The following postulation is a hope that our speech can be improved by implementing a consistent routine of daily walking. I discovered this amazingly beautiful yet simple concept by accident 🤔😁, after watching my 18 month old nephew have dramatic improvements in speech after graduating to walking from crawling.
Let's face it, we Parkinsonians tend to walk less after our first fall, don't we? I reflect back now and realize that my speech problems accelerated after my walking slowed down and became worse after that completely stopped. What is your experience?
Read on ::
Based on the study findings in the link below, and other such studies, I postulate that daily walking may help improve speech in Parkinson's patients through the following mechanisms:
1. Rhythmic entrainment: Daily walking provides an external rhythmic cue that can entrain the neural circuits involved in speech and motor control. The study found that speech cadence correlated with gait cadence, suggesting a shared underlying rhythmic mechanism. Providing an external rhythmic cue through walking may help synchronize and regulate the neural oscillations that are disrupted in Parkinson's. This could spill over and improve speech rhythm and fluency.
2. Physical exercise effects: Regular walking is a form of physical exercise that can have wide-ranging benefits for the brain and body. It can increase cardio-respiratory fitness, muscular strength, and endurance. This may help improve breathing control, articulatory movements, and motor coordination involved in speech. The study found that rhythmic speech therapy that focused on breathing control and articulation had some benefits for speech rhythm in Parkinson's patients. Daily walking could have similar effects through physical exercise.
3. Improved motor control and automaticity: Regular walking may help improve motor control and automatization of motor sequences in Parkinson's patients. The study suggests that deficiencies in automaticity and motor control underlie the speech and gait impairments in these patients. By providing daily practice of motor sequences through walking, some of these benefits may spill over and indirectly improve speech motor control and automaticity.
In summary, I hypothesize that daily walking may help improve speech in Parkinson's patients through the combined effects of rhythmic entrainment, physical exercise benefits, and improvements in motor control and automaticity. However, focused rhythmic speech interventions that directly target articulation, breathing, and speech rhythm may provide more direct and targeted benefits for speech deficits in these patients.
Methylphenidate for \"Parkinson's\"
Calling for B6 test results in PD: Unveiling the dosage dilemma
