A Cognitive Framework of Goal-Directed and Stimulus-Driven Auditory-Motor Vocal Control

Kim, Jason H

doi:https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-bmb9-8g64

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A Cognitive Framework of Goal-Directed and Stimulus-Driven Auditory-Motor Vocal Control

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Numerous insights into the sensorimotor systems that guide the control of voice have been garnered by observing how the system responds to manipulations of its auditory feedback. However, current approaches may be limited in the exploration of more complex parameters of volitional and adaptive voice control due to their limited inclusion of higher-order cortical and cognitive interactions. A cognitive framework which incorporates the attentional selection of goal-directed and stimulus-driven sources in auditory-vocal pitch control may provide greater context to how neural resources are allocated in directing, monitoring, and adapting the control of complex vocal behavior. Exploring these underlying interactions between cognitive and sensorimotor control in voice would ultimately lead to greater ecological validity in our understanding of human vocal communication.In Study 1, we developed a volitional pitch control paradigm designed to characterize auditory-vocal pitch control, under conditions of both regular and altered pitch auditory feedback, in ongoing steady vocalization and during voluntary changes in pitch. Within the cognitive framework, goal-directed and stimulus-driven sources of auditory-vocal pitch control compete for neural resources. Based on similar observations from the literature (Zarate & Zatorre, 2008; Zarate et al., 2010; van Ede et al., 2020) we predicted that direct competition between two sources of attentional control would result in goal-directed sources outcompeting stimulus-driven sources for volitional vocal tasks that require more dynamic, as opposed to static, auditory-vocal pitch control. Our results indicate that volitional changes in pitch produce an anticipatory motor planning effect on ensuing pitch-shift response peak latencies, providing corroboration of previous observations and support for the overall framework. In Study 2, we utilized an expanded variation of the volitional pitch control paradigm to examine the component abilities of complex volitional auditory-vocal pitch control and their relationship to component abilities of higher-level cognitive processes. Current literature consistently demonstrates deficits in auditory-motor vocal feedback control in older clinical populations who may often be comorbid with other cognitive deficits (Liu et al., 2012; Chen et al., 2013; Ranasinghe et al., 2017); however, it is unclear to the extent which age, cognition, and interrelated factors between the two may contribute to differences in stimulus-driven and goal-directed auditory-vocal behavior in complex, volitional pitch control. We found similar age-related behavioral differences in auditory-vocal pitch feedback control as observed in previous studies (Liu et al., 2010; Liu et al., 2011; Li et al., 2018). Results also indicate that reduced cognitive flexibility may create greater difficulty for complex goal-directed volitional pitch control due to the reduced capacity for maintaining both new instructions and component pitch discrimination abilities, leading to behavioral differences in stimulus-driven compensatory responses as well as goal-directed response accuracy. In Study 3, we explored the behavioral changes in longitudinal intrasubject variability of auditory-vocal pitch control before, during, and after implementation of a cognitive auditory training protocol in a multiple-baseline single-subject experimental design (Byiers et al., 2012). The training protocol (adapted from Sheft et al., [2014] and Guo et al., [2017]) was designed to augment pitch working memory abilities in attempts to observe adaptive changes to overall goal-directed and stimulus-driven auditory-vocal pitch control over an extended time period. Based on previous literature (Behroozmand et al., 2012; Korzyukov et al., 2012; Guo et al., 2017), we predicted that successful transfer of learning from training would result in auditory-vocal adaptation. Post-training results indicated reductions in compensatory pitch response parameters and changes in the composition of involuntary pitch-corrective responses, reflecting an overall adaptation in feedback control strategies. We conclude in the final chapter, by presenting findings from this dissertation within the framework provided by the cognitive control of goal-directed and stimulus-driven auditory-vocal behavior and by discussing the overall implications for approaches to the study of volitional and adaptive voice control.

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