Which term describes a motor speech disorder with slurred speech due to muscle weakness?

• A. Aphasia
• B. Dysphasia
• C. Dysarthria
• D. HA

Answer: (C)

When the problem is slurred speech caused by weakness or poor coordination of the muscles used for talking, the term is dysarthria. This is a motor speech disorder—the issue is with the execution of speech movements (lips, tongue, palate, vocal cords, diaphragm), not with understanding or finding words. People with dysarthria often have slurred, slow, or imprecise articulation even though their language and comprehension may be intact. Aphasia, by contrast, is a language impairment from brain injury that affects understanding or producing meaningful language, not the motor control of speech. Dysphasia is an older term often used for similar language issues, not for motor weakness. Headache has no relation to speech mechanics. So the best description for slurred speech due to muscle weakness is dysarthria.