# Optimizing speech motor learning with neuromodulation: Behavioral outcomes and neural mechanisms

> **NIH NIH R01** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $482,551

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Stroke is a leading cause of disability in the United States, frequently leading to speech impairment that
creates barriers to participation in professional, social, and family settings. While recovery can be promoted
with speech motor learning treatment, residual disability remains a prominent issue. The long-term goal of this
research is to enhance intervention outcomes for individuals with acquired speech impairment by combining
theoretically-guided behavioral intervention with targeted neuromodulation. The main objectives of this
proposal are to verify the role of left ventral premotor and motor cortices in speech motor learning and to
establish that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can enhance speech motor learning treatment by
strengthening the cortical speech network. The central hypothesis of this proposal is that speech recovery in
chronic stroke can be improved by stimulating perilesional left ventral premotor and motor cortices, thereby
promoting their engagement during speech motor learning treatment and strengthening the cortical speech
network through associative learning. The central hypothesis will be tested by pursuing three specific aims: 1)
Establish the neural regions that underlie tDCS-facilitated speech motor learning; 2) Determine the extent to
which active tDCS with individualized electrode placement can enhance speech motor learning intervention
relative to sham tDCS in impaired speakers with apraxia of speech; and 3) Determine the functional
connectivity changes associated with speech motor learning-based intervention with active vs. sham tDCS in
impaired speakers with apraxia of speech. Under the first aim, the proposed research will systematically verify
the role of left ventral premotor and motor cortices in tDCS-facilitated speech motor learning using three
controls: electrode polarity, electrode position, and presence of active current. For the second aim, single-
subject intervention experiments will be used to evaluate the extent to which tDCS enhances apraxia treatment
outcomes, using individualized current modeling to target left ventral premotor and motor cortices. The third
aim determines the extent to which the treatment conditions in Aim 2 can change functional connectivity
measured with resting-state functional neuroimaging. The proposed research is innovative, in the applicant's
opinion, because it combines practice-based speech treatment with targeted tDCS to intensify Hebbian
plasticity and measures the extent to which this approach changes functional connectivity in the speech
network. This research will be significant because it will establish the combined effectiveness of speech motor
learning treatment and tDCS in AOS, an understudied condition. Understanding the interaction of treatment
and neuromodulation will build capacity to optimize chronic stroke recovery, with direct application to
enhancing speech skills to improve communication ability and quality of l...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10159239
- **Project number:** 5R01DC018589-02
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Adam Buchwald
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $482,551
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-05-08 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10159239

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10159239, Optimizing speech motor learning with neuromodulation: Behavioral outcomes and neural mechanisms (5R01DC018589-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10159239. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*