Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 20, 2026
11:39
Assessment of Audio-Tactile Sensory Substitution Training in Participants with Profound Deafness Using the Event-Related Potential Technique
Published on: September 7, 2022
Partial compensation for altered auditory feedback: a tradeoff with somatosensory feedback?
Shira Katseff1, John Houde, Keith Johnson
1University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-2650, USA. shira.katseff@canterbury.ac.nz
Language and Speech
|July 13, 2012
Summary
People partially adjust their speech when auditory feedback changes. This study shows that individuals compensate more for smaller auditory feedback shifts than larger ones, suggesting a complex speech motor control system.
Area of Science:
- Speech production and perception
- Auditory feedback mechanisms
- Motor control in speech
Background:
- Individuals exhibit partial compensation for altered auditory feedback during speech.
- Previous research indicates compensation is typically around one-quarter of the feedback shift distance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize and understand partial compensation in speech production.
- To investigate how talkers respond to incrementally increasing shifts in auditory feedback.
Main Methods:
- Subjects repeated visually presented words while their auditory feedback was altered stepwise.
- A novel analysis method was employed to quantify compensation at each feedback step.
- Real-time auditory feedback was manipulated using a specialized apparatus over 360 trials.
Main Results:
- Compensation varied with the magnitude of the auditory feedback shift.
- Subjects demonstrated greater compensation for smaller feedback shifts compared to larger ones.
- A non-linear relationship was observed between feedback shift size and compensation magnitude.
Conclusions:
- The observed compensation pattern suggests a speech motor control system that differentially weights auditory and somatosensory feedback.
- Vowel targets likely integrate both auditory and somatosensory information.
- This study provides insights into the adaptive mechanisms of speech production under altered sensory feedback.
Related Concept Videos
01:24Effects of feedback
Feedback in control systems plays a critical role in shaping various operational parameters, extending beyond simple error reduction to influence stability, bandwidth, gain, impedance, and sensitivity. Understanding these effects requires examining a basic feedback system characterized by defined input, output, error, and feedback signals.
Feedback significantly modifies the gain of a control system. The gain of a system without feedback is altered by a factor of one plus GH, where G represents...
Feedback significantly modifies the gain of a control system. The gain of a system without feedback is altered by a factor of one plus GH, where G represents...
01:33Somatosensation
The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.
01:28Compensation Mechanisms
The human body employs intricate mechanisms to counteract changes in blood pH, preventing conditions like acidosis (pH < 7.35) and alkalosis (pH > 7.45). These compensatory responses aim to restore normal arterial blood pH by engaging respiratory or renal systems, depending on the source of the imbalance.
Respiratory Compensation
This mechanism addresses metabolic-induced pH imbalances by adjusting breathing rates. Respiratory compensation begins within minutes of detecting a pH...
Respiratory Compensation
This mechanism addresses metabolic-induced pH imbalances by adjusting breathing rates. Respiratory compensation begins within minutes of detecting a pH...
01:24Facial Feedback Hypothesis
Charles Darwin proposed that facial expressions are an evolutionary adaptation for communication. He argued that these expressions are not influenced by culture but are universal across species. For example, a snarling expression with exposed teeth signals a threat in many animals, including humans. Darwin also suggested that displaying an emotion can intensify the feeling. Smiling, for example, could enhance one's sense of happiness. This idea laid the foundation for understanding the role of...
01:31Hearing
When we hear a sound, our nervous system is detecting sound waves—pressure waves of mechanical energy traveling through a medium. The frequency of the wave is perceived as pitch, while the amplitude is perceived as loudness.