Sensory Mechanisms of Voice Control

摘要 声音障碍是影响人们沟通的最常见疾病之一 残疾。患有这些疾病的人与他人沟通有困难，这些疾病可能会 对他们的职业生涯产生不利影响，而且人们常常变得社会孤立。我们几乎无能为力来阻止 这些疾病没有对其病因有充分的了解。造成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础知识。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语音所涉及的神经机制 控制。过去几年我们了解到，当人们发声或说话时， 对他们的声音听觉反馈的实验性操纵会导致他们的声音基础发生反射性变化 频率（F0）或幅度。我们还了解到，帕金森病患者或自闭症儿童 对这些操纵有异常大的反应。这些观察表明神经机制 参与对语音听觉反馈扰动产生反应的神经系统在某些神经系统中是异常的 失调。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 治疗癫痫症。我们还将获得受试者响应时血流变化的图像 语音听觉反馈（fMRI）的扰动。然后我们将磁力刺激大脑的这些区域 在这个过程中表现出活跃，这将暂时改变那些已知区域的神经功能 反射期间活跃。我们将开发一个基于磁刺激响应的模型 大脑内参与反射反应的连接。这些数据将使我们能够开发 关于大脑的每个区域如何参与对事件的反应的更具体的假设 语音听觉反馈的扰动。

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.