Maas Edwin
a Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders , Temple University , Philadelphia , PA , USA.
Int J Speech Lang Pathol. 2017 Aug;19(4):345-359. doi: 10.1080/17549507.2016.1221995. Epub 2016 Oct 5.
Understanding of the behavioural, cognitive and neural underpinnings of speech production is of interest theoretically, and is important for understanding disorders of speech production and how to assess and treat such disorders in the clinic. This paper addresses two claims about the neuromotor control of speech production: (1) speech is subserved by a distinct, specialised motor control system and (2) speech is holistic and cannot be decomposed into smaller primitives. Both claims have gained traction in recent literature, and are central to a task-dependent model of speech motor control. The purpose of this paper is to stimulate thinking about speech production, its disorders and the clinical implications of these claims. The paper poses several conceptual and empirical challenges for these claims - including the critical importance of defining speech. The emerging conclusion is that a task-dependent model is called into question as its two central claims are founded on ill-defined and inconsistently applied concepts. The paper concludes with discussion of methodological and clinical implications, including the potential utility of diadochokinetic (DDK) tasks in assessment of motor speech disorders and the contraindication of nonspeech oral motor exercises to improve speech function.
理解言语产生的行为、认知和神经基础在理论上具有重要意义，对于理解言语产生障碍以及如何在临床中评估和治疗此类障碍也至关重要。本文探讨了关于言语产生的神经运动控制的两种观点：（1）言语由一个独特的、专门的运动控制系统支持；（2）言语是整体性的，不能分解为更小的基本单元。这两种观点在最近的文献中都得到了支持，并且是言语运动控制任务依赖模型的核心。本文的目的是激发对言语产生、其障碍以及这些观点的临床意义的思考。本文对这些观点提出了几个概念和实证挑战——包括定义言语的至关重要性。新出现的结论是，任务依赖模型受到质疑，因为其两个核心观点基于定义不明确且应用不一致的概念。本文最后讨论了方法学和临床意义，包括在评估运动性言语障碍中运用连续重复运动（DDK）任务的潜在效用以及非言语口腔运动练习改善言语功能的禁忌。
