# Intracranial Neurophysiology of Auditory Feedback Control During Speech Production - Resubmission - 1

> **NIH NIH F32** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2021 · $20,415

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Speech is an incredibly complex cognitive function of the human brain that distinguishes us from other species.
It is the major aspect of human communication that allows us to exchange ideas and convey emotions,
therefore impaired speech can lead to devastating effects such as social isolation and anxiety. According to
NIDCD reports, between 6 and 8 million individuals in the United States have some form of speech deficit,
however our current understanding of the brain mechanisms that support speech is still limited.
The specific mechanism that we plan to address in our research is auditory feedback control of speech
production. Accurate and fluent production of speech critically depends on hearing oneself. Auditory feedback
from hearing one’s own voice allows for real-time monitoring and adjustment of vocalization in order to produce
intended speech. The aim of this project is to elucidate the sensory-motor network interactions in the human
brain that enable this process.
The sensory-motor interactions during speech production is usually modeled as a feed-forward and feed-back
system: Vocal-motor regions in the frontal cortex sends a corollary discharge signal to the auditory cortex
during vocalization to suppress responses to the predicted auditory outcome. When produced speech is
different than intended speech, an error signal encoding the mismatch is fed from the auditory cortex back to
the vocal-motor regions for the online correction of produced speech. Supporting these ideas,
electrophysiological studies have demonstrated suppressed responses in the auditory cortex during speech
production. Moreover, enhanced auditory responses were reported when auditory feedback was altered
artificially. However, the spatial topography of these different responses, detailed network dynamics between
the auditory and vocal-motor regions as well as how these dynamics relate to speech behavior remain
unknown.
In this project, we will address these gaps in our current understanding of speech production by using
electrocorticography (ECoG) in neurosurgical patients, which directly measures neural activity across large-
scale networks in the human brain with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. We will employ a
delayed auditory feedback (DAF) paradigm to artificially disrupt speech fluency and apply novel multivariate
autoregressive techniques to infer causal interactions within the speech network.
Abnormal sensory-motor network interactions have been implicated in various disorders including stuttering,
aphasia, Parkinson’s disease, autism and schizophrenia. Contributing to the mission of NIDCD, the results of
this project will provide an empirical basis for understanding speech deficits and will help patients by guiding
better therapeutic interventions ranging from speech therapy to assistive devices that will improve fluent
speech production.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10087414
- **Project number:** 5F32DC018200-02
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Muge Ozker Sertel
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $20,415
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-04-30 → 2021-07-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10087414

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10087414, Intracranial Neurophysiology of Auditory Feedback Control During Speech Production - Resubmission - 1 (5F32DC018200-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10087414. Licensed CC0.

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