Speech Motor Learning and Retention (Aim 3)

NCT06492252 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: 2000037622_c1R01DC022097-01A1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 50
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The overall goal of this research is to test a new model of speech motor learning, whose central hypothesis is that learning and retention are associated with plasticity not only in motor areas of the brain but in auditory and somatosensory regions as well. The strategy for the proposed research is to identify individual brain areas that contribute causally to retention by disrupting their activity with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Investigators will also use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) which will enable identification of circuit-level activity which predicts either learning or retention of new movements, and hence test the specific contributions of candidate sensory and motor zones. In other studies, investigators will record sensory and motor evoked potentials over the course of learning to determine the temporal order in which individual sensory and cortical motor regions contribute. The goal here is to identify brain areas in which learning-related plasticity occurs first and which among these areas predict subsequent learning.

Conditions

Speech

Keywords

Speech Motor Learning; Retention

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Speech motor learning

  Audapter software will be used to alter the first and second formant frequencies of the spoken words and this is played back to subjects through headphones. Subjects will be tested both with unaltered feedback and with abruptly introduced frequency shifts.The change in the first (F1) and second format frequency (F2) values will be assessed using Praat.

  Performance as measured at the end of learning (30 minute session)

• Retention of learning

  The retention of adaptation to altered auditory feedback (and relearning) will be quantified in terms of F1 and F2 frequency shifts (relative to pre-training baseline). Larger values indicate more complete relearning or retention.

  24 hours after learning (re-test lasts 30 minutes)

• Change in fMRI resting-state connectivity following speech motor learning

  fMRI resting-state connectivity change following speech motor learning. Functional connectivity will be measured between each of the following regions: Heschel's gyrus, posterior superior temporal gyrus, primary and second somatosensory cortex, supramarginal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, motor and ventral premotor cortex and supplementary motor area.

  baseline and at the end of learning (30 minute session)

• fMRI resting-state connectivity measures of motor memory retention

  fMRI resting-state connectivity measures of motor memory retention. Functional connectivity will be measured between each of the following regions: Heschel's gyrus, posterior superior temporal gyrus, primary and second somatosensory cortex, supramarginal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, motor and ventral premotor cortex and supplementary motor area.

  24 hours after learning (re-test lasts 30 minutes)

Study Arms (2)

Altered auditory feedback + fMRI

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will perform learning tasks then undergo fMRI. This procedure will be repeated on day 2. Functional connectivity patterns between regions that predict learning will be assessed. Participants then leave the laboratory and return 24 hours later to assess retention of learning.

Device: fMRI; Behavioral: Adaptation

Control Condition

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in a control condition who will undergo the same procedures, without altered feedback

Device: fMRI; Behavioral: Adaptation

Interventions

fMRI DEVICE

To assess functional connectivity patterns between regions that predict learning.

Altered auditory feedback + fMRI; Control Condition

Adaptation BEHAVIORAL

Auditory adaptation in speech

Altered auditory feedback + fMRI

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 40 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Fluent English speakers
• Right-handed
• Normal hearing
• No speech disorder or reading disability

You may not qualify if:

• Cardiac pacemaker
• Aneurysm clip
• Heart or Vascular clip
• Prosthetic valve
• Metal implants
• Metal in brain, skull, or spinal cord
• Implanted neurostimulator
• Medication infusion device
• Cochlear implant or tinnitus (ringing in ears)
• Personal and/or family history of epilepsy or other neurological disorders or history of head concussion
• Psychoactive medications
• Pregnancy

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Yale University: lead
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Yale Child Study Center

New Haven, Connecticut, 06520, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Speech

Interventions

Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Acclimatization

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Verbal Behavior; Communication; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Tomography; Diagnostic Imaging; Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures; Diagnosis; Adaptation, Physiological; Physiological Phenomena; Adaptation, Biological; Biological Phenomena

Study Officials

• David Ostry

  Yale University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

David Ostry

CONTACT

2038656163; david.ostry@yale.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Healthy right-handed adults with normal hearing will be recruited in equal number from both sexes. All participants will be fluent English speakers.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 1, 2024
• First Posted: July 9, 2024
• Study Start: February 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 30, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 31, 2029
• Last Updated: November 21, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)