Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathology of the Organs of Hearing, Vision, and Speech - A.G. Shvetsov 2006

Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathology of Voice and Speech Production
Pathology of Voice Production
Major Types of Speech Disorders

As previously indicated, human speech sound production is linked to Respiration, phonation in the Larynx and the vocal tract, and the correct execution of the articulatory program by the speech Organs. Our objective is to examine those pathological processes of interest to educators—namely, persistent Structural and functional Changes in the speech organs that impair voice and speech production. However, we do not intend to address the pathology of central speech mechanisms, as this falls within the scope and objectives of neuropathology.

Speech disorders in which The ability to use words to express thoughts and communicate with others is partially or completely lost due to damage to the cortical areas of the speech analyzer are referred to as alalia.

One form of alalia is aphasia, where organic speech disorders of cortical origin occur despite intact articulation, Vision, and Hearing (the patient is physically capable of speaking but "does not know how").

Aphasia of central-cortical origin but functional in nature (of hysterical origin or triggered by severe emotional stress) is called logoneurosis and manifests as anarthria (loss of speech) or dysarthria (speech disorders characterized by impaired articulation and difficulty pronouncing speech sounds due to paresis, spasm, or other dysfunctions of the speech musculature). Dysarthria can also occur when Brain lesions are localized in the structures that support the motor speech mechanism.

Dyslalia is a variant of dysarthric speech sound impairment. Speech sound impairments in dyslalia are associated either with structural Anomalies of the articulatory apparatus or with specific aspects of speech upbringing. Accordingly, a distinction is made between mechanical and functional dyslalia. Mechanical (organic) dyslalia is caused by structural abnormalities of the articulatory apparatus, such as malocclusion, dental anomalies, etc. Functional dyslalia is linked to poor speech communication within the family.

Rhinolalia is an impairment of speech sound production and voice quality associated with a specific congenital structural defect of the articulatory apparatus (such as cleft palate, etc.).

Stuttering (logoneurosis) is a speech fluency disorder caused by spasms of the Muscles of the speech apparatus.

Voice disorders refer to the absence or impairment of voice production (phonation) due to pathological changes in the vocal apparatus. A distinction is made between a partial voice impairment, dysphonia, and a complete loss of voice, aphonia. Partial impairments of reading and writing processes are termed dyslexia and dysgraphia, respectively. Their causes are linked to impaired interaction between various sensory analyzer systems of the Cerebral Cortex.