Speech Motor Learning and Retention (Aim 1)

Sensorimotor Basis of Speech Motor Learning and Retention

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.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Speech
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Adaptation; Device: continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS)

Detailed Description

The focus of this registration is Aim 1. The work in Specific Aim 1 involves tests of speech motor memory retention following disruption of left hemisphere brain activity in either auditory, somatosensory or motor cortex or to a control site (hand area motor cortex right hemisphere). Continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) is delivered following adaptation to altered auditory feedback to assess its effects on the retention of new learning. In the adaptation task, participants read Harvard Sentences aloud, which are presented on a computer monitor. Vocal output is altered in real-time and played back to participants through headphones. Tests of retention are conducted 24 hours later.

The Speech Motor Learning and Retention Master Protocol has uniqueID 2000037622.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 160
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: David Ostry; Phone Number: 2038656163; Email: david.ostry@yale.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Connecticut
    • New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06520
      • Recruiting
      • Yale Child Study Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Fluent English speakers
• Right-handed
• Normal hearing
• No speech disorder or reading disability

Exclusion Criteria:

• Cardiac pacemaker
• Aneurysm clip
• Heart or Vascular clip
• Prosthetic valve
• Metal implants
• Metal in brain, skull, or spinal cord
• Implanted neurostimulator
• Medication infusion device
• Cochlear implant or tinnitus (ringing in ears)
• Personal and/or family history of epilepsy or other neurological disorders or history of head concussion
• Psychoactive medications
• Pregnancy

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

8

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
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.	Behavioral: Adaptation; Auditory adaptation in speech; Device: continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS); Non-invasive brain stimulation, evoked potentials and fMRI will be used to identify brain regions involved in speech motor learning and retention.
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.	Behavioral: Adaptation; Auditory adaptation in speech; Device: continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS); Non-invasive brain stimulation, evoked potentials and fMRI will be used to identify brain regions involved in speech motor learning and retention.
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.	Behavioral: Adaptation; Auditory adaptation in speech; Device: continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS); Non-invasive brain stimulation, evoked potentials and fMRI will be used to identify brain regions involved in speech motor learning and retention.
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.	Behavioral: Adaptation; Auditory adaptation in speech; Device: continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS); Non-invasive brain stimulation, evoked potentials and fMRI will be used to identify brain regions involved in speech motor learning and retention.
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.	Behavioral: Adaptation; Auditory adaptation in speech; Device: continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS); Non-invasive brain stimulation, evoked potentials and fMRI will be used to identify brain regions involved in speech motor learning and retention.
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.	Behavioral: Adaptation; Auditory adaptation in speech; Device: continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS); Non-invasive brain stimulation, evoked potentials and fMRI will be used to identify brain regions involved in speech motor learning and retention.
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.	Behavioral: Adaptation; Auditory adaptation in speech; Device: continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS); Non-invasive brain stimulation, evoked potentials and fMRI will be used to identify brain regions involved in speech motor learning and retention.
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.	Behavioral: Adaptation; Auditory adaptation in speech; Device: continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS); Non-invasive brain stimulation, evoked potentials and fMRI will be used to identify brain regions involved in speech motor learning and retention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Speech motor learning	Audapter software will be used to alter the first and second formant frequencies of the spoken words and this is played back to subjects through headphones. Subjects will be tested both with unaltered feedback and with abruptly introduced frequency shifts.The change in the first (F1) and second format frequency (F2) values will be assessed using Praat.	Performance as measured at the end of learning (30 minute session)
Retention of learning	The retention of adaptation to altered auditory feedback (and relearning) will be quantified in terms of F1 and F2 frequency shifts (relative to pre-training baseline). Larger values indicate more complete relearning or retention.	24 hours after learning (re-test lasts 30 minutes)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Yale University
• Collaborators: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: David Ostry, Yale University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 1, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 30, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 31, 2029

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 13, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 13, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): June 21, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 19, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 17, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Retention; Speech Motor Learning
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Communication; Verbal Behavior; Speech; Physiological Phenomena; Biological Phenomena; Adaptation, Physiological; Adaptation, Biological; Acclimatization
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2000037622_a; 1R01DC022097-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract: NIH)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: Yes
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No