Objective: The aim of our study was to compare speech (intelligibility and comprehensibility) and language (lexical-semantic aspect) abilities with cognitive profiles in patients with Parkinson´s disease (PD).

Background: Motor control of speech as well as cognitive-linguistic domains may be impaired in PD. Speech intelligibility, comprehension and language skills are dependent on intact executive functions, balance in retrieval of words and grammatical structures, and working memory.

Method: We enrolled 49 patients (34 men) with idiopathic PD without dementia with the mean age 62.06±8,99 years; duration of disease 5,77±4,19 years, H&Y stage 2.0±0.5 and total MDS-UPDRS part III 31±11,18. Neuropsychological battery was administered in order to identify various cognitive impairment profiles. Cluster analyses was utilized for identification of subgroups of patients. To assess lexical retrieval of nouns and verbs during confrontation naming task, The Object and Action Naming Test (OANT) was administered. Intelligibility and comprehensibility of speech was measured using computerized version of Slovak Speech Intelligibility Test (T-ZROD). Word and sentence level were assessed during evaluation. ANOVAs were used for between-group comparisons of performance in T-ZROD and OANT.

Results: Three cognitive profiles were identified. The first group (n=14) was characterized with prominent impairment in executive and mnestic functions, the second group (n=14) showed dominant deficits in executive functions only and the third group (n=21) seem to be cognitive within normal range. Analysis of variance didn´t detect any significant difference in performance in speech T-ZROD. In lexical retrieval of nouns (object naming) there was no significant decline in performance in each group. However, in the group with impairment in executive and memory functions showed significantly worse scores in verb retrieval (action naming) in comparison to group with relatively intact cognitive profile (p = 0.011), and to the group with marked executive deficits (p = 0.003).

Conclusion: We identified three different cognitive subgroups of PD patients. No difference in speech intelligibility was found among groups, but patients with marked executive function and memory impairments had significantly worse action but not object naming ability than other two groups.

References: Miller N, Noble E, Jones D, Burn D. Life with communication changes in Parkinson’s disease. Age Ageing. 2006 May;35(3):235–9.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/speech-and-language-changes-in-cognitive-impairment-subtypes-in-patients-with-parkinsons-disease/