Sensory Mechanisms of Voice Control

描述（由申请人提供）：语音障碍是影响沟通障碍者的最常见疾病之一。患有这些疾病的人很难与他人沟通，这些疾病可能会对他们的职业生涯产生不利影响，并且这些人往往会变得孤立。如果不对这些疾病的原因有一个坚实的了解，我们就很难预防这些疾病。这种缺乏理解的部分原因是因为缺乏对声音正常控制机制的基本知识。有人认为，感官反馈可能参与控制声音，但几乎没有确凿的证据支持这一说法。 本研究的总体目标是了解感觉反馈在声音基频（F0）和强度控制中的作用。人们使用他们的声音的各种功能，如演讲，唱歌和情感表达。为了充分理解语音F0和强度是如何被控制的，我们必须在不同的任务中研究它们，因为从其他运动系统的研究中得知，感觉反馈的重要性根据任务的要求而变化。当受试者从事不同的发声任务时，将研究来自喉部的听觉和动觉反馈。该建议的总体假设是，音高和响度移位反射的幅度取决于喉动觉反馈的存在，并根据感官反馈的重要性而变化，以在特定的任务中的F0和强度控制的准确性。通过测试人们在不同任务中使用声音时的声音反射，我们将了解感官反馈在任务中是如何调节的。据推测，听觉反射幅度将增加任务，需要熟练使用的声音，无论是在频率和强度的发声。测试的任务包括音高匹配、响度调节、语音和唱歌.也有人假设，动觉和听觉反馈相互作用，在他们的声音控制。这种相互作用在试点研究中显示，当声带被麻醉或振动刺激施加到喉部时，音高移位反射的幅度急剧增加。改变来自声带的动觉反馈，同时测试听觉反射，将提供关于控制这两种反馈源之间相互作用的大脑机制的重要信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Voice disorders are among the most prevalent disorders affecting people with communication disabilities. People afflicted with these disorders have difficulty communicating 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 control mechanisms of the voice. It is assumed that sensory feedback may be involved in control of the voice, but there is little hard evidence to support this claim. The overall goal of this research project is to understand the function of sensory feedback in the control of voice fundamental frequency (F0) and intensity. People use their voice for a variety of functions such as speech, singing and emotional expression. To fully understand how voice F0 and intensity are controlled, we must study them in different tasks, because it is known from research in other motor systems that the importance of sensory feedback varies according to the demands of the task. Auditory and kinesthetic feedback from the larynx will be studied as subjects are engaged in different vocal tasks. The overall hypothesis of the proposal is that the magnitude of pitch and loudness shift reflexes depend on the presence of laryngeal kinesthetic feedback and vary according to the importance of sensory feedback for accuracy of F0 and intensity control in specific tasks. By testing vocal reflexes as people are using their voice in different tasks, we will learn how sensory feedback is modulated in the tasks. It is hypothesized that auditory reflex magnitudes will increase in tasks that require skilled use of the voice, both in frequency and intensity of phonation. The tasks to be tested include pitch matching, loudness regulation, speech and singing a musical scale. It is also hypothesized that kinesthetic and auditory feedback interact in their control of the voice. This interaction was shown in pilot studies in which the pitch-shift reflex dramatically increased in magnitude when the vocal folds were anesthetized or when vibratory stimuli were applied to the larynx. Altering kinesthetic feedback from the vocal folds and simultaneously testing auditory reflexes will provide important information on brain mechanisms that govern interaction between these two sources of feedback.