Motor sequence learning, retention and transfer in children who stutter

语言是人类最复杂的运动行为之一，其特征是非常快速和精确的发音运动。控制语言及其发展的感觉运动机制尚不清楚。他们使用成人和儿童的典型以及紊乱的语言产生进行调查。目前的建议侧重于口吃儿童的语言产生，这是一种发育障碍，通常首先在青春期前的儿童中被诊断出来，其特征是语言流畅性中断。因为它的特点是流利和不流利的言语，其严重程度是可以操纵的，它构成了研究语音产生及其扰动的自然模型。我们小组之前完成的研究表明，口吃的成年人在获得新运动序列的能力上存在缺陷。由于这在言语和非言语行为中都很明显，我们假设存在广义运动缺陷。这一观察结果使我们能够利用非言语运动任务来深入了解对言语产生也很重要的过程。然而，在成人中获得的数据可能不一定与仍在发展运动技能的年幼儿童相关。我们计划通过调查口吃和非口吃儿童的言语和非言语运动学习来扩展我们早期的研究。许多关于儿童学习新语言和非语言（手指敲击）序列的能力的研究将会完成。运动练习要么是明确的（孩子们被告知要练习什么），要么是隐性的（孩子们没有意识到练习任务）。此外，还提出了在任务完成过程中控制反馈频率的实验。最后，提出了一项功能磁共振成像研究来分析儿童运动学习的神经过程。这项研究的结果将使我们有助于理解言语运动控制过程的发展，并对可能导致言语障碍的过程有更深入的了解。

Speech is one of the most intricate motor behaviours in humans characterized by very fast and precise articulatory movements. The sensorimotor mechanisms that control speech and its development are not well understood. They are investigated using typical as well as disordered speech production in adults and children. The current proposal focuses on speech production in children who stutter, which is a developmental disorder, typically first diagnosed in prepubescent children, characterized by disruptions of speech fluency. Because it is characterized by both fluent and disfluent speech, the severity of which can be manipulated, it constitutes a natural model for studying speech production and its perturbations. Previous research completed by our group has shown that stuttering adults show a deficit in their ability to acquire novel motor sequences. Because this is apparent in both speech and nonspeech behaviour we have hypothesized the presence of a generalized motor deficit. This observation allows us to use nonspeech motor tasks to gain insight into processes that are important for speech production also. However, data obtained in adults may not necessarily be relevant to younger children who are still developing their motor skills. We plan to extend our earlier research by investigating speech and nonspeech motor learning in children who do and do not stutter. A number of studies will be completed investigating children's abilities to learn novel speech and nonspeech (finger tapping) sequences. Motor practice will be presented either explicitly (children are told what to practice) or implicitly (children are not aware of the practice task). In addition, experiments are proposed which manipulate the frequency of feedback provided during task completion. Finally, a functional magnetic resonance imaging study is proposed to analyze the neural processes underlying motor learning in children. The results from this study will allow us to contribute to the understanding of the development of speech motor control processes and to gain a deeper understanding in the processes that may underlie disordered speech.