It has been suggested that the activation of speechmotor areas during speech comprehension may, in part, reflect the involvement of the speech production system in synthesizing upcoming material at an articulatorily specified level. In this study, we explored that suggestion through the use of articulatory imaging. We investigated whether, and how, predictions that emerge during speech comprehension influence articulatory realizations during picture naming. We elicited predictions by auditorily presenting high-cloze sentence stems to participants (e.g., When we want water we just turn on the . . .). Participants named a picture immediately following each sentence-stem presentation. The pictures either matched (e.g., TAP) or mismatched (e.g., CAP) the high-cloze sentence-stem target. Throughout each trial, participants' speech-motor movements were recorded via dynamic ultrasound imaging. This allowed us to compare articulations in the match and mismatch conditions to each other and to a control condition (simple picture naming). Articulations in the mismatch condition differed more from the control condition than did those in the match condition. This difference was reflected in a second analysis that showed greater frame-by-frame change in articulator positions for the mismatch than for the match condition around 300-500 ms before the onset of the picture name. Our findings indicate that comprehension-elicited prediction influences speech-motor production, suggesting that the speech production system is implicated in the representation of such predictions.

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Cutting maneuvers can be executed at a range of angles and speeds, and these whole-body task descriptors are closely associated with lower-limb mechanical loading. Asymmetries in angle and speed when changing direction off the operated and nonoperated limbs after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction may therefore influence the interpretation of interlimb differences in joint-level biomechanical parameters. The authors hypothesized that athletes would reduce center-of-mass heading angle deflection and body rotation during the change-of-direction stance phase when cutting from the operated limb, and would compensate for this by orienting their center-of-mass trajectory more toward the new intended direction of travel prior to touchdown. A total of 144 male athletes 8 to 10 months after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction performed a maximum-effort sidestep cutting maneuver while kinematic, kinetic, and ground reaction force data were recorded. Peak ground reaction force and knee joint moments were lower when cutting from the operated limb. Center-of-mass heading angle deflection during stance phase was reduced for cuts performed from the operated limb and was negatively correlated with heading angle at touchdown. Between-limb differences in body orientation and horizontal velocity at touchdown were also observed. These systematic asymmetries in cut execution may require consideration when interpreting joint-level interlimb asymmetries after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and are suggestive of the use of anticipatory control to co-optimize task achievement and mechanical loading.

After reading this article, participants will be able to: (a) describe the findings of previous research investigating the role of perfectionism in stuttering and psychopathologies; (b) discuss why a multidimensional assessment of perfectionism is important in relation to stuttering; (c) discuss ways in which data from perfectionism assessments can contribute to the planning of therapy for adults who stutter.

We present a new approach to the investigation of dynamic ultrasound tongue imaging (UTI) data, applied here to analyse the subtle aspects of the fluency of people who stutter (PWS). Fluent productions of CV syllables (C = /k/; V = /ɑ, i, ə/) from three PWS and three control speakers (PNS) were analysed for duration and peak velocity relative to articulatory movement towards (onset) and away from (offset) the consonantal closure. The objective was to apply a replicable methodology for kinematic investigation to speech of PWS in order to test Wingate's Fault-Line hypothesis. As was hypothesised, results show comparable onset behaviours for both groups. Regarding offsets, groups differ in peak velocity. Results suggest that PWS do not struggle initiating consonantal closure (onset). In transition from consonantal closure into the vowel, however, groups appear to employ different strategies expressed in increased variation (PNS) versus decreased mean peak velocity (PWS).