PURPOSE: The author presents a view of research in speech motor control over the past 5 decades, as observed from within Ken Stevens's Speech Communication Group (SCG) in the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT. METHOD: The author presents a limited overview of some important developments and discoveries. The perspective is based largely on the research interests of the Speech Motor Control Group (SMCG) within the SCG; thus, it is selective, focusing on normal motor control of the vocal tract in the production of sound segments and syllables. It also covers the particular theories and models that drove the research. Following a brief introduction, there are sections on methodological advances, scientific advances, and conclusions. RESULTS: Scientific and methodological advances have been closely interrelated. Advances in instrumentation and computer hardware and software have made it possible to record and process increasingly large, multifaceted data sets; introduce new paradigms for feedback perturbation; image brain activity; and develop more sophisticated, computational physiological and neural models. Such approaches have led to increased understanding of the widespread variability in speech, motor-equivalent trading relations, sensory goals, and the nature of feedback and feedforward neural control mechanisms. CONCLUSIONS: Some ideas about important future directions for speech research are presented.
PURPOSE: The author presents a view of research in speech motor control over the past 5 decades, as observed from within Ken Stevens's Speech Communication Group (SCG) in the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT. METHOD: The author presents a limited overview of some important developments and discoveries. The perspective is based largely on the research interests of the Speech Motor Control Group (SMCG) within the SCG; thus, it is selective, focusing on normal motor control of the vocal tract in the production of sound segments and syllables. It also covers the particular theories and models that drove the research. Following a brief introduction, there are sections on methodological advances, scientific advances, and conclusions. RESULTS: Scientific and methodological advances have been closely interrelated. Advances in instrumentation and computer hardware and software have made it possible to record and process increasingly large, multifaceted data sets; introduce new paradigms for feedback perturbation; image brain activity; and develop more sophisticated, computational physiological and neural models. Such approaches have led to increased understanding of the widespread variability in speech, motor-equivalent trading relations, sensory goals, and the nature of feedback and feedforward neural control mechanisms. CONCLUSIONS: Some ideas about important future directions for speech research are presented.
Authors: Hasini R Weerathunge; Gabriel A Alzamendi; Gabriel J Cler; Frank H Guenther; Cara E Stepp; Matías Zañartu Journal: PLoS Comput Biol Date: 2022-06-23 Impact factor: 4.779