Cortical dysarthria: causes, symptoms and treatment

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Cortical dysarthria is considered to be disorders in the cerebral cortex that affect the speech function of the body. A person loses the ability to separate speech, the pace may go astray during a conversation. The patient can replace some sounds with his own. At the same time, the semantic part of the sentence remains true, since a person is able to think. Diagnosis is carried out by a speech therapist and a neurologist. Additional diagnostic tests may also be performed to confirm brain problems. They treat the problem with the help of massage, the work of a speech therapist and a psychologist. It is also important to eliminate the cause of the problem.

Causes of cortical dysarthria

The main nuances of the disease have already been described. You need to understand exactly why the problem occurs. The reason for the occurrence is a violation of the work of those areas in the brain that are responsible for the tongue, lips, palate, jaw. WhatAs for the reasons for such violations, they are varied:

• Tumours. When neoplasms occur in the brain, deformation of certain areas in the brain may occur.
• Injuries. Closed head injuries, concussion, and open skull fractures can lead to dysarthria. Sometimes hematomas that occur after injuries also lead to disruption of the cerebral cortex.
• Complications after serious illnesses, as well as ordinary infectious ones. It can be measles, herpes, rubella, SARS, the brain can often suffer. Also, purulent infections lead to such consequences. We are talking about abscesses, sinusitis, otitis media. Tuberculosis and syphilis also lead to disruption of the brain. This is due to the fact that the shells begin to swell in the brain and the adjacent areas and adjacent vessels are squeezed. This provokes disruption of neurons.
• Strokes. They can also be the cause of oxygen starvation of some parts of the brain. Able to squeeze the tissue in the body, where there is too much blood flow. Due to the fact that the natural inflow and outflow of blood is restored for a long time, neurons may die.
• One of the common causes of cortical dysarthria in children is a difficult pregnancy and wrong actions on the part of the mother. Hypoxia, infections, and trauma while carrying a baby can lead to speech impairment. A quick delivery can also sometimes have a detrimental effect on the state of the baby's brain.

First type of dysarthria

How does it manifest itselfthe disease you describe? There are two different types of speech impairment. The first is characterized by damage to the central part of the corresponding cerebral cortex. As a result, the work of the muscles on the face, in particular the tongue, is disrupted in a person.

Second type of dysarthria

The second type of speech problems with cortical dysarthria is that the brain does not process the received impulses correctly, respectively, the facial organs do not work as they should. Ultimately, the problem is that the brain cannot program the sequence and strength of movements that are necessary to maintain normal conversational functions.

Classification

In neurology, there are several types of the described disease. This is due to various reasons for its occurrence and manifestation. Therapy depends on which problem is identified.

With a kinesthetic problem, a person has to find the correct position of the tongue to pronounce the sound. With the kinetic type of the disease, a person speaks in jerks, slowly pronounces sounds. In some cases, the patient can pronounce words in syllables.

Dysarthria symptoms

Characterization of cortical dysarthria has already been given. But what do the symptoms look like? The very first manifestations are slow speech, the absence of reflex phrases and a violation of smoothness. If you look at the patient from the side, it may seem that it is difficult for him to move his lips and tongue. In fact, this is indeed the case due to a violation inbrain. An important symptom that the doctor pays attention to is a problem with the pronunciation of sounds for which you need to put the tongue forward. This is due to problems with the muscles of the tongue. Because of this, the person speaks incomprehensibly. There are no problems with the semantic presentation.

Due to the specific structure of the defect in cortical dysarthria, it is not uncommon for a person to speak with interruptions. He tenses up, his voice becomes loud, and some consonants sound muffled. The patient begins to separate sounds, for example, when pronouncing the letter "c", he says "t" and "s". Facial sensitivity is lost. This is found out when talking with the patient, he may indicate the place touched by the doctor with errors.

Due to illness, a person pronounces vowels too long. It is difficult for him to move from sound to sound. Due to the loss of sensitivity, many sounds are pronounced completely incorrectly, since the person does not understand where the language is set to pronounce them. It can skip individual sounds in words or add unnecessary ones. Most patients pause when pronouncing one word. If the case is running, then the patient divides the words into syllables. In addition, when talking, a person begins to stick out his tongue, frowns his forehead and closes his eyes. Here are the symptoms of cortical dysarthria.

It is important to notice the described symptoms in time in order to diagnose and start treatment as soon as possible. Whether it will be possible to cure the patient and how this disease can be corrected can be found further from the publication.

Complications forchildren

If the problem is detected in childhood, then the child may experience problems with the central nervous system. This problem reduces attention. It is difficult for a child to remember information. Vocabulary is practically not formed. All this because of the problematic speech. The child has difficulty mastering the phonetic part of speech. As a result, this leads not only to the fact that the child cannot speak normally, but also to the lack of writing skills. Dyslexia may develop. Moreover, the causes of cortical dysarthria are completely unimportant. In any case, the child will lag behind in development.

Complications in adults

As for adults, this disease puts more psycho-emotional pressure on them. People begin to sink into depression due to the inability to speak normally and clearly with others. They may become too sad or irritable.

Diagnosis

If the disease is congenital, then it can be determined before reaching 2 years of age. It is manifested by low speech activity. The child makes few sounds. In order to determine the type of problem at this age, it is necessary to undergo examinations by a speech therapist and a neurologist. Additional studies are also being added to determine the exact cause of the disease.

Doctors bypass

Neurologist allows you to identify problems with the muscles of the face and tongue in particular. In addition, this doctor monitors the asymmetry of the face. He asks the child some tasks related to speechfunction, but patients are usually unable to do them. This is also considered one of the symptoms of cortical dysarthria.

Speech therapist diagnoses slowness of speech, its discontinuity and tension. Be sure to conduct tests to understand which sounds the child misses, which he cannot pronounce, whether there are any unnecessary sounds pronounced in words. As a rule, children with this disease have no problems with breathing during speech, everything is in order with the semantic side of the statement and with phonemic hearing.

Neural imaging is performed to determine the exact cause of the problem of cortical dysarthria in children or adults associated with pathologies in the brain. If the disease was preceded by a blow or a concussion, then a computed tomography of the brain is done. It is also indicated in cases where the child has a tumor. In case of inflammation, infections, the doctor prescribes magnetic resonance imaging. If the situation is neglected and complicated, then the specialist will advise doing both types of research.

If there is a possibility that the patient has a problem due to an inflammatory or infectious process, then he is given a puncture. The cerebrospinal fluid is taken for examination, it is a fluid found in the brain. And then she goes through laboratory tests.

Dysarthria in some manifestations is similar to other problems of the speech apparatus, so it is important in the diagnosis to distinguish one disease from another. If we are talking about a child, then it is important to pay attention to whether the semantic side of the statement is preserved, and if the disease has affected an adult, then the main feature of the disease will be thata person can read and write. Thus, it is clear that this disease manifests itself only in the fact that it is not the mental function that is disturbed, but specifically the speech function. This is what distinguishes cortical dysarthria from other similar diseases.

Treatment of dysarthria

First of all, in the treatment of cortical dysarthria in children or adults, the root cause is determined, which caused the problem. If there are any consequences after the primary disease, then the doctor will first eliminate them. With complex treatment, that is, visiting a neurologist, speech therapist, psychologist and rehabilitator, you can restore speech function.

There is also drug therapy. Which one will be selected in the end depends entirely on what characterizes cortical dysarthria in a particular patient.

The speech therapist always tries to motivate the patient. This is the key to further recovery. Massage, gymnastics for facial muscles are carried out. A speech therapist teaches you to pronounce complex sounds, automating their pronunciation.

Since this disease is manifested by problems with the brain, medicines are also needed. They should help restore the work of the zone that is responsible for the speech function. Depending on the type of problem and the degree of its manifestation, nootropic drugs can be used, as well as many others - it is impossible to say exactly which ones will be prescribed. It also depends on the age of the patient and his state of he alth.

The rehabilitation period for cortical dysarthria is very important for recovery. Need constantlygo for a massage, restore reflexes. Physiotherapy exercises are carried out for paretic parts of the body. It is important to go to a psychologist, to courses where you can relax, trainings will also be useful.

Forecast and prevention

If treatment is started on time and the manifestations of the primary problem are eliminated in a timely manner, then the prognosis will be as favorable as possible. But you need to understand that everything also depends on the degree of brain damage, on the correctness of the therapy, age, psychological state of the patient. Symptoms also play an important role in treatment.

The worst problem to treat is the one that is accompanied by depression, paralysis, trauma to the central nervous system. It is still difficult to cure patients who are depressed. It is important to reduce the amount of stress so that the brain can recover.

Preventive measures are: timely treatment of emerging diseases that affect the nervous system and brain, prevention of cancer, and avoidance of traumatic situations.

In addition to avoiding congenital cortical dysarthria, mom needs to be careful during pregnancy. You should monitor your he alth, do not hit, do not be in stressful situations. Only such an approach will help the child in the womb not to suffer and be born he althy. Also during pregnancy, you need to sleep more, walk in the fresh air, give up bad habits. In the event of any unforeseen circumstances, please contactdoctor.