Speech and Language Disorders in Friedreich Ataxia: Highlights on Phenomenology, Assessment, and Therapy

ommaso Schirinzi, Andrea Sancesario, Enrico Bertini, Enrico Castelli, Gessica Vasco. Cerebellum (2019). Doi:10.1007/s12311-019-01084-8

FRDA patients often present dysarthria, resulting from central and peripheral causes and additional primary language disorders. Speech disturbances have peculiar characteristics, although variable among patients, and progress along the disease course. Assessment relies on multiple but not specific clinical scales, some of which can also reflect the general severity of ataxia; classical instrumental investigations and novel technologies allow more accurate measurements of several speech parameters, which could found application as potential disease’s biomarkers. No successful treatments exist for communication disorders of FRDA patients; however, the tailored speech training or the non-invasive neuromodulation appear as the most reliable therapeutic options to be validate in future trials.