The overall goal of this project is to develop and test a detailed neural and computational account of the brain mechanisms underlying speech motor sequence planning and their breakdown in stuttering. Persistent developmental stuttering affects more than three million people in the United States, and it can have profound adverse effects on social, psychological, and occupational well-being. Despite its world-wide prevalence and negative impact, stuttering has resisted explanation and effective treatment. This project investigates the hypothesis that stuttering is caused by a network-level neural disturbance rather than a disturbance in a single neural region, and the functional result of this disturbance is an impaired ability to use phonological and sensorimotor contextual cues to select and initiate motor programs for upcoming speech gestures. This hypothesis will be tested using a highly integrated combination of neuroimaging and modeling studies organized around the GODIVA neurocomputational model of speech motor sequencing. Study 1 involves the use perturbations of auditory feedback during speech in a functional MRI study of the brain mechanisms underlying speech timing adjustments based on sensorimotor context. Comparison of brain activities from AWS to fluent controls will identify the neural deficits underlying an impaired ability of adults who stutter (AWS) to adjust speech motor timing in response to auditory feedback. In Study 2, repetition suppression functional magnetic resonance imaging will be used to (i) refine our understanding of phonological representations underlying speech production in fluent adults, and (ii) identify anomalies in the phonological representations of AWS that may degrade the speech sequencing system's ability to recognize the proper context for generating the next speech gesture. Study 3 utilizes a large structural and functional neuroimaging dataset from children who stutter (CWS), AWS, and matched controls to disentangle primary neural deficits underlying stuttering from secondary deficits and compensatory mechanisms, and to identify potential sub-types of stuttering involving different neural anomalies. Study 4 is a modeling project that synthesizes the findings from Studies 1- 3 into a detailed neurocomputational account of speech motor sequencing in the normal brain and its breakdown in stuttering. Key benchmarks of success include the ability to replicate anomalous movement timing patterns and neural activity in AWS and CWS compared to fluent speakers. The resulting neurocomputational model of stuttering will constitute a significant milestone in the centuries-old effort to understand this perplexing disorder and will pave the way for designing and testing novel treatments that are aimed squarely at the primary neural deficits.

Public Health Relevance

This project will improve our understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying the planning of speech and how this process is disrupted in persons who stutter. The outcome of this research is expected to significantly accelerate the development of treatments for stuttering, which would have a profound impact on millions of people affected by this disorder.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
2R01DC007683-11
Application #
8960716
Study Section
Motor Function, Speech and Rehabilitation Study Section (MFSR)
Program Officer
Shekim, Lana O
Project Start
2005-07-01
Project End
2021-04-30
Budget Start
2016-05-01
Budget End
2017-04-30
Support Year
11
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Boston University
Department
Miscellaneous
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
049435266
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
Daliri, Ayoub; Wieland, Elizabeth A; Cai, Shanqing et al. (2018) Auditory-motor adaptation is reduced in adults who stutter but not in children who stutter. Dev Sci 21:
Sitek, Kevin R; Cai, Shanqing; Beal, Deryk S et al. (2016) Decreased Cerebellar-Orbitofrontal Connectivity Correlates with Stuttering Severity: Whole-Brain Functional and Structural Connectivity Associations with Persistent Developmental Stuttering. Front Hum Neurosci 10:190
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Cai, Shanqing; Beal, Deryk S; Ghosh, Satrajit S et al. (2014) Impaired timing adjustments in response to time-varying auditory perturbation during connected speech production in persons who stutter. Brain Lang 129:24-9

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