Differences in motor control of an aiming task in different group ages of the elderly

This study aimed to investigate how different age groups of older adults perform and control movements in a goal-directed aiming task and the importance of visual feedback during these movements. Methods: Participants included 22 old adults, divided in two age groups: younger (60-70 yr) and older (80-90 yr). Subjects performed the task in a condition with vision and in a condition where vision was deprived. Results: In the vision condition, younger subjects showed smaller movement and reaction times, smaller radial errors, higher peak velocities, lower relative times to reach peak velocity than older subjects. In the vision-deprived condition the same results were found, except for radial error measure, where no significant effect for age groups was found. Conclusion: Younger subjects seemed to rely more on visual online feedback than older subjects and older subjects use other sensory sources to meet the possible deficits of information obtained by vision.(AU)

Efeito da retroalimentação auditiva atrasada na gagueira com e sem alteração do processamento auditivo central / Effect of delayed auditory feedback on stuttering with and without central auditory processing disorders

RESUMO Objetivo Verificar o efeito da retroalimentação auditiva atrasada na fluência da fala de indivíduos que gaguejam, com e sem alteração do processamento auditivo central. Método Participaram 20 indivíduos com gagueira, de sete a 17 anos, divididos em dois grupos, cada um com 10 indivíduos: Grupo Gagueira com Transtorno do Processamento Auditivo (GGTPA) e Grupo Gagueira (GG) sem alteração de processamento auditivo central. Os procedimentos foram: avaliação da fluência com retroalimentação auditiva habitual (RAH) e atrasada (RAA), e avaliação da gravidade da gagueira e do processamento auditivo central (PAC). O software Fono Tools foi utilizado para provocar o atraso de 100 milissegundos na retroalimentação auditiva. O teste dos Postos Sinalizados de Wilcoxon foi utilizado na análise intragrupos, e o teste de Mann-Whitney, na análise intergrupos. Resultados A RAA ocasionou no GG redução estatisticamente significante: no escore da frequência das disfluências típicas da gagueira na análise do Instrumento de Gravidade da Gagueira, na quantidade de bloqueios e de repetições de palavras monossilábicas, e na frequência de disfluências típicas da gagueira de duração. O atraso na retroalimentação auditiva não provocou efeitos estatisticamente significantes na fluência do GGTPA, grupo dos indivíduos com gagueira com alteração do PAC. Conclusão O efeito da retroalimentação auditiva atrasada na fala de indivíduos com gagueira foi diferente nos indivíduos com e sem alteração do processamento auditivo central, pois houve melhora da fluência apenas nos indivíduos sem alteração do PAC.

ABSTRACT Purpose To verify the effect of delayed auditory feedback on speech fluency of individuals who stutter with and without central auditory processing disorders. Methods The participants were twenty individuals with stuttering from 7 to 17 years old and were divided into two groups: Stuttering Group with Auditory Processing Disorders (SGAPD): 10 individuals with central auditory processing disorders, and Stuttering Group (SG): 10 individuals without central auditory processing disorders. Procedures were: fluency assessment with non-altered auditory feedback (NAF) and delayed auditory feedback (DAF), assessment of the stuttering severity and central auditory processing (CAP). Phono Tools software was used to cause a delay of 100 milliseconds in the auditory feedback. The "Wilcoxon Signal Post" test was used in the intragroup analysis and "Mann-Whitney" test in the intergroup analysis. Results The DAF caused a statistically significant reduction in SG: in the frequency score of stuttering-like disfluencies in the analysis of the Stuttering Severity Instrument, in the amount of blocks and repetitions of monosyllabic words, and in the frequency of stuttering-like disfluencies of duration. Delayed auditory feedback did not cause statistically significant effects on SGAPD fluency, individuals with stuttering with auditory processing disorders. Conclusion The effect of delayed auditory feedback in speech fluency of individuals who stutter was different in individuals of both groups, because there was an improvement in fluency only in individuals without auditory processing disorder.

Comparison of different speech tasks among adults who stutter and adults who do not stutter

OBJECTIVES: In this study, we compared the performance of both fluent speakers and people who stutter in three different speaking situations: monologue speech, oral reading and choral reading. This study follows the assumption that the neuromotor control of speech can be influenced by external auditory stimuli in both speakers who stutter and speakers who do not stutter. METHOD: Seventeen adults who stutter and seventeen adults who do not stutter were assessed in three speaking tasks: monologue, oral reading (solo reading aloud) and choral reading (reading in unison with the evaluator). Speech fluency and rate were measured for each task. RESULTS: The participants who stuttered had a lower frequency of stuttering during choral reading than during monologue and oral reading. CONCLUSIONS: According to the dual premotor system model, choral speech enhanced fluency by providing external cues for the timing of each syllable compensating for deficient internal cues.