title: Aspects of oral communication in patients with Parkinson's disease submitted to Deep Brain Stimulation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) has been satisfactorily used to control the cardinal motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD), but little is known about its impact on communication.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to characterize the aspects of cognition, language, speech, voice, and self-perception in two patients with PD, pre- and post- DBS implant surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patients were assessed using a cognitive screening test, a brief language evaluation, a self-declared protocol, and an analysis of the aspects of voice and speech, which was conducted by a specialized Speech-language Therapist who was blinded for the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the pre-surgery assessment, Case I showed impairment regarding the aspects of cognition, language and voice, whereas Case II showed impairment only with respect to the voice aspect. The post-surgery evaluation of the cases showed an opposite pattern of the effect of DBS after analysis of the communication data: Case I, who presented greater impairment before the surgery, showed improvement in some aspects; Case II, who presented lower communicative impairment before the surgery, showed worsening in other aspects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that DBS may influence different communication aspects both positively and negatively. Factors associated with the different effects caused by DBS on the communication of patients with PD need to be further investigated.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS - Porto Alegre (RS), Brasil.
authors.forename: Aline Nunes da
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS - Porto Alegre (RS), Brasil.
authors.forename: Bárbara Costa
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Beber
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS - Porto Alegre (RS), Brasil.
authors.forename: Maira Rozenfeld
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Olchik
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre - Porto Alegre (RS), Brasil.
authors.forename: Márcia Lorena Fagundes
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Chaves
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre - Porto Alegre (RS), Brasil.
authors.forename: Carlos Roberto de Mello
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Rieder
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS - Porto Alegre (RS), Brasil.
authors.forename: Sílvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dornelles
mesh_terms: D003071:Cognition; D003142:Communication; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000601:surgery; D012649:Self Concept; D013060:Speech; D014833:Voice Quality