Sensory Mechanisms of Voice Control

描述（由申请人提供）：语音障碍是影响沟通障碍者的最常见疾病之一。患有这些疾病的人很难与他人沟通，这些疾病可能会对他们的职业生涯产生不利影响，并且这些人往往会变得孤立。如果不对这些疾病的原因有一个坚实的了解，我们就很难预防这些疾病。这种缺乏理解的部分原因是因为缺乏正常语音控制机制的基本知识。最近的研究表明，感觉反馈在语音控制中起着重要作用。该研究项目的总体目标是了解参与语音控制的神经机制。在过去的几年里，我们已经了解到，当人们发声或说话时，对他们的声音听觉反馈的实验操作会导致他们的声音基频（F0）或振幅的反射性变化。我们还了解到，帕金森病患者或自闭症儿童对这些操作有异常大的反应。这些观察结果表明，在某些神经系统疾病中，参与对语音听觉反馈扰动产生反应的神经机制是异常的。出于这个原因，有必要了解大脑如何控制对声音反馈扰动的反应。在拟议的研究中，我们将记录癫痫患者脑表面的电位。我们还将获得受试者对声音听觉反馈（fMRI）扰动的反应时血流变化的图像。然后，我们将用磁力刺激大脑中在这个过程中活跃的区域，这将暂时改变那些在反射过程中活跃的区域的神经功能。我们将建立一个模型，基于对磁刺激的反应，大脑中涉及反射反应的连接。这些数据将使我们能够发展更具体的假设，关于大脑的几个区域中的每一个如何参与对语音听觉反馈扰动的反应。公共卫生相关性：这项研究项目将提高我们对语音控制所涉及的大脑机制的理解。这种理解将导致新的诊断和治疗程序的患者患有语音障碍。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Voice disorders are among the most prevalent disorders affecting people with communication disabilities. People afflicted with these disorders have difficulty communication with others, the disorders may adversely affect their careers, and the people often become socially isolated. There is little we can do to prevent these disorders without a solid understanding of their cause. Part of the reason for this lack of understanding is because of the lack of basic knowledge of normal voice control mechanisms. Recent research has shown that sensory feedback plays an important role in voice control. The overall goal of this research project is to understand the neural mechanisms involved in voice control. We have learned over the past several years that as people are vocalizing or speaking, that experimental manipulation of their voice auditory feedback causes a reflexive change in their voice fundamental frequency (F0) or amplitude. We have also learned that people with Parkinson's disease or children with autism have unusually large responses to these manipulations. These observations indicate that neural mechanisms involved in generating responses to perturbations in voice auditory feedback are abnormal in some neurological disorders. For this reason it is necessary to learn how the brain controls the responses to perturbations in voice feedback. In the proposed studies, we will record electrical potentials from the brain surface in patients being treated with epilepsy. We will also obtain images of the blood flow changes in subjects as they respond to perturbations in voice auditory feedback (fMRI). We will then magnetically stimulate those areas of the brain shown to be active in this process, which will temporarily change neural functioning in those areas known to be active during the reflexes. We will develop a model, based on the responses to magnetic stimulation, of the connections within the brain that are involved in the reflexive responses. These data will allow us to develop more specific hypotheses on how each of several areas of the brain are involved in the responses to perturbations in voice auditory feedback. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This research project will improve our understanding of brain mechanisms involved in voice control. This understanding will lead to new diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for patients suffering from voice disorders.