Somesthesic Role of the Ventro-lateral Prefrontal Cortex in Speech Motor Learning

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Speech; Motor Activity
• Interventions: Behavioral: Speech adaptation; Behavioral: Vibrotactile Discrimination; Other: fMRI; Behavioral: Speech production

• Registration Number: NCT04547569
• Lead Sponsor: University Hospital, Grenoble

Brief Summary

These studies test the hypothesis that frontal areas of the brain participate in the cortical networks involved in the somotosensory processing that happens during speech motor learning.

Detailed Description

This work aims to study the role of sensory systems in human motor learning and specifically addresses the involvement of somatosensory cortical networks in motor learning of speech. Previous studies in the literature have highlighted the plasticity of cortical sensory networks, notably the primary and secondary somatosensory cortex and the ventral premotor cortex, during motor learning tasks. The present project focuses on the somatosensory region with connections to the sensorimotor regions of the frontal and parietal cortex. We propose to use neuroimaging (fMRI), in order to verify which areas in the prefrontal cortex are part of the sensorimotor network used in the learning of speech motor tasks in humans. Subjects will be tested in the fMRI scanner while performing either a behavioral task in which the auditory feedback of their own speech is altered or while performing a vibrotactile discrimination task.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2020-09-07
• Study First Submitted QC: 2020-09-11
• Study First Posted: 2020-09-14
• Study Start: 2020-10-20
• Primary Completion: 2021-07-06
• Study Completion: 2021-07-06
• Status Verified: 2022-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-05-31
• Last Update Posted: 2022-06-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 16

Inclusion Criteria

• Right-handed subjects
• Subjects fluent in French
• Signed informed consent
• Affiliation to or beneficiary of a Social Security scheme

Exclusion Criteria

• Left-handed subjects

• Criteria for contraindications to protocol fMRI scans

• Existence of a severe general condition: cardiac, respiratory, hematological, renal, hepatic, cancerous.

• Hearing, language (including dyslexia), neurological or psychiatric disorders.

• Participation in other ongoing intervention research protocols with exclusionary period or within the previous week

• Drug treatment likely to modulate brain activity: benzodiazepines, antidepressants, neuroleptics, lithium, etc.

• Protected persons referred to in articles L1121 5 to L1121 8 of the French CSP:

  • Pregnant women, parturients, nursing mothers,
  • Persons deprived of liberty by a judicial or administrative decision,
  • Persons under psychiatric care,
  • Individuals admitted to a health or social institution for purposes other than research,
  • Minors,
  • Persons over the age of majority who are subject to a legal protection measure or who are unable to express their consent

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Vibrotactile discrimination	fMRI	fMRI measurement of brain activity during a vibrotactile discrimination task
Speech production	Speech production	fMRI measurement of brain activity during normal speech production
Adaptation to altered auditory feedback	fMRI	fMRI measurement of brain activity during speech production under altered auditory feedback
Adaptation to altered auditory feedback	Speech adaptation	fMRI measurement of brain activity during speech production under altered auditory feedback
Speech production	fMRI	fMRI measurement of brain activity during normal speech production
Vibrotactile discrimination	Vibrotactile Discrimination	fMRI measurement of brain activity during a vibrotactile discrimination task

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Brain activity	1h30 scanner session	Brain activity are measure by the BOLD signal during both task-based and resting-state blocks
Motor Learning	Performance as measured at the end of learning (during the 1h30 scanner session)	Learning is assessed as percentage change in speech sounds (speech formant frequencies) relative to baseline.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

CHU Grenoble-Alpes; 🇫🇷 Grenoble, France