{"id":44565,"date":"2020-06-09T12:45:19","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T10:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aktuelles.uni-frankfurt.de\/?p=44565"},"modified":"2023-02-22T15:58:13","modified_gmt":"2023-02-22T14:58:13","slug":"how-the-brain-controls-our-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aktuelles.uni-frankfurt.de\/en\/english\/how-the-brain-controls-our-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"How the brain controls our speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speaking requires both sides of the brain. Each hemisphere\ntakes over a part of the complex task of forming sounds, modulating the voice\nand monitoring what has been said. However, the distribution of tasks is\ndifferent than has been thought up to now, as an interdisciplinary team of\nneuroscientists and phoneticians at Goethe University Frankfurt and the Leibniz-Centre\nGeneral Linguistics Berlin has discovered: it is not just the right hemisphere\nthat analyses how we speak \u2013 the left hemisphere also plays a role.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until now, it has been assumed that the\nspoken word arises in left side of the brain and is analysed by the right side.\nAccording to accepted doctrine, this means that when we learn to speak English\nand for example practice the sound equivalent to \u201cth\u201d, the left side of the\nbrain controls the motor function of the articulators like the tongue, while\nthe right side analyses whether the produced sound actually sounds as we\nintended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The division of labour actually follows\ndifferent principles, as Dr Christian Kell from the Department of Neurology at\nGoethe University explains: \u201cWhile the left side of the brain controls temporal\naspects such as the transition between speech sounds, the right hemisphere is\nresponsible for the control of the sound spectrum. When you say \u2018mother\u2019, for\nexample, the left hemisphere primarily controls the dynamic transitions between\n\u201cth\u201d and the vowels, while the right hemisphere primarily controls the sounds themselves.\u201d\nHis team, together with the phonetician Dr Susanne Fuchs, was able to\ndemonstrate this division of labour in temporal and spectral control of speech\nfor the first time in studies in which speakers were required to talk while\ntheir brain activities were recorded using functional magnetic resonance\nimaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A possible explanation for this division\nof labour between the two sides of the brain is that the left hemisphere\ngenerally analyses fast processes such as the transition between speech sounds\nbetter than the right hemisphere. The right hemisphere could be better at\ncontrolling the slower processes required for analysing the sound spectrum. A\nprevious study on hand motor function that was published in the scientific\npublication \u201celife\u201d demonstrates that this is in fact the case. Kell and his\nteam wanted to learn why the right hand was preferentially used for the control\nof fast actions and the left hand preferred for slow actions. For example, when\ncutting bread, the right hand is used to slice with the knife while the left hand\nholds the bread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the experiment, scientists had\nright-handed test persons tap with both hands to the rhythm of a metronome. In\none version they were supposed to tap with each beat, and in another only with\nevery fourth beat. As it turned out, the right hand was more precise during the\nquick tapping sequence and the left hemisphere, which controls the right side\nof the body, exhibited increased activity. Conversely, tapping with the left\nhand corresponded better with the slower rhythm and resulted in the right\nhemisphere exhibiting increased activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taken together, the two studies create a\nconvincing picture of how complex behaviour \u2013 hand motor functions and speech \u2013\nare controlled by both cerebral hemispheres. The left side of the brain has a\npreference for the control of fast processes while the right side tends to\ncontrol the slower processes in parallel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publications:<\/strong>

Floegel M, Fuchs S, Kell CA (2020) Differential contributions of the two cerebral hemispheres to temporal and spectral speech feedback control. Nature Communications, 11:2839. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-020-16743-2<\/a>

Pflug A, Gompf F, Muthuraman M, Groppa S, Kell CA (2019) Differential contributions of the two human cerebral hemispheres to action timing. eLife, 8:48404 https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7554\/eLife.48404<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speaking requires both sides of the brain. Each hemisphere takes over a part of the complex task of forming sounds, modulating the voice and monitoring what has been said. 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