Stability and composition of functional synergies for speech movements in children and adults

Abstract

The consistency and composition of functional synergies for speech movements were investigated in 7 year-old children and adults in a reiterated speech task using electromagnetic articulography (EMA). Results showed higher variability in children for tongue tip and jaw, but not for lower lip movement trajectories. Furthermore, the relative contribution to the oral closure of lower lip was smaller in children compared to adults, whereas in this respect no difference was found for tongue tip. These results support and extend findings of non-linearity in speech motor development and illustrate the importance of a multi-measures approach in studying speech motor development. Index Terms: speech motor control, speech motor development, coordinative structures, speech movement patterns

Frits van Brenk

External consultant in the Motor Speech Disorders Laboratory

My research and teaching interests include motor speech disorders, clinical linguistics, experimental psycholinguistics, speech science, and research methods.