MECHANISMS OF SPEECH MOTOR CONTROL

言语产生的一个最显著的特点是其可变性。 可以影响发音变化的范围和程度的变量列表是广泛的，从主动控制过程到神经信号中的噪声以及由于语音产生机制的解剖学和生物力学的约束。 我们在这项研究中的目的是能够分离这些变异的来源，并在这样做，以隔离在言语产生的控制信号的特性，从其他言语行为的决定因素。 我们专注于一些基本问题，在言语运动控制：神经和生物力学因素的协调和coarticulation的相对作用，生物物理（非语言）变量对言语运动的影响，和一个综合模型的生物力学和神经控制的orofacial关节的发展。 本申请中提出的工作重点是发展对基本感觉运动过程和言语产生的组织原则的理解。这项工作的一个基本目标是开发一个语音产生的神经控制模型。 这是一项巨大的努力，需要在生理学、统计学、机器人、计算机科学、语言学和运动控制领域具有重叠兴趣和互补专业知识的团体和个人的贡献。 这次更新代表了通过纳入新的合作者来扩大以前申请的范围，所有这些合作者都在过去的资助期内与我们合作。 该小组代表了杰出的研究人员和高技能的年轻科学家的整合，他们有一个共同的焦点-为理解言语产生提供理论和经验框架。 这项工作是多学科的，并通过提供解释正常和紊乱的言语和语言过程的生物学基础，具有显着的临床意义的潜力。

One of the most striking characteristics of speech production is its variability. The list of variables that can influence the extent and degree of articulatory variation is extensive, ranging from active control processes to noise in neural signals and constraints due to the anatomy and biomechanics of the speech production mechanism. Our aim in this research is to be able to separate these sources of variation and in so doing to isolate the characteristics of control signals in speech production from other determinants of speech behaviors. We focus on a number of fundamental issues in speech motor control: the relative roles of neural and biomechanical factors in coordination and coarticulation, the effects of biophysical (non-linguistic) variables on speech movements, and the development of an integrated model of the biomechanics and neural control of the orofacial articulators. The work proposed in this application is focused on developing an understanding of the basic sensorimotor processes and organizing principles of speech production. A fundamental goal of this work is to develop a neural control model of speech production. This is a substantial effort requiring contributions from groups and individuals with overlapping interests and complementary expertise in the areas of physiology, statistics, robotics, computer science, linguistics, and motor control. This renewal represents an expansion of the scope of the previous application through the inclusion of new collaborators, all of whom have worked with us during this past grant period. The group represents an integration of prominent researchers and highly skilled younger scientists with a common focus --- providing a theoretical and empirical framework for understanding speech production. This effort is multidisciplinary and has the potential for significant clinical relevance by providing a biological foundation for interpreting normal and disordered speech and language processes.