Characterizing the development of neural mechanisms underlying the co-learning of speech perception and production

  Contact person

Veronique BOULENGER , Sophie BOUTON , Melanie CANAULT , Jennifer KRZONOWSKI

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Scientific framework and objectives

This research project seeks to reveal the progressive establishment of the neural mechanisms responsible for the interaction between perception and production brain areas. I hypothesize that learning to speak is an incremental learning process, in which the temporal dynamics of articulatory movements progressively influence the audio-visual integration of speech, and vice versa. I argue that neural oscillations, as an emergent property of the collective and synchronized activity of neurons commonly engaged in a task, are the computational principle underlying the learning transfer between perception and production. Using a combination of behavioural testing and neuroimaging recordings, I will test this hypothesis by first probing the acquisition of audio-visual integration skills in infants aged 4-36 months. Second, I will identify the development of speech-related lip movements, to determine whether and how the oscillatory mechanisms underlying perception and production interact.

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  Financial support

• Subvention de Recherche de la Fondation Fyssen
  Watch me talk and learn: Characterizing the development of neuronal mechanisms underlying the co-learning of speech perception and production
  Fondation Fyssen
  

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