What is Supranuclear Palsy?

• Also known as Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), or Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome, Supranuclear Palsy is an uncommon degenerative brain disease due to damaged nerve cells in the brain affecting various motor skills and cognition.
  • Results in many changes to various structures in the brain such as, the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, pons and medulla tegmentum in addition to the basal ganglia.

• Effects on Speech

  • A person with PSP’s speech progresses to a slur within four years of the disease.
• A person with PSP’s speech is uneven, spastic (tense), ataxic (slurred), or soft due to their weakened muscles.
• The patients’ speech can be a combination of the above mentioned speech features.
• A person with PSP can also have difficulty with problem solving and word finding abilities.

• Effects on Swallowing

• During an assessment of dysphagia using videofluorography, it was noted that a person with PSP takes a longer time to transfer the bolus (food or drink) from the oral cavity (mouth) to the pharynx (throat).
• Due to weakness in the throat muscles after having PSP, swallowing solid foods or thin liquids is challenging.
  • The muscles in the oral/pharyngeal cavity have difficulty executing the swallow of thin liquids.
  • Patients could also suffer from aspiration pneumonia. This is pneumonia caused by excessive liquid entering the lungs when swallowing.

Resources:

https://medlineplus.gov/progressivesupranuclearpalsy.html

https://www.psp.org/iwanttolearn/progressive-supranuclear-palsy/

https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Progressive-Supranuclear-Palsy-Fact-Sheet