# Predictors of Speech Motor Sequence Learning in Neurological Disorders

> **NIH NIH F31** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS) · 2024 · $47,214

## Abstract

Project Summary
For the many Americans living with neurogenic speech disorders, the simple task of talking—producing a
sequence of speech sounds—presents significant barriers in daily life. Therefore, learning to produce new sound
sequences (such as those in a difficult word) is a central component of speech rehabilitation. However, the
mechanisms underlying speech motor sequence learning are poorly understood despite the critical importance
of this process to speech therapy. Accurate speech production involves both a phonological encoding stage to
plan and sequence upcoming sound units (i.e., phonemes) and a motor programming stage to transform the
planned phonemes into precise motor movements. It remains unclear how these two stages interact to support
the learning of new speech sequences. The primary objective of this proposal is to differentiate the roles of
phonological planning and speech motor programming processes during speech motor sequence learning in
patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA). PPA is a category of neurodegenerative disease in which the
location and degree of brain atrophy is closely tied to specific speech-language impairments in each individual,
and thus allows for relatively precise localization of speech-language function. Patients with PPA may have
isolated phonological impairment (e.g., logopenic-variant PPA) or motor programming impairment (e.g.,
progressive apraxia of speech), or may have relatively intact speech. In this project, participants will complete a
two-day learning paradigm where they will practice novel syllables containing non-native consonant clusters that
do not occur in English. Improvements in the accuracy and speed of practiced consonant clusters will be
compared to their performance on syllables containing untrained non-native consonant clusters. The central
hypothesis, based on the GODIVA model of speech sequencing, is that phonological learning should result in
reduced utterance duration while motor program learning should result in improved accuracy. This project will
test this hypothesis through two specific aims: 1) determine the behavioral predictors of speech motor sequence
learning abilities, and 2) establish the neural correlates of these abilities. Aim 1 will test the relationship between
learning measures and common clinical measures of phonological and motor programming ability. Aim 2 will
analyze the relationship between learning measures and the degree of cortical thinning in phonological and
motor programming brain regions. This study will further our knowledge of the mechanisms involved in speech
motor sequence learning, in line with the NIDCD mission to advance our understanding of normal and disordered
speech and improve the lives of individuals with communication disorders. This proposal will also provide crucial
training in areas including structural neuroimaging methods and neurodegenerative speech disorder research
that are essential for the trainee’s successful tra...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10845551
- **Project number:** 5F31DC020352-03
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS)
- **Principal Investigator:** Hilary Elizabeth Miller
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $47,214
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-06-01 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10845551

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10845551, Predictors of Speech Motor Sequence Learning in Neurological Disorders (5F31DC020352-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10845551. Licensed CC0.

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