1
|
Beach SD, Johnson SA, Parrell B, Niziolek CA. Increased vowel contrast and intelligibility in connected speech induced by sensorimotor adaptation. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.08.04.606537. [PMID: 39149284 PMCID: PMC11326165 DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.04.606537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/17/2024]
Abstract
Alterations to sensory feedback can drive robust adaptive changes to the production of consonants and vowels, but these changes often have no behavioral relevance or benefit to communication (e.g., making "head" more like "had"). This work aims to align the outcomes of adaptation with changes known to increase speech intelligibility - specifically, adaptations that increase the acoustic contrast between vowels in running speech. To this end, we implemented a vowel centralization feedback perturbation paradigm that pushes all vowels towards the center of vowel space, making them sound less distinct from one another. Speakers across the adult lifespan adapted to the centralization perturbation during sentence production, increasing the global acoustic contrast among vowels and the articulatory excursions for individual vowels. These changes persisted after the perturbation was removed, including after a silent delay, and showed robust transfer to words that were not present in the sentences. Control analyses demonstrated that these effects were unlikely to be due to explicit pronunciation strategies and occurred in the face of increasingly more rapid and less distinct production of familiar sentences. Finally, sentence transcription by crowd-sourced listeners showed that speakers' vowel contrast predicted their baseline intelligibility and that experimentally-induced increases in contrast predicted intelligibility gains. These findings establish the validity of a sensorimotor adaptation paradigm to implicitly increase vowel contrast and intelligibility in connected speech, an outcome that has the potential to enhance rehabilitation in individuals who present with a reduced vowel space due to motor speech disorders, such as the hypokinetic dysarthria associated with Parkinson's disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sara D. Beach
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | | | - Benjamin Parrell
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- These authors contributed equally
| | - Caroline A. Niziolek
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- These authors contributed equally
- Lead contact
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Zhang S, Wilmut K, Zhang K, Wang S. Age-related changes in motor planning for prior intentions: a mouse tracking reach-to-click task. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1323798. [PMID: 38562237 PMCID: PMC10983849 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1323798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
When we complete sequential movements with different intentions, we plan our movements and adjust ahead. Such a phenomenon is called anticipatory planning for prior intentions and is known to decline with age. In daily life activities, we often need to consider and plan for multiple demands in one movement sequence. However, previous studies only considered one dimension of prior intentions, either different types of onward actions or different precisions of fit or placement. Therefore, in this study, we investigated anticipatory planning for both extrinsic (movement direction) and intrinsic (fit precision) target-related properties in a computer-based movement task and analyzed the computer cursor movement kinematics of both young and older adults. We found that older people consider and adjust for different properties step-by-step, with movement direction being considered as a prior intention during reach movement and fit precision as a motor constraint during drop movement. The age-related changes in the completion of onward actions are constrained by one's general cognitive ability, sensorimotor performance and effective motor planning for prior intentions. Age-related decline in motor planning can manifest as counterproductive movement profiles, resulting in suboptimal performance of intended actions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shujing Zhang
- Global Health Research Center, Duke Kunshan University, Kunshan, China
- Division of Natural and Applied Sciences, Duke Kunshan University, Kunshan, China
| | - Kate Wilmut
- Department of Psychology, Health and Professional Development, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Kaiyu Zhang
- Department of Geriatrics, The First People's Hospital of Kunshan, Kunshan, China
| | - Shan Wang
- Global Health Research Center, Duke Kunshan University, Kunshan, China
- Division of Natural and Applied Sciences, Duke Kunshan University, Kunshan, China
- Department of Psychology, Health and Professional Development, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Tsay JS, Asmerian H, Germine LT, Wilmer J, Ivry RB, Nakayama K. Large-scale citizen science reveals predictors of sensorimotor adaptation. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:510-525. [PMID: 38291127 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01798-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Sensorimotor adaptation is essential for keeping our movements well calibrated in response to changes in the body and environment. For over a century, researchers have studied sensorimotor adaptation in laboratory settings that typically involve small sample sizes. While this approach has proved useful for characterizing different learning processes, laboratory studies are not well suited for exploring the myriad of factors that may modulate human performance. Here, using a citizen science website, we collected over 2,000 sessions of data on a visuomotor rotation task. This unique dataset has allowed us to replicate, reconcile and challenge classic findings in the learning and memory literature, as well as discover unappreciated demographic constraints associated with implicit and explicit processes that support sensorimotor adaptation. More generally, this study exemplifies how a large-scale exploratory approach can complement traditional hypothesis-driven laboratory research in advancing sensorimotor neuroscience.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan S Tsay
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
| | - Hrach Asmerian
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - Laura T Germine
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Institute for Technology in Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - Jeremy Wilmer
- Department of Psychology, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, USA
| | - Richard B Ivry
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Ken Nakayama
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Palidis DJ, Fellows LK. Dorsomedial frontal cortex damage impairs error-based, but not reinforcement-based motor learning in humans. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhad424. [PMID: 37955674 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2023] [Revised: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
We adapt our movements to new and changing environments through multiple processes. Sensory error-based learning counteracts environmental perturbations that affect the sensory consequences of movements. Sensory errors also cause the upregulation of reflexes and muscle co-contraction. Reinforcement-based learning enhances the selection of movements that produce rewarding outcomes. Although some findings have identified dissociable neural substrates of sensory error- and reinforcement-based learning, correlative methods have implicated dorsomedial frontal cortex in both. Here, we tested the causal contributions of dorsomedial frontal to adaptive motor control, studying people with chronic damage to this region. Seven human participants with focal brain lesions affecting the dorsomedial frontal and 20 controls performed a battery of arm movement tasks. Three experiments tested: (i) the upregulation of visuomotor reflexes and muscle co-contraction in response to unpredictable mechanical perturbations, (ii) sensory error-based learning in which participants learned to compensate predictively for mechanical force-field perturbations, and (iii) reinforcement-based motor learning based on binary feedback in the absence of sensory error feedback. Participants with dorsomedial frontal damage were impaired in the early stages of force field adaptation, but performed similarly to controls in all other measures. These results provide evidence for a specific and selective causal role for the dorsomedial frontal in sensory error-based learning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dimitrios J Palidis
- Montreal Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Lesley K Fellows
- Montreal Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Swainson A, Woodward KM, Boca M, Rolinski M, Collard P, Cerminara NL, Apps R, Whone AL, Gilchrist ID. Slower rates of prism adaptation but intact aftereffects in patients with early to mid-stage Parkinson's disease. Neuropsychologia 2023; 189:108681. [PMID: 37709193 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2023] [Revised: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
There is currently mixed evidence on the effect of Parkinson's disease on motor adaptation. Some studies report that patients display adaptation comparable to age-matched controls, while others report a complete inability to adapt to novel sensory perturbations. Here, early to mid-stage Parkinson's patients were recruited to perform a prism adaptation task. When compared to controls, patients showed slower rates of initial adaptation but intact aftereffects. These results support the suggestion that patients with early to mid-stage Parkinson's disease display intact adaptation driven by sensory prediction errors, as shown by the intact aftereffect. But impaired facilitation of performance through cognitive strategies informed by task error, as shown by the impaired initial adaptation. These results support recent studies that suggest that patients with Parkinson's disease retain the ability to perform visuomotor adaptation, but display altered use of cognitive strategies to aid performance and generalises these previous findings to the classical prism adaptation task.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alex Swainson
- University of Bristol, School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Bristol, BS8 1TD, United Kingdom.
| | - Kathryn M Woodward
- Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1UD, United Kingdom
| | - Mihaela Boca
- Bristol Brain Centre, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, BS10 5FN, United Kingdom
| | - Michal Rolinski
- Bristol Brain Centre, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, BS10 5FN, United Kingdom
| | - Philip Collard
- University of Bristol, School of Psychological Science, Bristol, BS8 1TU, United Kingdom
| | - Nadia L Cerminara
- University of Bristol, School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Bristol, BS8 1TD, United Kingdom
| | - Richard Apps
- University of Bristol, School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Bristol, BS8 1TD, United Kingdom
| | - Alan L Whone
- Bristol Brain Centre, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, BS10 5FN, United Kingdom
| | - Iain D Gilchrist
- University of Bristol, School of Psychological Science, Bristol, BS8 1TU, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Tsay JS, Tan S, Chu MA, Ivry RB, Cooper EA. Low Vision Impairs Implicit Sensorimotor Adaptation in Response to Small Errors, But Not Large Errors. J Cogn Neurosci 2023; 35:736-748. [PMID: 36724396 PMCID: PMC10512469 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Successful goal-directed actions require constant fine-tuning of the motor system. This fine-tuning is thought to rely on an implicit adaptation process that is driven by sensory prediction errors (e.g., where you see your hand after reaching vs. where you expected it to be). Individuals with low vision experience challenges with visuomotor control, but whether low vision disrupts motor adaptation is unknown. To explore this question, we assessed individuals with low vision and matched controls with normal vision on a visuomotor task designed to isolate implicit adaptation. We found that low vision was associated with attenuated implicit adaptation only for small visual errors, but not for large visual errors. This result highlights important constraints underlying how low-fidelity visual information is processed by the sensorimotor system to enable successful implicit adaptation.
Collapse
|