dysarthria
Pronunciation: dis-AR-three-ah
Motor speech disorder resulting from weakness, paralysis, or poor coordination of speech muscles.
Full Definition
Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder characterized by difficulty with speech production due to weakness, paralysis, or incoordination of the muscles used for speaking, including those controlling respiration, phonation, resonance, and articulation. Unlike aphasia, dysarthria does not affect language comprehension or formulation but rather the physical execution of speech. Different types of dysarthria (flaccid, spastic, ataxic, hypokinetic, hyperkinetic, or mixed) correspond to different neuroanatomical locations of damage and present with distinct perceptual characteristics.
Usage
Usage note: Specify the type of dysarthria (flaccid, spastic, etc.) when known for precision.
In Context
- "The patient's spastic dysarthria resulted in slow, effortful speech with strained vocal quality." — speech-language pathology evaluation