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NCT Number: NCT06492252

Speech Motor Learning and Retention (Aim 3)

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.

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Key information

Conditions

Speech Behavior Communication Verbal Behavior

Age range

18 year–40 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Yale Child Study Center

New Haven, Connecticut, 06520, United States

Location status: Recruiting

About this study

The focus of this registration is Aim 3. Excitability will be assessed. In Aim 3, resting-state fMRI will be interleaved with speech motor adaptation, again using Harvard Sentences. Additional scans and retention tests will be conducted 24 hours later, to assess motor memory consolidation.

The Speech Motor Learning and Retention Master Protocol is NCT06467292.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

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

Treatment and study plan

fMRI

Device

To assess functional connectivity patterns between regions that predict learning.

Adaptation

Behavioral

Auditory adaptation in speech

Primary outcomes

  1. Speech motor learning

    Time frame: Performance as measured at the end of learning (30 minute session)

    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.

  2. Retention of learning

    Time frame: 24 hours after learning (re-test lasts 30 minutes)

    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.

  3. Change in fMRI resting-state connectivity following speech motor learning

    Time frame: baseline and at the end of learning (30 minute session)

    fMRI resting-state connectivity change following speech motor learning. Functional connectivity will be measured between each of the following regions: Heschel's gyrus, posterior superior temporal gyrus, primary and second somatosensory cortex, supramarginal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, motor and ventral premotor cortex and supplementary motor area.

  4. fMRI resting-state connectivity measures of motor memory retention

    Time frame: 24 hours after learning (re-test lasts 30 minutes)

    fMRI resting-state connectivity measures of motor memory retention. Functional connectivity will be measured between each of the following regions: Heschel's gyrus, posterior superior temporal gyrus, primary and second somatosensory cortex, supramarginal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, motor and ventral premotor cortex and supplementary motor area.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Michael Stern

CONTACT

[email protected]

2038656163

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Yale University

Other

Collaborators

  • National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

Registry information

Official study title

Sensorimotor Basis of Speech Motor Learning and Retention

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2028
Study completion
2029
First posted
Jul 9, 2024
Registry last updated
Jul 16, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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