Speech and Language Disorders Associated with Subcortical Pathology

This book provides comprehensive coverage of speech and language disorders arising from pathological processes involving the subcortical structures of the brain. It gives an understanding of these disorders in terms of their neuropathological basis, clinical symptomatology and prognosis. A full discussion of contemporary models and theories of subcortical participation in speech and language processing is given, including discussion of the possible roles of structures such as the basal ganglia, subthalamic nucleus, thalamus and cerebellum.

The book covers speech and language disorders associated with a variety of subcortical conditions, ranging from major degenerative conditions such as Parkinsons’ Disease, Huntington’s chorea and dystonia, through to acquired non-degenerative subcortical lesions arising from, for example, cerebrovascular accidents and sterotactic surgically induced lesions. In addition, a full description of the relevant assessment and treatment procedures currently recommended for use for each of the subcortical communication disorders is given.

Professor Bruce E Murdoch, Director, Motor Speech Research Centre and Head, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Bruce's research interests are in physiological assessment and treatment of adult and child motor speech disorders including CVA, head injury, multiple sclerosis, brain tumour and Parkinson's disease; subcortical aphasia; language disorders in traumatic brain injury; speech and language disorders in childhood cancer. He is the founding editor of the Asia Pacific Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing, and on the editorial boards of several other major publications. He is the Foundation President of the, Asia Pacific Society for the Study of Speech, Language and Hearing, and Vice-President, International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics.

Dr Brooke-Mai Whelan, Research Fellow, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Brooke-Mai's expertise is in brain injury rehabilitation. She has published many papers in peer-reviewed journals, such as the International Journal of Neuroscience, and contributed chapters to many edited works.