scholarly journals The Quantal Larynx: The Stable Regions of Laryngeal Biomechanics and Implications for Speech Production

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 540-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Reid Moisik ◽  
Bryan Gick
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Muscle Activation ◽  
High Dimensionality ◽  
Speech Motor Control ◽  
Dimensional Model ◽  
3 Dimensional ◽  
Speech Control ◽  
Regions Of Stability ◽  
Speech Motor

Purpose Recent proposals suggest that (a) the high dimensionality of speech motor control may be reduced via modular neuromuscular organization that takes advantage of intrinsic biomechanical regions of stability and (b) computational modeling provides a means to study whether and how such modularization works. In this study, the focus is on the larynx, a structure that is fundamental to speech production because of its role in phonation and numerous articulatory functions. Method A 3-dimensional model of the larynx was created using the ArtiSynth platform ( http://www.artisynth.org ). This model was used to simulate laryngeal articulatory states, including inspiration, glottal fricative, modal prephonation, plain glottal stop, vocal–ventricular stop, and aryepiglotto–epiglottal stop and fricative. Results Speech-relevant laryngeal biomechanics is rich with “quantal” or highly stable regions within muscle activation space. Conclusions Quantal laryngeal biomechanics complement a modular view of speech control and have implications for the articulatory–biomechanical grounding of numerous phonetic and phonological phenomena.

scholarly journals Consistency influences altered auditory feedback processing

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (10) ◽  
pp. 2371-2379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias K Franken ◽  
Daniel J Acheson ◽  
James M McQueen ◽  
Peter Hagoort ◽  
Frank Eisner
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Auditory Feedback ◽  
Speech Motor Control ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Feedback Processing ◽  
Motor Commands ◽  
Consistent Condition ◽  
Consistency Effect ◽  
Speech Motor

Previous research on the effect of perturbed auditory feedback in speech production has focused on two types of responses. In the short term, speakers generate compensatory motor commands in response to unexpected perturbations. In the longer term, speakers adapt feedforward motor programmes in response to feedback perturbations, to avoid future errors. The current study investigated the relation between these two types of responses to altered auditory feedback. Specifically, it was hypothesised that consistency in previous feedback perturbations would influence whether speakers adapt their feedforward motor programmes. In an altered auditory feedback paradigm, formant perturbations were applied either across all trials (the consistent condition) or only to some trials, whereas the others remained unperturbed (the inconsistent condition). The results showed that speakers’ responses were affected by feedback consistency, with stronger speech changes in the consistent condition compared with the inconsistent condition. Current models of speech-motor control can explain this consistency effect. However, the data also suggest that compensation and adaptation are distinct processes, which are not in line with all current models.

The Dynamics of Speech Motor Control Revealed with Time-Resolved fMRI

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 241-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Janssen ◽  
Cristian Camilo Rincón Mendieta
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Motor Behavior ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Fmri Data ◽  
Speech Motor Control ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Speech Motor

Abstract Holding a conversation means that speech must be started, maintained, and stopped continuously. The brain networks that underlie these aspects of speech motor control remain poorly understood. Here we collected functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data while participants produced normal and fast rate speech in response to sequences of visually presented objects. We took a non-conventional approach to fMRI data analysis that allowed us to study speech motor behavior as it unfolded over time. To this end, whole-brain fMRI signals were extracted in stimulus-locked epochs using slice-based fMRI. These data were then subjected to group independent component analysis to discover spatially independent networks that were associated with different temporal activation profiles. The results revealed two basic brain networks with different temporal dynamics: a cortical network that was activated continuously during speech production, and a second cortico-subcortical network that increased in activity during the initiation and suppression of speech production. Additional analyses explored whether key areas involved in motor suppression such as the right inferior frontal gyrus, sub-thalamic nucleus and pre-supplementary motor area provide first-order signals to stop speech. The results reveal for the first time the brain networks associated with the initiation, maintenance, and suppression of speech motor behavior.

Parameter Estimation of Labial Movements in Speech Production: Implications for Speech Motor Control

1995 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 812-820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia A. Hinton ◽  
Randall R. Robey
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Correlation Coefficient ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
The Other ◽  
Speech Motor Control ◽  
Apparent Contradiction ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Speech Motor

Central to theories of speech motor control are estimates on magnitudes of lip activity expressed in terms of central tendency, variability, and interrelatedness. In fact, the tenability of each of two competing theories of motor control for speech production rests solely on the observation of the predicted direction of the correlation coefficient (one positive and one negative) that indexes the relationship of concurrent lip activity. Each theory, however, predicts a relationship that is the complete opposite of the relationship predicted by the other. That is, one theory proposes that the labial system functions on the basis of complementary variation, whereas the other assumes positive covariation, or complementary modulation. In apparent contradiction, each prediction has been observed under laboratory conditions. The explanation for this apparent contradiction resides in the small sample sizes upon which each estimate was based. The minimum number of observations that are necessary to achieve accurate estimates of lip displacement parameters has remained unclear. This paper addresses three fundamental questions: (a) how many observations of on-task behavior are necessary to accurately estimate mean and variance values for the magnitude of upper lip displacement in a speech production experiment?, (b) what is the analogous number of observations for estimating the same values of lower lip displacement (together with the mandible) in the same context?, and (c) how many observations are necessary to accurately estimate the correlation coefficient indexing the relationship of lip displacements during the production of speech? Answers to these questions are accomplished through a review of estimator properties, a Monte Carlo computer simulation, and through laboratory observations. The findings indicate that, as currently formulated, neither the relationship predicted by the complementary variation model nor that predicted by the complementary modulation model is wholly tenable.

Coarticulation as an Indicator of Speech Motor Control Development in Children: An Ultrasound Study

Motor Control ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Zharkova ◽  
Nigel Hewlett ◽  
William J. Hardcastle
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Speech Motor Control ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Speaker Variability ◽  
Ultrasound Study ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Children's Speech ◽  
Speech Motor

There are still crucial gaps in our knowledge about developmental paths taken by children to adult-like speech motor control. Mature control of articulators during speaking is manifested in the appropriate extent of coarticulation (the articulatory overlap of speech sounds). This study compared lingual coarticulatory properties of child and adult speech, using ultrasound tongue imaging. The participants were speakers of Standard Scottish English, ten adults and ten children aged 6–9 years. Consonant-vowel syllables were presented in a carrier phrase. Distances between tongue curves were used to quantify coarticulation. In both adults and children, vowel pairs /a/-/i/ and /a/-/u/ significantly affected the consonant, and the vowel pair /i/-/u/ did not. Extent of coarticulation was significantly greater in the children than in the adults, providing support for the notion that children’s speech production operates with larger units than adults’. More within-speaker variability was found in the children than in the adults.

Physiologic Studies Provide New Perspectives on Early Speech Development

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-36
Author(s):  
Erin M. Wilson ◽  
Ignatius S. B. Nip
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Motor Development ◽  
Motion Tracking ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
Speech Motor Control ◽  
Therapeutic Approaches ◽  
Facial Motion ◽  
Disordered Speech ◽  
Speech Motor ◽  
Physiologic Data

Abstract Although certain speech development milestones are readily observable, the developmental course of speech motor control is largely unknown. However, recent advances in facial motion tracking systems have been used to investigate articulator movements in children and the findings from these studies are being used to further our understanding of the physiologic basis of typical and disordered speech development. Physiologic work has revealed that the emergence of speech is highly dependent on the lack of flexibility in the early oromotor system. It also has been determined that the progression of speech motor development is non-linear, a finding that has motivated researchers to investigate how variables such as oromotor control, cognition, and linguistic factors affect speech development in the form of catalysts and constraints. Physiologic data are also being used to determine if non-speech oromotor behaviors play a role in the development of speech. This improved understanding of the physiology underlying speech, as well as the factors influencing its progression, helps inform our understanding of speech motor control in children with disordered speech and provide a framework for theory-driven therapeutic approaches to treatment.

Goal-based speech motor control: A theoretical framework and some preliminary data

1995 ◽  
Vol 23 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 23-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph S. Perkell ◽  
Melanie L. Matthies ◽  
Mario A. Svirsky ◽  
Michael I. Jordan
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Preliminary Data ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Speech Motor Control ◽  
Speech Motor
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