Speech Motor Learning and Retention (Aim 3)

Purpose

The overall goal of this research is to test a new model of speech motor learning, whose central hypothesis is that learning and retention are associated with plasticity not only in motor areas of the brain but in auditory and somatosensory regions as well. The strategy for the proposed research is to identify individual brain areas that contribute causally to retention by disrupting their activity with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Investigators will also use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) which will enable identification of circuit-level activity which predicts either learning or retention of new movements, and hence test the specific contributions of candidate sensory and motor zones. In other studies, investigators will record sensory and motor evoked potentials over the course of learning to determine the temporal order in which individual sensory and cortical motor regions contribute. The goal here is to identify brain areas in which learning-related plasticity occurs first and which among these areas predict subsequent learning.

Condition

  • Speech

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 18 Years and 40 Years
Eligible Sex
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Inclusion Criteria

  • Fluent English speakers - Right-handed - Normal hearing - No speech disorder or reading disability

Exclusion Criteria

  • Cardiac pacemaker - Aneurysm clip - Heart or Vascular clip - Prosthetic valve - Metal implants - Metal in brain, skull, or spinal cord - Implanted neurostimulator - Medication infusion device - Cochlear implant or tinnitus (ringing in ears) - Personal and/or family history of epilepsy or other neurological disorders or history of head concussion - Psychoactive medications - Pregnancy

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Intervention Model Description
Healthy right-handed adults with normal hearing will be recruited in equal number from both sexes. All participants will be fluent English speakers.
Primary Purpose
Basic Science
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Altered auditory feedback + fMRI 		Participants will perform learning tasks then undergo fMRI. This procedure will be repeated on day 2. Functional connectivity patterns between regions that predict learning will be assessed. Participants then leave the laboratory and return 24 hours later to assess retention of learning.
  • Device: fMRI
    To assess functional connectivity patterns between regions that predict learning.
  • Behavioral: Adaptation
    Auditory adaptation in speech
Experimental
Control Condition 		Participants in a control condition who will undergo the same procedures, without altered feedback
  • Device: fMRI
    To assess functional connectivity patterns between regions that predict learning.
  • Behavioral: Adaptation
    Auditory baseline in speech

Recruiting Locations

Yale Child Study Center
New Haven, Connecticut 06520

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
Yale University

Study Contact

Michael Stern
2038656163
michael.stern@yale.edu

Detailed Description

The focus of this registration is Aim 3. Excitability will be assessed. In Aim 3, resting-state fMRI will be interleaved with speech motor adaptation, again using Harvard Sentences. Additional scans and retention tests will be conducted 24 hours later, to assess motor memory consolidation. The Speech Motor Learning and Retention Master Protocol is NCT06467292.