Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Relationship between jaw stiffness and kinematic variability in speech.

Douglas M Shiller1, Rafael Laboissière, David J Ostry

  • 1McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1B1, Canada.

Journal of Neurophysiology
|November 9, 2002
PubMed
Summary

Jaw stiffness patterns influence speech movement variability. Higher stiffness in certain directions reduces movement variation, impacting speech production and non-speech actions.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Cued recall of human motor memory.

Journal of neurophysiology·2026
Same author

Editorial: New perspectives on the role of sensory feedback in speech production, volume II.

Frontiers in human neuroscience·2026
Same author

Sensory acuity and cross-language phonetic similarity jointly predict second language vowel production accuracy.

Frontiers in human neuroscience·2026
Same author

Sensory basis of speech motor learning and memory.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Human motor memory retention requires fronto-parietal circuit plasticity.

Journal of neurophysiology·2026
Same author

What can face preference in newborns tell us about their face representation? Contrasting learned familiarity with inherent bias accounts.

Child development·2026

Area of Science:

  • Biomechanics
  • Speech Science
  • Robotics

Background:

  • Human speech production involves intricate control of the vocal apparatus.
  • Understanding the biomechanical factors influencing speech kinematics is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between jaw stiffness and kinematic variability during speech production.
  • To determine if jaw stiffness patterns influence the directional asymmetry of speech movements.

Main Methods:

  • A robotic device was employed to apply mechanical perturbations to the jaw, measuring its stiffness in the mid-sagittal plane.
  • Kinematic variability during speech and non-speech movements was quantified.
  • A physiologically based model of the jaw was used to simulate stiffness patterns.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Jaw stiffness was found to be anisotropic, with greatest stiffness along the protrusion-retraction axis and least in the vertical (jaw raising/lowering) direction.
  • Kinematic variability during speech production was inversely correlated with jaw stiffness; high variability occurred in low-stiffness directions and vice versa.
  • Increased jaw elevation led to greater stiffness and reduced kinematic variability.
  • Similar patterns of kinematic variability were observed in both speech and non-speech movements.
  • The simulated jaw stiffness patterns accurately replicated the empirically measured patterns.

Conclusions:

  • Directional asymmetries in jaw stiffness significantly influence kinematic variability during speech production.
  • Jaw musculo-skeletal geometry and muscle force generation capabilities, particularly jaw geometry, are primary determinants of the jaw's stiffness pattern.
  • The findings suggest a general biomechanical principle governing movement variability across different motor tasks, not exclusive to speech.