Speech Motor Learning and Retention (Aim 1)

Conditions

• Speech

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

18 Years - 40 Years

Healthy Volunteers

Accepted

Interventions

• continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) — DEVICE
  Non-invasive brain stimulation, evoked potentials and fMRI will be used to identify brain regions involved in speech motor learning and retention.
• Adaptation — BEHAVIORAL
  Auditory adaptation in speech

Study Details

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.

Key Dates

Start date

Oct 1, 2024

Status verified

Feb 2026

Primary completion

Nov 30, 2028

Completion

May 31, 2029

Study Design

Enrollment

160 participants (estimated)

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Arms

• Experimental: Altered auditory feedback + cTBS to auditory cortex
  Participants will perform learning tasks while receiving altered auditory feedback.This procedure will be repeated on day 2. cTBS will be applied to the left hemisphere auditory cortex following learning. Participants then leave the laboratory and return 24 hours later to assess retention of learning.
• Experimental: Altered auditory feedback + cTBS to somatosensory cortex
  Participants will perform learning tasks while receiving altered auditory feedback.This procedure will be repeated on day 2. cTBS will be applied to the left hemisphere somatosensory cortex following learning. Participants then leave the laboratory and return 24 hours later to assess retention of learning.
• Experimental: Altered auditory feedback + cTBS to motor cortex
  Participants will perform learning tasks while receiving altered auditory feedback.This procedure will be repeated on day 2. cTBS will be applied to the left hemisphere motor cortex following learning. Participants then leave the laboratory and return 24 hours later to assess retention of learning.
• Experimental: Altered auditory feedback + cTBS to motor cortex control zone
  Participants in a control condition will undergo the same procedures using cTBS to a motor cortex control zone in the right hemisphere (associated with the hand muscle first dorsal interosseous). cTBS will be applied following learning and subjects will return 24 hours later to test for retention. This control condition is included as a test for non-specific effects of cTBS stimulation.
• Experimental: Unaltered auditory feedback + cTBS to auditory cortex
  Participants will perform learning tasks while receiving unaltered auditory feedback.This procedure will be repeated on day 2. cTBS will be applied to the left hemisphere auditory cortex following learning. Participants then leave the laboratory and return 24 hours later to assess retention of learning. If the effects of cTBS are specific to learning, no effect should be observed in these control conditions.
• Experimental: Unaltered auditory feedback + cTBS to somatosensory cortex
  Participants will perform learning tasks while receiving unaltered auditory feedback.This procedure will be repeated on day 2. cTBS will be applied to the left hemisphere somatosensory cortex following learning. Participants then leave the laboratory and return 24 hours later to assess retention of learning. If the effects of cTBS are specific to learning, no effect should be observed in these control conditions.
• Experimental: Unaltered auditory feedback + cTBS to motor cortex
  Participants will perform learning tasks while receiving unaltered auditory feedback.This procedure will be repeated on day 2. cTBS will be applied to the left hemisphere motor cortex following learning. Participants then leave the laboratory and return 24 hours later to assess retention of learning. If the effects of cTBS are specific to learning, no effect should be observed in these control conditions.
• Experimental: Unaltered auditory feedback + cTBS to motor cortex control zone
  Participants in a control condition will undergo the same procedures using cTBS to a motor cortex control zone in the right hemisphere (associated with the hand muscle first dorsal interosseous). cTBS will be applied following learning and subjects will return 24 hours later to test for retention. This control condition is included as a test for non-specific effects of cTBS stimulation. If the effects of cTBS are specific to learning, no effect should be observed in these control conditions.

Primary Outcome Measure

Speech motor learning [ Time Frame: Performance as measured at the end of learning (30 minute session) ]

Central Contacts

• David Ostry
  2038656163
  [email protected]

Locations (1)

Find similar trials in New Haven, CT

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