Predictors of Speech Motor Sequence Learning in Neurological Disorders

项目摘要 对于许多患有神经性言语障碍的美国人来说，说话的简单任务--产生一种 语音顺序--在日常生活中有很大的障碍。因此，学习发出新的声音 序列(如难单词中的序列)是言语康复的中心组成部分。然而， 言语运动序列学习的潜在机制尽管至关重要，但人们对此知之甚少 将这一过程转化为言语治疗。准确的语音产生既包括语音编码阶段，也包括 计划和排序即将到来的声音单元(即音素)和电机编程阶段，以将 将计划好的音素转化为精确的运动动作。目前尚不清楚这两个阶段如何相互作用以支持 新语音序列的学习。这项建议的主要目标是区分 语音运动序列学习过程中的语音规划和语音运动编程过程 原发性进行性失语(PPA)患者。PPA是一种神经退行性疾病，其中 大脑萎缩的位置和程度与每个人特定的言语-语言障碍密切相关， 从而允许相对精确地定位语音语言功能。患有PPA的患者可能有 孤立的语音障碍(例如，对数变异PPA)或运动编程障碍(例如， 进行性言语失用症)，或可能有相对完整的言语。在这个项目中，参与者将完成一个 为期两天的学习范式，他们将练习包含非母语辅音簇的新音节，这些音节 不会出现在英语中。在练习辅音簇的准确性和速度方面的改进将 与他们在包含未经训练的非母语辅音簇的音节上的表现进行比较。中环 基于Godiva语音序列模型的假设是，语音学习应该导致 减少说话时长，同时学习运动程序应该会提高准确率。这个项目将 通过两个具体的目标来检验这一假设：1)确定言语运动序列的行为预测因子 学习能力，以及2)建立这些能力的神经关联。目标1将测试两者之间的关系 语音和运动编程能力的学习措施和常见的临床测量。目标2将 语音学习测验与大脑皮质变薄程度的关系分析 运动编程大脑区域。这项研究将进一步加深我们对言语机制的了解 运动序列学习，符合NIDCD的使命，促进我们对正常和紊乱的理解 语言和改善沟通障碍患者的生活。这项提案还将提供至关重要的 培训领域包括结构神经成像方法和神经退行性言语障碍研究 这些对于学员成功过渡到独立的研究生涯是必不可少的。

Project Summary For the many Americans living with neurogenic speech disorders, the simple task of talking—producing a sequence of speech sounds—presents significant barriers in daily life. Therefore, learning to produce new sound sequences (such as those in a difficult word) is a central component of speech rehabilitation. However, the mechanisms underlying speech motor sequence learning are poorly understood despite the critical importance of this process to speech therapy. Accurate speech production involves both a phonological encoding stage to plan and sequence upcoming sound units (i.e., phonemes) and a motor programming stage to transform the planned phonemes into precise motor movements. It remains unclear how these two stages interact to support the learning of new speech sequences. The primary objective of this proposal is to differentiate the roles of phonological planning and speech motor programming processes during speech motor sequence learning in patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA). PPA is a category of neurodegenerative disease in which the location and degree of brain atrophy is closely tied to specific speech-language impairments in each individual, and thus allows for relatively precise localization of speech-language function. Patients with PPA may have isolated phonological impairment (e.g., logopenic-variant PPA) or motor programming impairment (e.g., progressive apraxia of speech), or may have relatively intact speech. In this project, participants will complete a two-day learning paradigm where they will practice novel syllables containing non-native consonant clusters that do not occur in English. Improvements in the accuracy and speed of practiced consonant clusters will be compared to their performance on syllables containing untrained non-native consonant clusters. The central hypothesis, based on the GODIVA model of speech sequencing, is that phonological learning should result in reduced utterance duration while motor program learning should result in improved accuracy. This project will test this hypothesis through two specific aims: 1) determine the behavioral predictors of speech motor sequence learning abilities, and 2) establish the neural correlates of these abilities. Aim 1 will test the relationship between learning measures and common clinical measures of phonological and motor programming ability. Aim 2 will analyze the relationship between learning measures and the degree of cortical thinning in phonological and motor programming brain regions. This study will further our knowledge of the mechanisms involved in speech motor sequence learning, in line with the NIDCD mission to advance our understanding of normal and disordered speech and improve the lives of individuals with communication disorders. This proposal will also provide crucial training in areas including structural neuroimaging methods and neurodegenerative speech disorder research that are essential for the trainee’s successful transition to an independent research career.