Speech lateralization and motor control

Abstract

A relationship between motor control and speech lateralization has long been postulated by researchers and clinicians with an interest in the functional organization of the human brain. Exactly how motor control might be related to speech representation, however, is rarely examined. This chapter examines current issues relating to the organization, development, and measurement of motor control and speech representation. We further consider from neuropsychological, developmental, neurological, and genetic perspectives that speech and fine motor control involve planning and sequencing processes, which are mediated by an integrated neural network localized to the left hemisphere. Specifically, we discuss studies from our laboratory using functional transcranial Doppler ultrasonography to determine speech laterality, correlating this with hand preference and pegboard measures of motor laterality. Our findings show that handedness, as measured by a motor skill task, can be predictive of speech laterality, both in typically developing adults and children. We have also shown that individuals with developmental motor coordination impairments also show atypical speech lateralization, providing further evidence that neurological motor and speech systems are intrinsically connected. We consider these results in the context of a left-lateralized speech-praxis center model, which could account for the relationship shown between sequence-based motor and speech tasks.

Keywords: Lateralization; Motor control; Speech production; Speech–praxis model; Transcranial Doppler.