Sensory Mechanisms of Voice Control

摘要 语音障碍是影响人们沟通的最普遍的障碍之一 残疾。患有这些疾病的人难以与他人沟通，这些疾病可能 这对他们的职业生涯产生了不利影响，人们往往变得与社会隔绝。我们几乎无法阻止 这些疾病没有一个坚实的了解他们的原因。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重要作用。 本研究项目的总体目标是了解语音所涉及的神经机制 控制在过去的几年里，我们已经了解到，当人们发声或说话时， 实验操作他们的声音听觉反馈导致他们的声音的反射性变化的基本 频率（F0）或振幅。我们还了解到，患有帕金森氏症的人或患有自闭症的儿童 对这些操作有异常强烈的反应。这些观察结果表明， 参与对声音听觉反馈中的扰动产生反应的神经系统异常， 紊乱因此，有必要了解大脑如何控制对声音扰动的反应 反馈 在拟议的研究中，我们将记录患者大脑表面的电位， 治疗癫痫。我们还将获得受试者在对药物反应时血流变化的图像。 声音听觉反馈（fMRI）。然后我们会用磁力刺激大脑的这些区域 在这一过程中表现活跃，这将暂时改变那些已知区域的神经功能。 在反射时活跃。我们将开发一个模型，基于对磁刺激的反应， 大脑中与反射反应有关的连接。这些数据将使我们能够开发 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 声音听觉反馈的扰动。

Abstract 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.