Real-time differences in sensorimotor integration for speech perception between stuttering and non-stuttering populations

 描述(申请人提供)：口吃是一种衰弱的沟通障碍，仍然没有已知的原因或治疗方法。它被归因于言语中感觉运动整合(SMI)的损害，特别是运动前/运动区的功能障碍，与产生语音产生和知觉的内部模型以及整合来自感觉区域的反馈有关。口吃如何改变语音感知的SMI还不是很清楚，因为缺乏口吃者语音/声调辨别中SMI的时间敏感测量的数据。这项研究的目的是使用脑电(EEG)来识别流利和口吃人群在口吃的语音/声调辨别任务中SMI的实时差异。拟议的研究旨在为长期研究奠定基础，目的是建立一种经济有效的手段来确定幼儿口吃的风险，以及确定与口吃治疗相关的功能性皮质重组。具体地说，我们将测量口吃和流利的说话者之间运动和感觉对SMI的实时振荡差异，这将通过测量EEG u(µ)节奏的α和β频段的频谱功率的变化来确定，我们之前已经建立了这一指标来索引语音感知中的SMI。µ节律具有两个不同的能量带，一个在~10赫兹，另一个在~20赫兹，频谱功率的变化分别代表感觉和运动对SMI的贡献。它通常定位于与SMI相关的皮质区域。将使用与事件相关的频谱扰动分析来映射在声事件的时间过程中的运动(例如，内部建模)和感觉(例如，来自听觉区域的反馈)活动。在两个实验中，数据将从口吃的成年人和不口吃的成年人以及口吃的儿童和已经从口吃中恢复的儿童中获得。第一个实验将比较两组成年人在安静和嘈杂的音节和声调辨别任务中的辨别能力，以及运动和感觉对SMI的贡献。第二个实验将比较口吃儿童和口吃恢复儿童在言语辨别任务和类似的声调辨别任务中的辨别能力，以及运动和感觉对SMI的贡献。这个项目的成功完成将影响对口吃神经病理学的理解，因为它提供了一种可通过语音感知识别的口吃障碍的敏感神经标记物。它将为发展长期转化性研究提供动力，旨在进一步评估该方案作为治疗幼儿口吃的经济有效的试金石的使用。这是开发一种工具来预测幼儿口吃风险和持续性与发育性口吃恢复的第一步。此外，它还提供了持续性口吃治疗后功能性皮质重组的结果衡量标准。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Stuttering is a debilitating communicative disorder, still without a known cause or cure. It is attributed to compromised sensorimotor integration (SMI) in speech, specifically dysfunction in premotor /motor areas associated with producing internal models for speech production and perception and integrating feedback from sensory regions. It is not well understood how stuttering alters SMI for speech perception as there is a paucity of data of time-sensitive measures of SMI in speech / tone discrimination from people who stutter. The goal of the proposed research is to use electroencephalography (EEG) to identify real-time differences in SMI between fluent and stuttering populations in speech / tone discrimination tasks that characterize stuttering. The proposed studies are intended to lay the groundwork for long term research intent on establishing an economical and efficient means of identifying risk for stuttering in young children, as well as identifying functional cortical reorganization related to therapy for stuttering. Specifically, we will measure real-time oscillatoy differences of motor and sensory contributions to SMI between stuttering and fluent speakers that will be identified by measuring changes in spectral power in the alpha and beta bands of EEG mu (µ) rhythms, which we have previously established to index SMI in speech perception. The µ rhythm is characterized by two distinct bands of energy, one at ~10 Hz and one at ~20 Hz, with changes in spectral power representing sensory and motor contributions to SMI, respectively. It typically is localized to regions of the cortex associated with SMI. Motor (e.g., internal modeling) and sensory (e.g., feedback from auditory regions) activity across the time course of acoustic events will be mapped using event-related spectral perturbation analysis. In two experiments, data will be obtained from adults who stutter and adults who do not stutter and children who stutter and children who have recovered from stuttering. The first experiment will compare discrimination ability in addition to the strength and timing of motor and sensory contributions to SMI in quiet and noisy syllable and tone discrimination tasks between the two groups of adults. The second experiment will compare discrimination ability in addition to the strength and timing of motor and sensory contributions to SMI in speech discrimination tasks and comparable tone discrimination tasks in children who stutter and those who have recovered from stuttering. Successful completion of this project will impact the understanding of the neuropathology of stuttering by providing a sensitive neural marker of the disorder, identifiable via speech perception. It will provide the impetus for developing translational long-term studies designed to further assess the use of this protocol as an economical and efficient litmus test for stuttering in young children. It is the first step in developing a tool to predict risk of stutterig and persistence versus recovery from developmental stuttering in young children. In addition, it supplies an outcome measure of functional cortical re-organization following therapy for persistent stuttering.