Speech Intelligibility in Ataxic Dysarthria Due to Lesions in Different Cerebellar Loci

Abstract

Ataxic dysarthria is caused due to damage to the cerebellum. Articulatory inaccuracy is one of the characteristics of ataxic dysarthria. However not all lesions to the cerebellum affects the articulatory subsystem. In this study we attempted to analyse the speech intelligibility in patients with cerebellar lesions in different loci. A word list in Malayalam was prepared for this purpose and the patients were asked to read the list. This was recorded and later analysed for speech patterns. Very few vowel and consonantal errors were observed in few subjects only of the experimental groups. Errors were mostly seen for the consonants /r/, /?/, /?/ and /?/. No lesion specific trend could be observed based on the findings. The findings throw light on the need for more detailed analysis at the level of narration and discourse sample in this population.