Auditory prediction and error evaluation in the speech of individuals who stutter

项目摘要/摘要 口吃是一种言语流利性障碍，对5%-8%的儿童的交流能力有负面影响 1%的成年人。口吃还会限制个人的学业、职业成就和社交能力。 心理健康。不幸的是，现有的口吃治疗方法与相当多的个体有关。 他们结果的差异，在某些情况下，是完全无效的。此外，现有的治疗方法需要 许多疗程，其中一些容易复发高达70%，导致昂贵的解决方案 可获得性，特别是对社会经济背景较低的个人。发展的主要障碍 有效的口吃治疗是我们对口吃背后的特定神经过程的不完全理解 口吃的行为方面。迫切需要(1)确定潜在的有缺陷的神经过程 口吃，(2)确定它们对言语流畅性障碍的功能贡献，以及(3)发展神经 以及专门针对有缺陷的过程的行为干预，从而促进在 口吃的人。目前的言语理论认为，当大脑准备言语动作时，它使用它的 预测使感觉系统做好准备，以便更有效和准确地进行语音监控。这些预测性的 感觉运动过程及其与错误检测过程的相互作用对流利的语音至关重要 制作。这个项目的总体目标是阐明预测性感觉运动过程在 口吃儿童和成人的言语流畅性障碍。我们将使用行为解决此问题 神经生理记录与神经刺激技术相结合。我们的中心假设是 口吃与预测性感觉运动过程的缺陷有关，从而导致不准确的预测。目标 1将评估暴露在听觉错误中对以下个人预测性感觉运动过程的影响 口吃跨越了寿命。目标2将通过以下方式描述预测和听觉反馈的时间对齐 延迟听觉反馈或语音启动。目标3将确定演讲的功能贡献 运动前皮质在预测感觉运动过程中的作用。总体而言，这种机械论的预期结果 研究计划是对口吃预测过程中缺陷的神经发育的详细描述 整个生命周期中的个体。该项目的结果将产生关键的积极影响，因为(1)它们将形成 为开发针对口吃的神经和行为干预措施奠定了坚实的科学基础，以及(2)它们将 对口吃和言语产生的理论有重大影响。

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT Stuttering is a speech fluency disorder that negatively impacts the communicative abilities of 5–8% of children and 1% of adults. Stuttering also limits the individual’s academic-occupational achievement and social- psychological wellbeing. Unfortunately, existing stuttering treatments are associated with considerable individual variation in their outcomes, and in some cases, are entirely ineffective. Additionally, existing treatments require many sessions, and some are susceptible to as much as 70% relapse, leading to costly solutions with limited accessibility, especially for individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. A major barrier to developing effective stuttering treatments is our incomplete understanding of the specific neural processes underlying the behavioral aspects of stuttering. There is a critical need to (1) identify the deficient neural processes underlying stuttering, (2) determine their functional contributions to breakdowns in speech fluency, and (3) develop neural and behavioral interventions that specifically target the deficient processes, and thus, promote fluency in individuals who stutter. Current speech theories posit that as the brain prepares speech movements, it uses its predictions to prepare the sensory systems for more efficient and accurate speech monitoring. These predictive sensorimotor processes and their interplay with error-detection processes are critical for fluent speech production. This project’s overall objective is to elucidate the role of predictive sensorimotor processes in the breakdowns of speech fluency in children and adults who stutter. We will address this question using behavioral and neurophysiological recordings combined with neurostimulation techniques. Our central hypothesis is that stuttering is associated with deficits in predictive sensorimotor processes, leading to inaccurate predictions. Aim 1 will evaluate the effects of exposure to auditory errors on predictive sensorimotor processes of individuals who stutter across the lifespan. Aim 2 will characterize the temporal alignment of prediction and auditory feedback by delaying auditory feedback or speech initiation. Aim 3 will determine the functional contributions of the speech premotor cortex in predictive sensorimotor processes. Overall, the expected outcome of this mechanistic research program is a detailed neuro-developmental account of deficits in predictive processes of stuttering individuals across the lifespan. This project’s results will have a critical positive impact because (1) they will form a robust scientific foundation for developing neural and behavioral interventions for stuttering, and (2) they will have significant implications for theories of stuttering and speech production.