Subcortical Circuits and Speech Sequencing in Deep Brain Stimulator Recipients

Who could benefit from this research

What this research studies

Researchers will use modern DBS devices to turn stimulation on and off in people with implanted targets in the basal ganglia or cerebellum to study how these brain regions contribute to learning and producing speech sequences. The study will compare two groups: participants with STN-DBS and participants with VIM-DBS, examining how stimulation during training and testing influences their speech performance. The work tests ideas from a computational model of speech sequencing and uses precise behavioral tasks with phoneme sequences within a syllable and multisyllabic pseudowords. Each arm plans to enroll about 20 participants per DBS target, aiming to clarify the distinct roles of the BG and CB circuits in speech. The project seeks to advance our understanding of neural control of fluent speech in people who already have implanted DBS systems.

Why it matters

Where this research is happening

• Boston University (Charles River Campus)
  Boston, United States Active

Researchers

• Principal investigator: Guenther, Frank H — Boston University (Charles River Campus)
• Study coordinator: Guenther, Frank H

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About this research

1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.