Time is of the essence: examining the time course of speech-motor learning in adolescents and young adults with and without childhood apraxia of speech
Date
2024
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Adolescents and young adults with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) present with persistent speech and language difficulties (Lewis & Ekelman, 2004; Lewis et al., 2007; Preston et al, 2013). These deficits can be a serious barrier to academic and social success (Lewis et al., 2007; Ruben, 2000). Existing models of speech-motor learning focus on active, online practice and the protracted development of the movement component of the speech-motor representation; however, specific elements of the speech-motor representation may be subject to offline learning processes (van Zelst & Earle, 2021). As such, thoughtful timing of speech-motor practice relative to wakeful rest or nocturnal sleep may promote memory consolidation of new speech-motor representations. The aim of this research is to track these learning time courses in adolescents and young adults with and without CAS as they learn a new speech-motor representation. Learning a new speech-motor representation is thought to involve learning both movement-specific (the how of moving) and goal-based information (the why or the reason for moving) (Cohen et al., 2005). These mechanisms can be dissociated and are thought to occur through a division of labor between the procedural and the declarative memory systems (Cohen et al., 2005; Song, 2009; van Zelst & Earle, 2021). Adolescents and young adults with CAS may have deficits in procedural learning (Iuzzini-Seigel, 2021) and thus may have a different division of labor for speech-motor learning relative to those without CAS. The first goal of this project is to investigate the time course of learning the movement (i.e., motor, procedural learning) and goal-based (i.e., linguistic, declarative learning) constituents of a new speech-motor representation in adolescents with (CAS) and without (TD) CAS. Second, these time courses are examined relative to procedural and declarative memory. This work is the first step in a programmatic line of research to optimize the treatment of long-standing CAS in adolescents and young adults.
Description
Keywords
Memory, Memory consolidation, Motor learning, Rest, Sleep, Speech motor learning