Speech Interactions With Linguistic, Cognitive, and Visuomotor Tasks

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Dromey ◽  
Emily Bates
Keyword(s):  
Motor Performance ◽  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
Spatiotemporal Variability ◽  
Linguistic Performance ◽  
Vocal Intensity ◽  
Visuomotor Tasks ◽  
Linguistic Challenges ◽  
Task Conditions ◽  
Potential Interactions ◽  
Speech Motor

Lip movements were examined across several repetitive speaking conditions (speech alone and speaking concurrently with a linguistic, cognitive, or visuomotor challenge task) in 20 young adults. Performance in these nonspeech activities was also compared between isolated tasks and concurrent speech conditions. Linguistic challenges resulted in increased spatiotemporal variability of lip displacement across repetitions. Motor challenges led to more rapid speech with smaller lip displacement. These qualitatively different changes suggest that different aspects of attention are required for linguistic versus manual visuomotor activity. Vocal intensity increased for all concurrent task conditions compared with speech alone, suggesting increased effort compared to the control condition. Scores for linguistic performance decreased when utterance repetition occurred concurrently with the syntactic challenge. These findings reveal that speech motor activity can influence linguistic performance as well as be influenced by it. Although these data come from healthy speakers, they suggest that clinicians working with disordered speakers should not overlook the potential interactions among the demands of language formulation, cognitive activity, and speech motor performance.

Effects of Concurrent Motor, Linguistic, or Cognitive Tasks on Speech Motor Performance

2003 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 1234-1246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Dromey ◽  
April Benson
Keyword(s):  
Motor Performance ◽  
Mental Arithmetic ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Spatiotemporal Variability ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Lower Lip ◽  
Speech Motor

This study examined the influence of 3 different types of concurrent tasks on speech motor performance. The goal was to uncover potential differences in speech movements relating to the nature of the secondary task. Twenty young adults repeated sentences either with or without simultaneous distractor activities. These distractions included a motor task (putting together washers, nuts, and bolts), a linguistic task (generating verbs from nouns), and a cognitive task (performing mental arithmetic). Lip movement data collected during the experimental conditions revealed decreases in displacement and velocity during the motor task. The linguistic and cognitive tasks were associated with increased spatiotemporal variability and increases in the strength of the negative correlations between upper and lower lip displacements. These findings show that distractor tasks during speech can have a significant influence on several labial kinematic measures. This suggests that the balance of neural resources allocated to different aspects of human communication may shift according to situational demands.

Cognitive Load Affects Speech Motor Performance Differently in Older and Younger Adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 1258-1277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan K. MacPherson
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Incongruent Condition ◽  
Sentence Production ◽  
Movement Duration ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Speech Motor

PurposeThe aim of this study was to determine the impact of cognitive load imposed by a speech production task on the speech motor performance of healthy older and younger adults. Response inhibition, selective attention, and working memory were the primary cognitive processes of interest.MethodTwelve healthy older and 12 healthy younger adults produced multiple repetitions of 4 sentences containing an embedded Stroop task in 2 cognitive load conditions: congruent and incongruent. The incongruent condition, which required participants to suppress orthographic information to say the font colors in which color words were written, represented an increase in cognitive load relative to the congruent condition in which word text and font color matched. Kinematic measures of articulatory coordination variability and movement duration as well as a behavioral measure of sentence production accuracy were compared between groups and conditions and across 3 sentence segments (pre-, during-, and post-Stroop).ResultsIncreased cognitive load in the incongruent condition was associated with increased articulatory coordination variability and movement duration, compared to the congruent Stroop condition, for both age groups. Overall, the effect of increased cognitive load was greater for older adults than younger adults and was greatest in the portion of the sentence in which cognitive load was manipulated (during-Stroop), followed by the pre-Stroop segment. Sentence production accuracy was reduced for older adults in the incongruent condition.ConclusionsIncreased cognitive load involving response inhibition, selective attention, and working memory processes within a speech production task disrupted both the stability and timing with which speech was produced by both age groups. Older adults' speech motor performance may have been more affected due to age-related changes in cognitive and motoric functions that result in altered motor cognition.

scholarly journals Clinical feasibility and utility of a dual-task tandem gait protocol for pediatric concussion management

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathew J. Wingerson ◽  
Corrine N. Seehusen ◽  
Gregory Walker ◽  
Julie C. Wilson ◽  
David R. Howell
Keyword(s):  
Dual Task ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Clinical Utility ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Single Task ◽  
Task Trial ◽  
Task Conditions ◽  
And Control ◽  
Test Completion ◽  
Tandem Gait

Abstract Context: Clinical management of sport-related concussion requires the assessment of various factors, including motor performance. The tandem gait test, a measure of post-injury motor performance, has demonstrated clinical utility, but is limited by time availability and test uniformity. Objective: To assess intrasession reliability between tandem gait test trials and determine the number trials necessary for optimal utility and feasibility in clinical decision-making following concussion. Design: Cross-Sectional Study Setting: Pediatric Sport Medicine Clinic Participants: Adolescent athletes who recently sustained a concussion (n=44; age=15.4±1.8 years; 39% female) and were seen for care within 14 days (7.3±3.2 days) of their injury, as well as uninjured control participants (n=73; age=15.8±1.3 years; 41% female). All participants completed three single-task and three dual-task tandem gait trials. Outcome Measures: We collected test completion time and cognitive performance for each trial and calculated Pearson correlation coefficients between trials and Intraclass Correlation Coefficients to determine intrasession reliability. We also compared performance between groups, and calculated area under the curve (AUC) values to identify the ability of each trial to distinguish between groups. Results: Both the concussion and control group demonstrated high intrasession reliability between tandem gait trials under single (R ≥ 0.82; ICC≥ 0.93) and dual-task conditions (R ≥ 0.79; ICC≥ 0.92). The greatest group classification values were obtained from the second single-task trial (AUC = 0.89) and first dual-task trial (AUC = 0.83). Test completion time provided excellent between-group discrimination in single-task and dual-task conditions. However, cognitive performance during dual-task trials demonstrated only marginally significant clinical utility (AUC ≤ 0.67). Conclusion: Tandem gait assessments may only require two trials under single-task and one trial under dual-task conditions to effectively discriminate between concussion and control groups. This approach may improve the feasibility (time requirement) of the test, while maintaining excellent discriminatory ability.

Central Sympathetic Nervous System Effects on Cognitive-Motor Performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-87
Author(s):  
Johannes B. Finke ◽  
Hartmut Schächinger
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Sympathetic Nervous System ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Mental Arithmetic ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Sympathetic Nervous ◽  
Task Conditions ◽  
Simple Rt

Abstract. The intriguing interplay between acute stress physiology and cognitive processes has long been noted. However, while stress-induced release of glucocorticoids has repeatedly been shown to impact brain mechanisms underlying cognition and memory, less experimental research addressed the effects of stress-induced central sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation on cognitive performance. Moreover, despite the long-standing notion that the way performance is modulated by arousal may crucially depend on task complexity, mechanistic research demonstrating a direct, causal influence of altered SNS activity is scarce. Twelve healthy men participated in a placebo-controlled, pharmacologic dose–response study involving three within-subject assessments (1-week intervals). Subjective and objective indices of SNS activity as well as reaction time (RT) in three different tasks varying in cognitive demand (simple RT, choice RT, and verbal RT in complex mental arithmetic) were assessed during modulation of central SNS tone by intravenous infusions of dexmedetomidine (alpha2-agonist), yohimbine (alpha2-antagonist), and placebo. Cognitive performance was negatively affected by alpha2-agonism in all task conditions. By contrast, administration of yohimbine improved simple RT, while diminishing complex RT, supporting the assumption of a nonlinear way of action depending on task characteristics. Our results highlight the consequences of central (noradrenergic) SNS activation for cognitive-motor performance in RT tasks of varying complexity.

Age Differences in Speech Motor Performance on a Novel Speech Task

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 1552-1566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neeraja Sadagopan ◽  
Anne Smith
Keyword(s):  
Age Differences ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Elderly Adults ◽  
Elderly Individuals ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Effect Of Age ◽  
Speech Motor ◽  
Repetition Task ◽  
Age Related Changes

PurposeThe study was aimed at characterizing age-related changes in speech motor performance on a nonword repetition task as a function of practice and nonword length and complexity.MethodNonword repetition accuracy, lip aperture coordination, and nonword production durations were assessed on 2 consecutive days for 16 young and 16 elderly participants for the production of 6 novel nonwords increasing in length and complexity.ResultsThe effect of age on the ability to accurately and rapidly repeat long, complex nonwords was significant. However, the authors found no differences between the speech motor coordinative patterns of young and elderly adults. Further, the authors demonstrated age- and nonword-specific within- and between-session gains in speech motor performance.ConclusionsThe authors speculate that cognitive, sensory, and motor factors interact in complex ways in elderly individuals to produce individual differences in nonword repetition ability at the levels of both behavioral and speech motor performance.

Speech Motor Sequence Learning: Effect of Parkinson Disease and Normal Aging on Dual-Task Performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (6S) ◽  
pp. 1752-1765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason A. Whitfield ◽  
Alexander M. Goberman
Keyword(s):  
Motor Learning ◽  
Parkinson Disease ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Sequence Learning ◽  
Motor Sequence ◽  
Adult Group ◽  
Task Interference ◽  
Task Conditions ◽  
Dual Task Interference ◽  
Speech Motor

Purpose Everyday communication is carried out concurrently with other tasks. Therefore, determining how dual tasks interfere with newly learned speech motor skills can offer insight into the cognitive mechanisms underlying speech motor learning in Parkinson disease (PD). The current investigation examines a recently learned speech motor sequence under dual-task conditions. Method A previously learned sequence of 6 monosyllabic nonwords was examined using a dual-task paradigm. Participants repeated the sequence while concurrently performing a visuomotor task, and performance on both tasks was measured in single- and dual-task conditions. Results The younger adult group exhibited little to no dual-task interference on the accuracy and duration of the sequence. The older adult group exhibited variability in dual-task costs, with the group as a whole exhibiting an intermediate, though significant, amount of dual-task interference. The PD group exhibited the largest degree of bidirectional dual-task interference among all the groups. Conclusions These data suggest that PD affects the later stages of speech motor learning, as the dual-task condition interfered with production of the recently learned sequence beyond the effect of normal aging. Because the basal ganglia is critical for the later stages of motor sequence learning, the observed deficits may result from the underlying neural dysfunction associated with PD.

The use of analogy in speech motor performance

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy C. Y. Tse ◽  
Richard S. W. Masters ◽  
Tara L. Whitehill ◽  
Estella P.-M. Ma
Keyword(s):  
Motor Performance ◽  
Speech Motor

Integrational Deficits in Children with Visual-Perceptual-Motor Disabilities

1975 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-57
Author(s):  
Abby G. Rosenfield
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Learning Disabled ◽  
Disabled Children ◽  
Linguistic Performance ◽  
Motor Disabilities ◽  
Differential Performance ◽  
Verbal Component ◽  
Visual Motor

To assess the psycholinguistic and perceptual aspects of their differential performance, 12 normal and 12 learning disabled children in elementary school were tested on a visual-motor task, both with and without an added verbal component. No differences were found for motor performance in any condition, but significant differences were found for linguistic performance during the combined task. The power of linguistic performance during the combined task to serve as a means of diagnosis for learning disabilities was explained as an indication of delayed development of the ability to superimpose process upon process.

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