apraxia of speech (AOS). Combined Aphasia and Apraxia of Speech Treatment (CAAST) targets language and speech production simultaneously, with treatment techniques derived from Response Elaboration Training (Kearns, 1985) and Sound Production Treatment (Wambaugh, Kalinyak-Fliszar, West, & Doyle, 1998). The purpose of this study was to determine whether CAAST was associated with positive changes in verbal language and speech production with speakers with aphasia and AOS. Method Four participants with chronic aphasia and AOS received CAAST applied sequentially to sets of pictures in the context of multiple baseline designs. CAAST entailed elaboration of participant-initiated utterances, with sound production training applied as needed to the elaborated productions. The dependent variables were (a) production of correct information units (CIUs; Nicholas & Brookshire, 1993) in response to experimental picture stimuli, (b) percentage of consonants correct in sentence repetition, and (c) speech intelligibility. Results and Conclusions CAAST was associated with increased CIU production in trained and untrained picture sets for all participants. Gains in sound production accuracy and speech intelligibility varied across participants; a modification of CAAST to provide additional speech production treatment may be desirable.

scholarly journals Brain changes underlying progression of speech motor programming impairment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramon Landin-Romero ◽  
Cheng T Liang ◽  
Penelope A Monroe ◽  
Yuichi Higashiyama ◽  
Cristian E Leyton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Motor Programming ◽  
Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Progressive Aphasia ◽  
Primary Progressive ◽  
Word Duration ◽  
Variability Index ◽  
Speech Motor

Abstract Aquired apraxia of speech is a disorder that impairs speech production, despite intact peripheral neuromotor function. Its pathomechanism remains to be established. Neurodegenerative lesion models provide an unequalled opportunity to explore the neural correlates of apraxia of speech, which is present in a subset of patients diagnosed with non-semantic variants of primary progressive aphasia. The normalised pairwise variability index, an acoustic measure of speech motor programming, has shown high sensitivity and specificity for apraxia of speech in cross-sectional studies. Here, we aimed to examine the strength of the pairwise variability index and overall word duration (i.e. articulation rate) as markers of progressive motor programming deficits in primary progressive aphasia with apraxia of speech. Seventy-nine individuals diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia (39 with non-fluent variant, 40 with logopenic variant) and 40 matched healthy controls participated. Patients were followed-up annually (range 1–6 years, median number of visits = 2). All participants completed a speech assessment task and a high-resolution MRI. Our analyses investigated trajectories of speech production (e.g. pairwise variablity index and word duration) and associations with cortical atrophy in the patients. At first presentation, word duration differentiated the nonfluent and logopenic cases statistically, but the range of scores overlapped substantially across groups. Longitudinally, we observed progressive deterioration in pairwise variability index and word duration specific to the non-fluent group only. The pairwise variability index showed particularly strong associations with progressive atrophy in speech motor programming brain regions. Of novelty, our results uncovered a key role of the right frontal gyrus in underpinning speech motor programming changes in non-fluent cases, highlighting the importance of right brain regions in responding to progressive neurological changes in the speech motor network. Taken together, our findings validate the use of a new metric, the pairwise variability index, as a robust marker of apraxia of speech in contrast to more generic measures of speaking rate. Sensitive/specific neuroimaging biomarkers of the emergence and progression of speech impairments will be useful to inform theories of the pathomechanisms underpinning impaired speech motor control. Our findings justify developing more sensitive measures of rhythmic temporal control of speech that may enable confident detection of emerging speech disturbances and more sensitive tracking of intervention-related changes for pharmacological, neuromodulatory, and behavioural interventions. A more reliable detection of speech disturbances has relevance for patient care, with predominance of progressive apraxia of speech a high-risk factor for later diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy or corticobasal degeneration.

Perceptual Characteristics of Consonant Production by Apraxic Speakers

1990 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharine Odell ◽  
Malcolm R. McNeil ◽  
John C. Rosenbek ◽  
Linda Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Transcription System ◽  
Phonetic Transcription ◽  
Production Models ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Perceptual Characteristics

Single-word repetitions by 4 brain-damaged adults with apraxia of speech (AOS) but without concomitant aphasia were transcribed using a standard narrow phonetic transcription system. Analysis of consonant productions yielded a profile of AOS slightly different from the traditionally accepted one. Among the results was the atypical finding that consonant distortions exceeded all other error types including sound substitutions. In addition, errors predominated in the medial position of words, and monosyllabic words had approximately the same error rate per number of consonants as did multisyllabic words. Results are discussed with reference to previous perceptual descriptions of AOS and in relationship to Broca's aphasia. Results are also interpreted relative to linguistic and motoric components of speech production models.

scholarly journals Motor speech impairment predicts expressive language in minimally verbal, but not low verbal, individuals with autism spectrum disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 239694151985633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Chenausky ◽  
Amanda Brignell ◽  
Angela Morgan ◽  
Helen Tager-Flusberg
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Speech Impairment ◽  
Childhood Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Minimally Verbal ◽  
Motor Speech

Background and aims Developmental motor speech impairment has been suspected, but rarely systematically examined, in low- and minimally verbal individuals with autism spectrum disorder. We aimed to investigate the extent of motor speech impairment in this population and its relation to number of different words produced during a semi-structured language sample. Methods Videos of 54 low-verbal and minimally verbal individuals (ages 4;4–18;10) performing portions of a speech praxis test were coded for signs of motor speech impairment (e.g., childhood apraxia of speech). Age, autism spectrum disorder severity, nonspeech oral-motor ability, speech production ability, nonverbal IQ, and receptive vocabulary were compared between groups. Results Four groups emerged: (1) speech within normal limits ( n = 12), (2) non-childhood apraxia of speech impairment ( n = 16), (3) suspected childhood apraxia of speech ( n = 13), and (4) insufficient speech to rate ( n = 13). Groups differed significantly in nonspeech oral-motor ability, speech production ability, nonverbal IQ, and receptive vocabulary. Overall, only speech production ability and receptive vocabulary accounted for significant variance in number of different words. Receptive vocabulary significantly predicted number of different words only in Groups 1 and 2, while speech production ability significantly predicted number of different words only in Groups 3 and 4. Conclusions and implications If replicated, our findings have important implications for developing much-needed spoken language interventions in minimally verbal individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

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