This proposal requests partial funding for a research conference on motor speech disorders and fluency to be held in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, in July 2001. The planned conference will focus on recent models and research findings in speech production as related to the neural organization of speech, speech motor control, and disorders in speech production. This conference would be the Fourth International Nijmegen Speech Motor Conference. Its predecessors were held in 1985, 1990, and 1996. The approximately five-year intervals between conferences insures that much new information is available for presentation and that there is an excellent opportunity to synthesis research findings over the period. The published proceedings from the earlier conferences have been landmark publications that record progress in the understanding of speech motor control with an emphasis on fluency disorders. Attendance at previous conferences has averaged about 115, with scientists from the U.S.A. being the largest national representation. This proposal seeks travel support for scientists from the U.S.A., including invited speakers and scientists from under represented minorities.
