Robert Carina, Weiblen Ronja, Wagner-Altendorf Tobias A, Paulus Theresa, Müller-Vahl Kirsten, Münchau Alexander, Krämer Ulrike M, Heldmann Marcus, Roessner Veit, Münte Thomas F
Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Marie-Curie-Straße, Building 66, 23562, Lübeck, Germany.
Neurol Res Pract. 2024 May 2;6(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s42466-024-00324-5.
Motor and vocal tics are the main symptom of Gilles de la Tourette-syndrome (GTS). A particular complex vocal tic comprises the utterance of swear words, termed coprolalia. Since taboo words are socially inappropriate, they are normally suppressed by people, which implies cognitive control processes.
To investigate the control of the unintentional pronunciation of taboo words and the associated processes of conflict monitoring, we used the "Spoonerisms of Laboratory Induced Predisposition" (SLIP) paradigm. Participants read multiple inductor word pairs with the same phonemes, followed by pronouncing a target pair with inverse phonemes. This led to a conflict between two competing speech plans: the correct word pair and the word pair with inverted phonemes. Latter speech error, a spoonerism, could result in a neutral or taboo word. We investigated 19 patients with GTS and 23 typically developed controls (TDC) and measured participants' electroencephalography (EEG) during the SLIP task.
At the behavioral level less taboo than neutral word spoonerisms occurred in both groups without significant differences. Event-related brain potentials (ERP) revealed a difference between taboo and neutral word conditions in the GTS group at the midline electrodes in a time range of 250-400 ms after the speech prompt, which was not found in the TDC group. The extent of this effect depended on the number of inductor word pairs, suggesting an increasing level of cognitive control in the GTS group.
The differences between taboo and neutral word conditions in patients with GTS compared to TDC suggest an altered recruitment of cognitive control processes in GTS, likely enlisted to suppress taboo words.
运动性和发声性抽动是抽动秽语综合征（GTS）的主要症状。一种特殊的复杂发声性抽动包括说出秽语，即秽语症。由于禁忌语在社会上是不合适的，人们通常会抑制它们，这意味着存在认知控制过程。
为了研究对禁忌语无意发音的控制以及相关的冲突监测过程，我们使用了“实验室诱发倾向的首音互换”（SLIP）范式。参与者阅读多个具有相同音素的诱导词对，然后发音一个音素颠倒的目标词对。这导致了两个相互竞争的言语计划之间的冲突：正确的词对和音素颠倒的词对。后一种言语错误，即首音互换，可能会产生一个中性词或禁忌语。我们调查了19名GTS患者和23名正常发育的对照者（TDC），并在SLIP任务期间测量了参与者的脑电图（EEG）。
在行为层面，两组中出现的禁忌语首音互换都比中性词首音互换少，且无显著差异。事件相关脑电位（ERP）显示，在言语提示后250 - 400毫秒的时间范围内，GTS组中线电极处禁忌语和中性词条件之间存在差异，而TDC组未发现这种差异。这种效应的程度取决于诱导词对的数量，表明GTS组的认知控制水平在增加。
与TDC相比，GTS患者中禁忌语和中性词条件之间的差异表明GTS中认知控制过程的募集发生了改变，可能是为了抑制禁忌语。
