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A cortical network processes auditory error signals during human speech production to maintain fluency.
Muge Ozker1, Werner Doyle2, Orrin Devinsky1
1Department of Neurology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America.
Plos Biology
|February 3, 2022
Summary
The brain detects speech errors using auditory feedback, crucial for fluent speech. This study pinpoints auditory error signals in the auditory cortex and dorsal precentral gyrus, vital for real-time speech correction.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Speech Motor Control
- Auditory Processing
Background:
- Auditory feedback is essential for fluent speech production, enabling real-time error detection and correction.
- Impairments in auditory feedback control are observed in neurological disorders like stuttering and aphasia, but underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear.
- Computational models propose the brain uses motor command efference copies to predict speech output and generate error signals when feedback mismatches predictions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To localize the neural basis of auditory speech error signals.
- To investigate the role of specific brain regions in processing auditory feedback during speech production.
- To understand how the brain maintains speech fluency under altered auditory feedback conditions.
Main Methods:
- Electrocorticography (ECoG) recordings were obtained from neurosurgical participants.
- A delayed auditory feedback (DAF) paradigm was employed, where participants heard their voice with a time delay.
- Speech production was monitored during single-word and long-utterance tasks under DAF conditions.
Main Results:
- A significant response enhancement in the auditory cortex scaled with the delay duration, indicating an auditory speech error signal.
- The dorsal precentral gyrus (dPreCG) showed a similar response enhancement immediately following the auditory cortex.
- dPreCG response enhancement was specifically observed during articulation of long utterances, correlating with continuous auditory feedback mismatch.
Conclusions:
- The auditory cortex processes auditory speech error signals, with response magnitude related to feedback delay.
- The dorsal precentral gyrus (dPreCG) plays a critical role in processing these auditory error signals during speech production.
- These findings suggest a tight coupling between auditory cortex and dPreCG for maintaining speech fluency through real-time error correction.
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