Assessing Ecologically Valid Methods of Auditory Feedback Measurement in Individuals With Typical Speech

Purpose: Auditory feedback is thought to contribute to the online control of speech production. Yet, the standard method of estimating auditory feedback control (i.e., reflexive responses to auditory–motor perturbations), although sound, requires specialized instrumentation, meticulous calibration, unnatural tasks, and specific acoustic environments. The purpose of this study was to explore more ecologically valid features of speech production to determine their relationships with auditory feedback mechanisms. Method: Two previously proposed measures of within-utterance variability (centering and baseline variability) were compared with reflexive response magnitudes in 30 adults with typical speech. These three measures were estimated for both the laryngeal and articulatory subsystems of speech. Results: Regardless of the speech subsystem, neither centering nor baseline variability was shown to be related to reflexive response magnitudes. Likewise, no relationships were found between centering and baseline variability. Conclusions: Despite previous suggestions that centering and baseline variability may be related to auditory feedback mechanisms, this study did not support these assertions. However, the detection of such relationships may have required a larger degree of variability in responses, relative to that found in those with typical speech. Future research on these relationships is warranted in populations with more heterogeneous responses, such as children or clinical populations. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.17330546

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Cortical network underlying speech production during delayed auditory feedback

10.1101/2020.11.11.378471 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Muge Ozker ◽

Werner Doyle ◽

Orrin Devinsky ◽

Adeen Flinker

Keyword(s):

Feedback Control ◽

Speech Production ◽

Auditory Feedback ◽

Speech Rate ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

Early Time ◽

Precentral Gyrus ◽

Delayed Auditory Feedback ◽

Human Speech ◽

Auditory Feedback Control

AbstractAccurate and fluent production of speech strongly depends on hearing oneself which allows for the detection and correction of vocalization errors in real-time. When auditory feedback is disrupted with a time delay (e.g. echo on a conference call), it causes slowed and stutter-like speech in humans. Impaired speech motor control during delayed auditory feedback is implicated in various neurological disorders ranging from stuttering to aphasia, however the underlying neural mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we investigated auditory feedback control in human speech by obtaining electrocorticographic recordings from neurosurgical subjects performing a delayed auditory feedback (DAF) task. We observed a significant increase in neural activity in auditory sites that scaled with the duration of feedback delay and correlated with response suppression during normal speech, providing direct evidence for a shared mechanism between sensitivity to altered feedback and speech-induced auditory suppression in humans. Furthermore, we find that when subjects robustly slowed down their speech rate to compensate for the delay, the dorsal division of the precentral gyrus was preferentially recruited to support articulation during an early time frame. This recruitment was accompanied by response enhancement across a large speech network commencing in temporal cortex and then engaging frontal and parietal sites. Our results highlight the critical components of the human speech network that support auditory feedback control of speech production and the temporal evolution of their recruitment.

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Online Control of Voice Intensity in Late Bilinguals' First and Second Language Speech Production: Evidence From Unexpected and Brief Noise Masking

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2021_jslhr-20-00330 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-19

Author(s):

Xiao Cai ◽

Yulong Yin ◽

Qingfang Zhang

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Feedback Control ◽

Speech Production ◽

Auditory Feedback ◽

Speech Fluency ◽

Weak Noise ◽

Auditory Acuity ◽

Auditory Feedback Control ◽

Relative Weighting ◽

Late Bilinguals

Purpose Speech production requires the combined efforts of feedforward control and feedback control subsystems. The primary purpose of this study is to explore whether the relative weighting of auditory feedback control is different between the first language (L1) and the second language (L2) production for late bilinguals. The authors also make an exploratory investigation into how bilinguals' speech fluency and speech perception relate to their auditory feedback control. Method Twenty Chinese–English bilinguals named Chinese or English bisyllabic words, while being exposed to 30- or 60-dB unexpected brief masking noise. Variables of language (L1 or L2) and noise condition (quiet, weak noise, or strong noise) were manipulated in the experiment. L1 and L2 speech fluency tests and an L2 perception test were also included to measure bilinguals' speech fluency and auditory acuity. Results Peak intensity analyses indicated that the intensity increases in the weak noise and strong noise conditions were larger in L2-English than L1-Chinese production. Intensity contour analysis showed that the intensity increases in both languages had an onset around 80–140 ms, a peak around 220–250 ms, and persisted till 400 ms post vocalization onset. Correlation analyses also revealed that poorer speech fluency or L2 auditory acuity was associated with larger Lombard effect. Conclusions For late bilinguals, the reliance on auditory feedback control is heavier in L2 than in L1 production. We empirically supported a relation between speech fluency and the relative weighting of auditory feedback control, and provided the first evidence for the production–perception link in L2 speech motor control.

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Cerebellar contribution to auditory feedback control of speech production: Evidence from patients with spinocerebellar ataxia

Human Brain Mapping ◽

10.1002/hbm.24734 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 40 (16) ◽

pp. 4748-4758 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Weifeng Li ◽

Jiajun Zhuang ◽

Zhiqiang Guo ◽

Jeffery A. Jones ◽

Zhiqin Xu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Feedback Control ◽

Speech Production ◽

Spinocerebellar Ataxia ◽

Auditory Feedback ◽

Auditory Feedback Control

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A Right-Ear Effect for Auditory Feedback Control of Children’s Newly Acquired Phonemes

Journal of Speech and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/jshr.2103.580 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 580-588 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Walter H. Manning ◽

Linda J. Louko ◽

Vincent S. DiSalvo

Keyword(s):

Feedback Control ◽

Speech Production ◽

Auditory Feedback ◽

Auditory Processing ◽

Closed Loop ◽

Relative Importance ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Masking Condition ◽

Auditory Feedback Control

To determine the relative importance of binaural, right-ear, and left-ear auditory feedback control on the correct production of newly acquired articulatory patterns in children, 40 children exhibiting misarticulations were tested under four experimental conditions. The children were individually administered a shortened version of the Deep Test of Articulation (McDonald, 1964) under (1) a no-masking condition, followed in a counterbalanced order by readministration of the Deep Test under conditions of (2) binaural masking, (3) monaural right-ear masking, and (4) monaural left-ear masking. Correct articulatory production by the children was significantly reduced under binaural and monaural right-ear masking. There was, however, no significant reduction in the children’s correct production under the condition of monaural left-ear masking. The results extend previous findings of right-ear superiority for children’s auditory processing of externally produced stimuli to the closed-loop auditory feedback control of children’s own speech production.

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