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The role of the cerebellum in speech

Award Number: R01DC017091
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 12/25/2018
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/31/2030

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The role of the cerebellum in speech - PROJECT SUMMARY Cerebellar ataxia (CA), caused by degeneration of or insult to the cerebellum almost always results in dysarthria, a speech motor impairment that results in reduced intelligibility and naturalness, significantly impacting quality of life. A mechanistic understanding of the cerebellar contribution to speech as well as how damage to this subcortical structure impacts cerebral speech networks is poorly understood. Consequently, at present there are no evidence-based treatments to improve speech production in CA. Our central objective is to close this critical gap by determining how cerebellar dysfunction impairs the neural control of speech, a crucial foundational step to enable development of mechanism-based treatments for CA speech impairments. Our central hypothesis is that the cerebellum plays a critical role in the feedforward control of speech, the ability to produce speech without monitoring its sensory outcomes. Specifically, the cerebellum is involved in the: 1) generation of sensory predictions used for feedforward control and 2) updating of these predictions following feedback errors (i.e., mismatch between predicted and actual feedback) to maintain an accurate internal model for feedforward control. While feedforward control may provide a general characterization of how the cerebellum contributes to speech production, we hypothesize that different subregions of the cerebellum are associated with specific, and dissociable aspects of speech production such as articulation, pitch, and timing. We further hypoth- esize that cerebellar damage has little direct effect on feedback control, the ability to use sensory signals to guide and correct ongoing actions patients may develop idiosyncratic changes in feedback control as a compen- satory mechanism for impaired feedforward control. In two aims, we test these hypotheses by analyzing the relationship between cerebellar degeneration, speech symptoms, and specific motor control impairments (Aim 1) and examining the role of the cerebellum in the broader speech production network (Aim 2). Across these aims, we will address a striking clinical observation, namely the wide heterogeneity observed in CA patients in terms of their dysarthria, a phenomenon that is poorly understood. We evaluate three promising sources that may underlie this heterogeneity: 1) differences in the specific locations of degeneration/pathology, 2) differences in CA etiology, and 3) compensatory changes in control that may develop secondary to cerebellar damage itself. We will use speech psychophysics in conjunction with magnetoencephalography (MEG) imaging to examine the consequences of cerebellar damage on electro- physiological responses in the cerebral cortex associated with speech motor control and learning in three model cohorts: 1) patients with CA, 2) patients with acute cerebellar stroke (ACS), and 3) healthy speakers in whom cerebellar function is transiently perturbed by continuous theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (cTBS).


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $691,235 )
2025	2025	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94103	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	002	6	4/23/2025	COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$16,000
2025	2025	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94103	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	6	4/15/2025	COMPETING CONTINUATION	$707,235
2025	2023	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94103	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	5	2/19/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $691,235

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $622,288 )
2023	2023	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	5	11/29/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$560,059
2023	2023	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	5	1/14/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$62,229
														Subtotal = $622,288

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $622,288 )
2022	2022	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	4	12/8/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$560,059
2022	2022	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	4	4/18/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$62,229
														Subtotal = $622,288

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $622,288 )
2021	2021	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	3	11/19/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$560,059
2021	2021	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	3	1/8/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$62,229
														Subtotal = $622,288

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $620,518 )
2020	2020	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	2	11/21/2019	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$558,466
2020	2020	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	2	1/22/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$62,052
														Subtotal = $620,518

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $652,566 )
2019	2019	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	12/21/2018	NEW	$652,566
														Subtotal = $652,566

Grand Total All Awards = $3,831,183

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The role of the cerebellum in speech

Award Number: R01DC017091

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 12/25/2018

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/31/2030

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