Developmental stuttering may be caused by insufficient processing of auditory feedback

Hesse, Torsten

doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2023.111166

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…The fact that stuttering-related psychological symptoms decreased for some PWS when using the tandem utterance robot having DAF and FAF functions suggests that auditory processing or speech motor activity is involved in stuttering. These findings from both Experiments (1 and 2) suggest that using robots may improve inefficient speech control functions, including the problems with auditory processing in PWS (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18), and alleviate speech-related anxiety that results from negative psychological learning (19). Stuttering-related psychological symptoms of all participants in communicating with a human.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…Guitar suggested that the emergence and development of stuttering involve inefficient speech control and negative psychological learning (1). Inefficient speech control functions include weaknesses in language, motor, and auditory processing (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). Regarding psychological learning, negative reactions to stuttering, such as respondent learning or operant learning in response to reprimands or teasing from others, are believed to increase anxiety and tension related to stuttering and cause more severe symptoms, including blocking (19).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Therapeutic potential of robots for people who stutter: a preliminary study

Yoshikawa,

Kobayashi,

Sakai

et al. 2024

Front. Psychiatry

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IntroductionGrowing anecdotal evidence suggests the feasibility of robotic intervention for people who suffer from disorders related to state anxiety. Few studies have been conducted on utilizing robots for persons who stutter (PWS). The present study examines the feasibility of using a robot for speech therapy for PWS.MethodsWe prepared four settings (i.e., interviews with unfamiliar persons, interviews with unfamiliar communication robots, reading sentences aloud with a tandem robot that can utter the same words as a user by repeating the user’s voice after a short delay, and reading sentences aloud while being alone). We assessed the potential of the robots as both interlocutors and practice partners in training with delayed auditory feedback (DAF) for PWS. Moreover, we assessed the relationship between the trait of stuttering and the participants’ affinity to the robots.ResultsEleven PWS participated in the study. Eight (72.7%) participants had fewer stuttering-related psychological symptoms when they communicated with robots than when they communicated with humans. Spearman’s rank correlation analysis revealed that there was a significant negative correlation between the Modified Erickson Communication Attitude scale (S-24) and the difference between the scores for stuttering-related psychological symptoms pertaining to the communication robot and humans (p < 0.01). Six participants (54.5%) had fewer stuttering-related psychological symptoms when they read aloud with the tandem robot than when they read aloud alone. There were significant positive correlations between S-24 and the differences between the scores for stuttering-related psychological symptoms when reading aloud with the tandem robot and those when reading aloud alone (p < 0.01).DiscussionThe communication robot and tandem utterance robot can sometimes be burdensome, although both robots were always easier to talk to for PWS in this preliminary study. The participants with positive speech-related attitudes were more inclined to decrease stuttering-related psychological symptoms when communicating with CommU than when communicating with humans. The participants whose speech-related attitudes were negative were more inclined to show a decrease in stuttering-related psychological symptoms when reading aloud with the tandem robot. Further studies are needed to provide more detailed information.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Therapeutic potential of robots for people who stutter: a preliminary study

Yoshikawa,

Kobayashi,

Sakai

et al. 2024

Front. Psychiatry

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“…Importantly, neural inefficiency that perturbs speech-motor execution seems to also affect aspects of speech comprehension, specifically leading to weaker or less efficient predictive processing (Gastaldon et al, 2023). Similarly, audio-motor interactions appear to be bi-directionally impaired in DS, with deficits in properly integrating auditory feedback in speech production (Bradshaw et al, 2021; Chang et al, 2016; Daliri & Max, 2015, 2018; Halag-Milo et al, 2016; Hesse, 2023; Kim et al, 2020). From a behavioral point of view, conflicting results have been reported, with some studies finding malfunctioning of predictive timing during auditory-motor coupling in people who stutter can lead to some differences when compared to fluent speakers (Falk et al, 2015) and others reporting no overt differences in auditory-motor integration (Assaneo et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortical tracking of speech is reduced in adults who stutter when listening for speaking

Gastaldon,

Busan,

Molinaro

et al. 2024

Preprint

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This study explores cortical tracking of speech (CTS) in adults who stutter (AWS) compared to typically fluent adults (TFA) while listening to sentences. We manipulated the upcoming involvement of the speech-motor system during listening: participants either had to simply listen to the sentences (listening only) or complete unfinished sentences by naming a picture (listening-for-speaking). AWS, known for atypical neural structure and functionaing in the speech-motor network, exhibited reduced CTS in the theta band in temporal sensors during the listening-for-speaking task, reflected at the source level in the left temporo-parietal junction and the right pre-motor and supplementary motor regions. Additionally, connectivity analyses reveal that TFA had stronger inter- and intra-hemispheric information transfer in the theta range than AWS in both tasks, involving frontal, temporo-parietal, (pre-)motor, and superior temporal regions, with different patterns according to the task. Notably, increased connectivity from the right superior temporal cortex to the left sensorimotor cortex correlated with faster naming times in the listening-for-speaking task. These findings suggest that atypical speech-motor functioning in stuttering impact also speech perception, especially in situations requiring articulatory alertness, and highlight the involvement of frontal and (pre-) motor regions in normal conditions in CTS.Significance StatementThis study shows for the first time that individuals with a speech-motor impairment, namely persistent developmental stuttering, also show impaired cortical tracking of speech, especially when upcoming speech production is required. The effects emerge in the theta range, corresponding to the syllabic rhythm, suggested to be an optimal interface between the human biomechanic constraints for producing sounds and the human brain’s perceptual capabilities for speech. Our study highlights the relevance of speech-motor regions in cortical tracking of speech and suggests that spoken language perception in individuals with speech-motor deficits is an important ground for research, especially in real-life conversational settings where smooth transitioning between listening and speaking is required.

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