Home›Cell Biology›A Protocol for Comprehensive Assessment of Bulbar Dysfunction in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
Cell BiologyJoVE (Open Access)Citable · DOI
A Protocol for Comprehensive Assessment of Bulbar Dysfunction in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
DOI: 10.3791/2422-v
What you'll learn
✓Assess respiratory, phonatory, resonatory, and articulatory subsystems in ALS speech motor dysfunction
✓Operate instrumentation-based protocols to quantify speech performance objectively
✓Interpret bulbar dysfunction patterns by comparing healthy and ALS-affected speakers
✓Monitor disease progression and treatment effects using comprehensive speech assessments
Protocol
Biopharma Insights Objective assessments of the physiological mechanisms that support speech are needed to monitor disease onset and progression in persons with ALS and to quantify treatment effects in clinical trials. In this video, we present a comprehensive, instrumentation-based protocol for quantifying speech motor performance in clinical populations.
Difficulty
advanced
Total time
~1.5–2 hours per subject (including setup, calibration, and multi-subsystem assessment)
Steps
1
Introduce protocol objectives and clinical rationale
Review the clinical need for objective speech motor assessment in ALS monitoring and treatment trials.
▶ 00:55
2
Assess respiratory subsystem function
Measure airflow, air pressure, and lung capacity using instrumentation to quantify respiratory support for speech.
▶ 02:19
3
Assess phonatory subsystem function
Quantify voice quality, fundamental frequency, and laryngeal function using acoustic and aerodynamic measures.
▶ 05:05
4
Assess resonatory subsystem function
Evaluate velopharyngeal closure and nasal resonance using instrumentation and perceptual analysis.
▶ 06:23
5
Assess articulatory subsystem in facial structures
Measure facial muscle strength, symmetry, and movement range to quantify perioral motor control.
▶ 07:10
6
Assess articulatory subsystem in lingual structures
Quantify tongue strength, range of motion, and rapid alternating movements using standardized measures.