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Profiling Speech and Pausing in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD)
Yunusova Y, Graham NL, Shellikeri S, Phuong K, Kulkarni M, Rochon E, Tang-Wai DF, Chow TW et al.. PloS one, 2016-01-20
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Objective This study examines reading aloud in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and those with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in order to determine whether differences in patterns of speaking and pausing exist between patients with primary motor vs. primary cognitive-linguistic deficits, and in contrast to healthy controls. Design 136 participants were included in the study: 33 controls, 85 patients with ALS, and 18 patients with either the behavioural variant of FTD (FTD-BV) or progressive nonfluent aphasia (FTD-PNFA). Participants with ALS were further divided into 4 non-overlapping subgroups--mild, respiratory, bulbar (with oral-motor deficit) and bulbar-respiratory--based on the presence and severity of motor bulbar or respiratory signs. All participants read a passage aloud. Custom-made software was used to perform speech and pause analyses, and this provided measures of speaking and articulatory rates, duration of speech, and number and duration of pauses. These measures were statistically compared in different subgroups of patients. Results The results revealed clear differences between patient groups and healthy controls on the passage reading task. A speech-based motor function measure (i.e., articulatory rate) was able to distinguish patients with bulbar ALS or FTD-PNFA from those with respiratory ALS or FTD-BV. Distinguishing the disordered groups proved challenging based on the pausing measures. Conclusions and relevance This study demonstrated the use of speech measures in the identification of those with an oral-motor deficit, and showed the usefulness of performing a relatively simple reading test to assess speech versus pause behaviors across the ALS-FTD disease continuum. The findings also suggest that motor speech assessment should be performed as part of the diagnostic workup for patients with FTD.
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APA 7th
Yunusova, Y., Graham, N. L., Shellikeri, S., Phuong, K., Kulkarni, M., Rochon, E., et al. (2016). Profiling Speech and Pausing in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0147573
Vancouver
Yunusova Y, Graham NL, Shellikeri S, Phuong K, Kulkarni M, Rochon E, et al. Profiling Speech and Pausing in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). PloS one. 2016. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0147573. PMID: 26789001.
BibTeX
@article{yunusova2016-26789001,
author = {Yunusova, Y. and Graham, N. L. and Shellikeri, S. and Phuong, K. and Kulkarni, M. and Rochon, E. and Tang-Wai, D. F. and Chow, T. W. and others},
title = {{Profiling Speech and Pausing in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD)}},
journal = {PloS one},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0147573},
pmid = {26789001},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0147573}
}
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Key findings
- Results The results revealed clear differences between patient groups and healthy controls on the passage reading task.
- Conclusions and relevance This study demonstrated the use of speech measures in the identification of those with an oral-motor deficit, and showed the usefulness of performing a relatively simple reading test to assess speech versus pause behaviors across the ALS-FTD disease continuum.
- The findings also suggest that motor speech assessment should be performed as part of the diagnostic workup for patients with FTD.
Why it matters
This study found that speech and pause measures during reading aloud differed between patient groups and healthy controls, and that an articulatory rate measure could distinguish bulbar ALS or FTD-PNFA from respiratory ALS or FTD-BV. The findings concern assessment and identification of oral-motor deficits, not treatment, cure, or prevention of dementia.
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Study details
- Participants136
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 52/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (PloS one) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | PLoS ONE: journal h-index 594 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2016 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 136 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 111 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 9.2 citations a year over 12 year(s) since 2016 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 7.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 2 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 30 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Jordan R. Green: h-index 49 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Toronto: institution h-index 1,923 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 9 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 26789001) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 52 / 100 | — |
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