The effect of delayed auditory feedback on activity in the temporal lobe while speaking: A Positron Emission Tomography study

Takaso, H., Eisner, F., Wise, R. J. S., & Scott, S. K. (2010). The effect of delayed auditory feedback on activity in the temporal lobe while speaking: A Positron Emission Tomography study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 53, 226-236. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2009/09-0009).
Purpose: Delayed auditory feedback is a technique that can improve fluency in stutterers, while disrupting fluency in many non-stuttering individuals. The aim of this study was to determine the neural basis for the detection of and compensation for such a delay, and the effects of increases in the delay duration. Method: Positron emission tomography (PET) was used to image regional cerebral blood flow changes, an index of neural activity, and assessed the influence of increasing amounts of delay. Results: Delayed auditory feedback led to increased activation in the bilateral superior temporal lobes, extending into posterior-medial auditory areas. Similar peaks in the temporal lobe were sensitive to increases in the amount of delay. A single peak in the temporal parietal junction responded to the amount of delay but not to the presence of a delay (relative to no delay). Conclusions: This study permitted distinctions to be made between the neural response to hearing one's voice at a delay, and the neural activity that correlates with this delay. Notably all the peaks showed some influence of the amount of delay. This result confirms a role for the posterior, sensori-motor ‘how’ system in the production of speech under conditions of delayed auditory feedback.
Publication type
Journal article
Publication date
2010

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