Subtle Patterns of Altered Responsiveness to Delayed Auditory Feedback during Finger Tapping in People Who Stutter

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Speech-language pathology
• Human sensorimotor control

Background:

• Sensorimotor integration differences exist between people who stutter (PWS) and controls.
• Delayed auditory feedback (DAF) disrupts action-perception timing, affecting verbal and non-verbal tasks.
• DAF improves speech fluency in PWS, but its non-verbal effects are unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of DAF on non-verbal sensorimotor synchronization in PWS compared to controls.
• To explore PWS's sensitivity to auditory delay in both speech and non-verbal tasks.

Main Methods:

• 11 PWS and 13 controls performed tapping and synchronization tasks with and without DAF.
• Tasks included synchronization-continuation and delay discrimination.
• Participants' ability to detect auditory delays was assessed.

Main Results:

• DAF affected controls' performance based on delay duration, but PWS performance remained stable.
• No group differences were observed without auditory feedback.
• PWS demonstrated reduced sensitivity in detecting speech and tapping delays.

Conclusions:

• PWS exhibit distinct non-verbal sensorimotor performance compared to controls when action-perception loops are disrupted by delays.
• Findings contribute to understanding sensorimotor integration models in stuttering.
• Subtle differences in non-verbal processing may underlie stuttering.