scholarly journals Effects of speech motor practice and linguistic complexity on articulation rate in adults who stutter*

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 91-101
Author(s):  
HeeCheong Chon ◽  
Torrey M. Loucks
Keyword(s):  
Articulation Rate ◽  
Linguistic Complexity ◽  
Motor Practice ◽  
Adults Who Stutter ◽  
Speech Motor

Influences of Length and Syntactic Complexity on the Speech Motor Stability of the Fluent Speech of Adults Who Stutter

2000 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 548-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Kleinow ◽  
Anne Smith
Keyword(s):  
Stability Characteristic ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Linguistic Complexity ◽  
Lower Lip ◽  
Lip Movement ◽  
Adults Who Stutter ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Speech Motor

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of utterance length and syntactic complexity on the speech motor stability of adults who stutter. Lower lip movement was recorded from 8 adults who stutter and 8 normally fluent controls. They produced a target phrase in isolation (baseline condition) and the same phrase embedded in utterances of increased length and/or increased syntactic complexity. The spatiotemporal index (STI) was used to quantify the stability of lower lip movements across multiple repetitions of the target phrase. Results indicated: (a) Adults who stutter demonstrated higher overall STI values than normally fluent adults across all experimental conditions, indicating decreased speech motor stability; (b) the speech motor stability of normally fluent adults was not affected by increasing syntactic complexity, but the speech motor stability of adults who stutter decreased when the stimuli were more complex; (c) increasing the length of the target utterance (without increasing syntactic complexity) did not affect the speech motor stability of either speaker group. These results indicate that language formulation processes may affect speech production processes and that the speech motor systems of adults who stutter may be especially susceptible to the linguistic demands required to produce a more complex utterance. The present findings, therefore, support the hypothesis that linguistic complexity is one factor that contributes to the disruptions of speech motor stability characteristic of stuttering.

scholarly journals Deficit or Difference? Effects of Altered Auditory Feedback on Speech Fluency and Kinematic Variability in Adults Who Stutter

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
HeeCheong Chon ◽  
Eric S. Jackson ◽  
Shelly Jo Kraft ◽  
Nicoline G. Ambrose ◽  
Torrey M. Loucks
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Feedback ◽  
The Other ◽  
Speech Errors ◽  
Speech Motor Control ◽  
Articulation Rate ◽  
Delayed Auditory Feedback ◽  
Speech Fluency ◽  
Long Latency ◽  
Adults Who Stutter ◽  
Speech Motor

Purpose The purpose of this study was to test whether adults who stutter (AWS) display a different range of sensitivity to delayed auditory feedback (DAF). Two experiments were conducted to assess the fluency of AWS under long-latency DAF and to test the effect of short-latency DAF on speech kinematic variability in AWS. Method In Experiment 1, 15 AWS performed a conversational speaking task under nonaltered auditory feedback and 250-ms DAF. The rates of stuttering-like disfluencies, other disfluencies, and speech errors and articulation rate were compared. In Experiment 2, 13 AWS and 15 adults who do not stutter (AWNS) read three utterances under four auditory feedback conditions: nonaltered auditory feedback, amplified auditory feedback, 25-ms DAF, and 50-ms DAF. Across-utterance kinematic variability (spatiotemporal index) and within-utterance variability (percent determinism and stability) were compared between groups. Results In Experiment 1, under 250-ms DAF, the rate of stuttering-like disfluencies and speech errors increased significantly, while articulation rate decreased significantly in AWS. In Experiment 2, AWS exhibited higher kinematic variability than AWNS across the feedback conditions. Under 25-ms DAF, the spatiotemporal index of AWS decreased significantly compared to the other feedback conditions. AWS showed lower overall percent determinism than AWNS, but their percent determinism increased under 50-ms DAF to approximate that of AWNS. Conclusions Auditory feedback manipulations can alter speech fluency and kinematic variability in AWS. Longer latency auditory feedback delays induce speech disruptions, while subtle auditory feedback manipulations potentially benefit speech motor control. Both AWS and AWNS are susceptible to auditory feedback during speech production, but AWS appear to exhibit a distinct continuum of sensitivity.

scholarly journals Behavioral and neural correlates of speech motor sequence learning in stuttering and neurotypical speakers: an fMRI investigation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Masapollo
Keyword(s):  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Motor Learning ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Motor Sequence ◽  
Motor Practice ◽  
Speech Motor

Stuttering is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired execution of articulatory movements needed for fluent speech production. Existing theoretical models propose that these deficits reflect a malfunction in the cortico-basal-ganglia-thalamocortical (cortico-BG) loop that is responsible for selecting and initiating speech motor programs. However, the cortico-BG loop has also been hypothesized to play a role in speech motor learning. To distinguish motor execution impairments from motor learning impairments in stuttering, the authors examined the behavioral and neural correlates of learning to produce novel phoneme sequences in adults who stutter (AWS) and neurotypical controls. Participants intensively practiced producing pseudowords containing non-native consonant clusters over two days. Results showed that, behaviorally, both AWS and controls produced the words with increased speed and accuracy following motor practice, and the rate of improvement was comparable for the two groups. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the authors compared brain activity during articulation of the practiced words and a set of novel pseudowords (matched in phonetic complexity). FMRI analyses revealed no differences between AWS and controls in cortical or subcortical regions; both groups showed comparable increases in activation in left-lateralized brain areas implicated in phonological working memory and speech motor planning during production of the novel sequences compared to the practiced sequences. Moreover, activation in left-lateralized basal ganglia sites was negatively correlated with stuttering severity in AWS. Collectively, these findings indicate that AWS exhibit no deficit in learning novel speech sequences but do show impaired execution of these sequences prior to and after learning.

scholarly journals Behavioral and neural correlates of speech motor sequence learning in stuttering and neurotypical speakers: an fMRI investigation

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-86
Author(s):  
Matthew Masapollo ◽  
Jennifer A. Segawa ◽  
Deryk S. Beal ◽  
Jason A. Tourville ◽  
Alfonso Nieto-Castañón ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sequence Learning ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Motor Sequence Learning ◽  
Motor Sequence ◽  
Motor Practice ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Speech Motor

Stuttering is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired production of coordinated articulatory movements needed for fluent speech. It is currently unknown whether these abnormal production characteristics reflect disruptions to brain mechanisms underlying the acquisition and/or execution of speech motor sequences. To dissociate learning and control processes, we used a motor sequence learning paradigm to examine the behavioral and neural correlates of learning to produce novel phoneme sequences in adults who stutter (AWS) and neurotypical controls. Participants intensively practiced producing pseudowords containing non-native consonant clusters (e.g., “gvasf”) over two days. The behavioral results indicated that although the two experimental groups showed comparable learning trajectories, AWS performed significantly worse on the task prior to and after speech motor practice. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the authors compared brain activity during articulation of the practiced words and a set of novel pseudowords (matched in phonetic complexity). FMRI analyses revealed no differences between AWS and controls in cortical or subcortical regions; both groups showed comparable increases in activation in left-lateralized brain areas implicated in phonological working memory and speech motor planning during production of the novel sequences compared to the practiced sequences. Moreover, activation in left-lateralized basal ganglia sites was negatively correlated with in-scanner mean disfluency in AWS. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that AWS exhibit no deficit in constructing new speech motor sequences but do show impaired execution of these sequences before and after they have been acquired and consolidated.

scholarly journals Behavioral and neural correlates of speech motor sequence learning in stuttering and neurotypical speakers: an fMRI investigation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Masapollo ◽  
Frank H H Guenther
Keyword(s):  
Sequence Learning ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Motor Sequence Learning ◽  
Motor Sequence ◽  
Motor Practice ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Speech Motor

Stuttering is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired production of coordinated articulatory movements needed for fluent speech. It is currently unknown whether these abnormal production characteristics reflect disruptions to brain mechanisms underlying the acquisition and/or execution of speech motor sequences. To dissociate learning and control processes, we used a motor sequence learning paradigm to examine the behavioral and neural correlates of learning to produce novel phoneme sequences in adults who stutter (AWS) and neurotypical controls. Participants intensively practiced producing pseudowords containing non-native consonant clusters (e.g., “gvasf”) over two days. The behavioral results indicated that although the two experimental groups showed comparable learning trajectories, AWS performed significantly worse on the task prior to and after speech motor practice. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the authors compared brain activity during articulation of the practiced words and a set of novel pseudowords (matched in phonetic complexity). FMRI analyses revealed no differences between AWS and controls in cortical or subcortical regions; both groups showed comparable increases in activation in left-lateralized brain areas implicated in phonological working memory and speech motor planning during production of the novel sequences compared to the practiced sequences. Moreover, activation in left-lateralized basal ganglia sites was negatively correlated with in-scanner mean disfluency in AWS. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that AWS exhibit no deficit in constructing new speech motor sequences but do show impaired execution of these sequences before and after they have been acquired and consolidated.

Investigating speech motor practice and learning in people who stutter

2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aravind Kumar Namasivayam ◽  
Pascal van Lieshout
Keyword(s):  
Motor Practice ◽  
Speech Motor

Effects of Attentional Focus on Speech Motor Control in Adults Who Stutter and Its Relationship to Social Stress: A Pilot Project

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 884-894
Author(s):  
Kim R. Bauerly ◽  
Antje Mefferd
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Stress Conditions ◽  
Speech Motor Control ◽  
Attention Focus ◽  
Adults Who Stutter ◽  
Posterior Tongue ◽  
Speech Motor

Purpose The purpose of this pilot study was to assess speech motor variability in adults who stutter (AWS) compared to adults who do not stutter (ANS) when speaking under different attention focus condition with and without social stress. We also aimed to verify procedures and methods for eliciting social stress prior to the recruitment of a larger sample size. Method Three AWS (aged 24–32 years) and five ANS (aged 19–49 years) completed the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (Speilberger et al., 1983), the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (Mattick & Clark, 1998), and the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation (Leary, 1983). Participants were required to repeat sentences under internal and external attentional focus conditions as well as in front of an audience. Objective measures of social stress were obtained by measuring skin conductance levels (SCL), an index of sympathetic nervous system activity, before and during an audience condition. Measures of posterior tongue variability were used as a measure of articulatory coordination. Results Descriptive analysis revealed some of the AWS self-reported higher scores on tests of anxiety. SCL increased from baseline to social stress conditions in both AWS and ANS, supporting the use of this procedure for eliciting feelings of social stress. AWS showed higher levels of SCL compared to ANS during both baseline and social stress conditions. Descriptive analysis indicated notable between-groups differences for posterior tongue variability during attention focus and social stress conditions. Conclusions Our findings offer preliminary insights into the role attention may play as a contributing factor to the effects of social stress on speech motor control. Although individual response patterns varied, findings can be used to make inferences about the role of attention on speech motor control in AWS and ANS.

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