Motor Neuron Disease (MND) has been traditionally regarded as a disease affecting exclusively motor functions. In the last two decades, however, cognitive symptoms have been increasingly recognised as part of the disease spectrum. In comparison, the association of MND with disorders of language has only recently moved into the focus of research.
Most patients with MND are suffering from dysarthria - a disorder of speech reflecting muscular dysfunction. However, recent findings, including consistent reports of spelling errors, suggest that the speech impairment in MND might also be influenced by more central deficits such as apraxia of speech or even phonological impairment. So far, no systematic study has investigated the differential contribution of muscular function, motor planning and phonological processing to the linguistic symptoms of MND.
We hope that this short and informal presentation will lead to an open discussion how these fundemental questions can be addressed in experiments.