Clinical Trials Logo

Clinical Trial Summary

This study will investigate the how the cerebellum is involved in speech motor learning over time and short-term corrections in patients with cerebellar ataxia and healthy controls. This will be accomplished through three approaches: behavioral studies, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). During behavioral studies, participants will be asked to speak into a microphone while their voice is played back over earphones, and to do other speaking tasks. MRI will be acquired to perform a detailed analysis on brain function and anatomy related to speech and the cerebellum. In healthy controls, TMS will also be performed to temporarily disrupt the cerebellum before, during, or after the participant performs speaking tasks. Patients with cerebellar ataxia and healthy volunteers will be asked to complete behavioral studies and/or MRI; healthy volunteers may be asked to additionally participate in TMS.


Clinical Trial Description

This study will investigate the role of the cerebellum in speech, building upon prior work in understanding cerebellar function in reaching and walking. Neuroimaging and lesion studies have provided strong evidence that the cerebellum is an integral part of the speech production network, though its precise role in the control of speech remains unclear. Furthermore, damage to the cerebellum (either degenerative or focal) can lead to ataxic dysarthria, a motor speech disorder characterized, in part, by impaired articulation and severe temporal deficits. This project seeks to bridge the gap between theoretical models of cerebellar function and the speech symptoms associated with ataxic dysarthria. Two mechanisms underlie speech motor control - feedback and feedforward control. In feedback control, speakers use sensory feedback (e.g., of their own voice) to control their speech. In feedforward control, speakers use knowledge gained from their past speech productions, rather than on-line feedback, to control their speech. This study entails a systematic plan to elucidate the role of the cerebellum in feedforward and feedback control of speech. A central hypothesis is that the cerebellum is especially critical in the feedforward control of speech, but has little involvement in feedback control. To explore this hypothesis, we will obtain converging evidence from three innovative methodologies: 1) Neuropsychological studies of speech-motor responses to real-time altered auditory feedback in patients with cerebellar atrophy (CA) and matched healthy controls, 2) Parallel studies in healthy controls undergoing theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation to create "virtual lesions" of the cerebellum, and 3) Structural and functional studies in CA patients to examine the relationship between cerebellar lesion location, dysarthria symptoms, and feedforward and feedback control ability. Speech provides an important opportunity to examine how well current theories of cerebellar function generalize to a novel effector (vocal tract) and sensory (auditory) domain. Its purpose for communication imposes exacting spectro-temporal constraints not seen in other motor domains. Furthermore, the distinctive balance of feedback and feedforward control in speech allows us to examine changes in both control types subsequent to cerebellar damage. Critically, this is the first work examining the link between theoretically motivated control deficits in CA patients and the speech symptoms associated with ataxic dysarthria, as well as their neural correlates. ;


Study Design


Related Conditions & MeSH terms


NCT number NCT03972202
Study type Interventional
Source University of California, San Francisco
Contact Coordinator for Cerebellum Speech Study
Phone 415-476-6888
Email cerebellumspeech@gmail.com
Status Recruiting
Phase N/A
Start date September 15, 2019
Completion date September 1, 2024

See also
  Status Clinical Trial Phase
Recruiting NCT06052553 - A Study of TopSpin360 Training Device N/A
Completed NCT05511077 - Biomarkers of Oat Product Intake: The BiOAT Marker Study N/A
Recruiting NCT04632485 - Early Detection of Vascular Dysfunction Using Biomarkers From Lagrangian Carotid Strain Imaging
Completed NCT05931237 - Cranberry Flavan-3-ols Consumption and Gut Microbiota in Healthy Adults N/A
Terminated NCT04556032 - Effects of Ergothioneine on Cognition, Mood, and Sleep in Healthy Adult Men and Women N/A
Completed NCT04527718 - Study of the Safety, Tolerability and Pharmacokinetics of 611 in Adult Healthy Volunteers Phase 1
Completed NCT04998695 - Health Effects of Consuming Olive Pomace Oil N/A
Completed NCT04065295 - A Study to Test How Well Healthy Men Tolerate Different Doses of BI 1356225 Phase 1
Completed NCT04107441 - AX-8 Drug Safety, Tolerability and Plasma Levels in Healthy Subjects Phase 1
Completed NCT01442831 - Evaluate the Absorption, Metabolism, And Excretion Of Orally Administered [14C] TR 701 In Healthy Adult Male Subjects Phase 1
Terminated NCT05934942 - A Study in Healthy Women to Test Whether BI 1358894 Influences the Amount of a Contraceptive in the Blood Phase 1
Recruiting NCT05525845 - Studying the Hedonic and Homeostatic Regulation of Food Intake Using Functional MRI N/A
Completed NCT05515328 - A Study in Healthy Men to Test How BI 685509 is Processed in the Body Phase 1
Completed NCT04967157 - Cognitive Effects of Citicoline on Attention in Healthy Men and Women N/A
Completed NCT05030857 - Drug-drug Interaction and Food-effect Study With GLPG4716 and Midazolam in Healthy Subjects Phase 1
Recruiting NCT04714294 - Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability and Pharmacokinetics Characteristics of HPP737 in Healthy Volunteers Phase 1
Recruiting NCT04494269 - A Study to Evaluate Pharmacokinetics and Safety of Tegoprazan in Subjects With Hepatic Impairment and Healthy Controls Phase 1
Completed NCT04539756 - Writing Activities and Emotions N/A
Recruiting NCT04098510 - Concentration of MitoQ in Human Skeletal Muscle N/A
Completed NCT03308110 - Bioavailability and Food Effect Study of Two Formulations of PF-06650833 Phase 1