Auditory masking effects on speech fluency in aphasia and apraxia of speech

描述(申请人提供)：本研究的目的是测试听噪音(即听觉反馈掩蔽)对患有失语症和失用症的中风幸存者的言语流畅性的影响。不流利类型的失语症患者经常会有言语失用，这会影响言语动作的运动编程，导致语言失真、语速减慢和言语不流畅，阻碍了交流的前进。众所周知，在听噪音时说话(例如，听觉掩蔽)可以减少口吃的不流利性，提高口吃者的语速。这种方法已经在失语症患者身上进行了测试，结果对受试者的一部分人的语音产生产生了积极的影响。我们认为，除失语症外还有言语失用症的人最有可能从听觉掩蔽中受益，但之前的大多数研究都没有测试参与者的言语失用症。此外，尽管掩饰最有可能影响言语不流畅，但之前的研究并没有衡量不流利程度。拟议的工作有两个具体目标。目的1研究听觉掩蔽对卒中失语和失用症患者言语流畅性的影响。目标2将确定预测积极反应的个别因素，包括存在 语言失用症、病变特征和失语症类型(例如Broca‘s、Wernike’s)。基于体素的病变分析技术将用于确定与听觉掩蔽的阳性反应和阴性反应相关的病变位置。这项研究的完成将消除将听觉掩蔽作为一种临床干预技术进行研究的障碍，也将作为行为神经学家探索失语症和言语失用者的言语运动控制系统的研究工具。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The objective of this research is to test the effects of listening to noise (i.e. auditory feedback masking) on speech fluency in stroke survivors with aphasia and apraxia of speech. People with nonfluent types of aphasia frequently have apraxia of speech, which affects the motor programming of speech movements, causing distortions, slow rate, and speech disfluencies that impede the forward flow of communication. Speaking while listening to noise (e.g. auditory masking) is known to reduce disfluencies and increase speech rate in people who stutter. This method has been tested in people with aphasia, resulting in positive effects on speech production for a subset of those tested. We contend that individuals who have apraxia of speech in addition to aphasia are most likely to benefit from auditory masking, but most previous studies did not test participants for apraxia of speech. In addition, though masking is most likely to affect speech disfluencies, previous studies did not measures disfluencies. The proposed work has two specific aims. Aim 1 will determine the effect of auditory masking on speech fluency in stroke survivors with aphasia and apraxia of speech. Aim 2 will identify individual factors that predict a positive response, including presence of apraxia of speech, lesion characteristics, and type of aphasia (e.g. Broca's, Wernicke's). Voxel-based lesion analysis techniques will be used to determine sites of lesion associated with positive and negative response to auditory masking. Completion of this study will remove barriers to studying auditory masking as a technique for clinical intervention, but also as a research tool for behavioral neuroscientists probing the speech motor control system in speakers with aphasia and apraxia of speech.