An Examination between Laryngeal Physiology and Parkinson’s Disease: Severity and Treatment

Abstract

The purpose of this in-depth literature review is to examine the relationship between laryngeal physiology and Parkinson’s disease in terms of the severity and possible treatment. This research aims to determine the distinct characteristics of Parkinsonian speech and possible causes of these speech deficits. In addition, a specific type of Parkinson’s disease treatment, deep brain stimulation, was explored to determine effectiveness on laryngeal physiological deficits found in Parkinson’s disease patients. Through synthesizing peer reviewed journals and various studies, data was examined in order to take an in-depth look at the unique relationship between laryngeal physiology and Parkinson’s disease. Findings indicated that Parkinsonian speech characteristics include vocal tremors, breathiness, hoarseness, and decreased vocal projection possibly due to bowed vocal folds or incomplete glottal closure. Low frequency deep brain stimulation treatment may serve as a potential resource for mitigating speech and voice deficits, however results are inconclusive.