Descrizione del progetto
Un modello per il monitoraggio verbale
Gli errori nel linguaggio possono essere identificati attraverso meccanismi di monitoraggio verbale. Eventuali deficit in tal ambito possono causare patologie del linguaggio, come la balbuzie. Sfortunatamente, nei meccanismi di monitoraggio verbale vi sono molte lacune di conoscenza. Il progetto UMM, finanziato dall’UE, collegherà la mappa funzionale e strutturale delle connessioni neurali del cervello con misure comportamentali che utilizzano grandi gruppi di controllo per testare le produzioni linguistiche e l’esecuzione di compiti di controllo cognitivo. L’obiettivo è stabilire relazioni tra competenza verbale e diversi modelli di monitoraggio, controllo cognitivo e capacità di monitoraggio verbale nonché processi di monitoraggio verbale nella percezione. Il nuovo modello sarà convalidato tramite stimolazione magnetica transcranica.
Obiettivo
Everyone makes mistakes during speech production. However, to facilitate communication, it is important to limit errors during production (e.g. selecting the wrong word but also disfluencies such as ‘ums’ and stuttering), and to identify errors while listening. This is achieved by applying monitoring mechanisms. Deficits in verbal monitoring mechanisms are linked to severe pathologies, such as stuttering, aphasia and hearing voices. Currently, there are a number of theories that explain part of the mechanisms of verbal monitoring. Despite its central role in language processing, astonishingly, no full account exists. Contemporary verbal monitoring models differ widely with respect to some fundamental properties, indicating significant knowledge gaps. This research project fills in these theoretical gaps by relating the functional brain connectome and structural brain connectome with behavioural measures. We exploit the individual variability of a large cohort of healthy adult individuals, by testing groups on the two extremes of performance on cognitive control tasks, and on two extremes of language production tasks. In four work packages, we investigate the neurobiological and behavioural underpinnings of verbal monitoring in healthy adults. The proposal clarifies 1) if a relationship exists between production competence and monitoring (as per production models of monitoring) and 2) if measures of cognitive control are related to verbal monitoring skills (as per conflict models of monitoring) and 3) the involvement of these processes verbal monitoring in perception. To reach this goal we relate the functional brain connectome and structural brain connectome with behavioural measures. The output of 1-3 is used to inform a new model of verbal monitoring. As a final step, the new model is validated by applying TMS to critical cortical components of the model. The proposed project will constitute major progress in our understanding of the verbal monitoring mechanism.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
6525 XZ Nijmegen
Paesi Bassi