Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Cerebellar damage may impair someone’s ability to adapt both the timing of speech and vocal pitch, new Waisman Center studies suggest, shedding light on the involvement of the cerebellum in speech motor control.
Individuals with cerebellar ataxia (CA) caused by cerebellar degeneration exhibit larger reactive compensatory responses to unexpected auditory feedback perturbations than neurobiologically typical speakers, suggesting they may rely more on feedback control during speech. We test this hypothesis by examining variability in unaltered speech. Previous studies of typical speakers have demonstrated a reduction in formant variability (centering) observed during the initial phase of vowel production from vowel onset to vowel midpoint.
