Pediatric Responses to Fundamental and Formant Frequency Altered Auditory Feedback: A Scoping Review
Caitlin Coughler1, Keelia L Quinn de Launay2,3, David W Purcell4,5
1Graduate Program in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
|June 6, 2022
Summary
Children over four generally adjust their speech when hearing altered sounds, but less effectively than adults. This suggests vocal control develops before articulatory control during childhood development.
Area of Science:
- Speech-language pathology
- Developmental neuroscience
- Auditory processing
Background:
- Auditory feedback is crucial for speech production.
- Little is known about speech motor control development in children.
- Understanding auditory feedback's role in childhood sensorimotor learning is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review studies on frequency-altered auditory feedback in children.
- To understand the development of auditory feedback control in youth.
- To explore sensorimotor learning in childhood and adolescence.
Main Methods:
- Scoping review of six databases.
- Included studies with real-time frequency perturbation of auditory input.
- Focused on immediate speech effects in participants aged 18 or younger.
Main Results:
- Twenty-three studies met inclusion criteria with varied designs and measures.
- Children over 4 generally compensated for frequency alterations, but less than adults.
- Variability in responses suggests maturational changes in speech motor control.
Conclusions:
- Auditory feedback responses differ across childhood, indicating developmental changes.
- Vocal control appears to mature before articulatory control.
- Further research with diverse measures and age ranges is needed.
