Perceptual Pattern of Cleft-Related Speech: A Task-fMRI Study on Typical Mandarin-Speaking Adults.

Congenital cleft lip and palate is one of the common deformities in the craniomaxillofacial region. The current study aimed to explore the perceptual pattern of cleft-related speech produced by Mandarin-speaking patients with repaired cleft palate using the task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (task-fMRI) technique. Three blocks of speech stimuli, including hypernasal speech, the glottal stop, and typical speech, were played to 30 typical adult listeners with no history of cleft palate speech exploration. Using a randomized block design paradigm, the participants were instructed to assess the intelligibility of the stimuli. Simultaneously, fMRI data were collected. Brain activation was compared among the three types of speech stimuli. Results revealed that greater blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) responses to the cleft-related glottal stop than to typical speech were localized in the right fusiform gyrus and the left inferior occipital gyrus. The regions responding to the contrast between the glottal stop and cleft-related hypernasal speech were located in the right fusiform gyrus. More significant BOLD responses to hypernasal speech than to the glottal stop were localized in the left orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus and middle temporal gyrus. More significant BOLD responses to typical speech than to the glottal stop were localized in the left inferior temporal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, left medial superior frontal gyrus, and right angular gyrus. Furthermore, there was no significant difference between hypernasal speech and typical speech. In conclusion, the typical listener would initiate different neural processes to perceive cleft-related speech. Our findings lay a foundation for exploring the perceptual pattern of patients with repaired cleft palate.

Ultrasonic Imaging Investigation of Tongue Movement Patterns of Cleft-Related Lateralized and Palatalized Misarticulation.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the tongue movement patterns on Mandarin speaking children with repaired cleft palate with lateralized and palatalized misarticulation (LPM) using ultrasound imaging technique. METHODS: A group of 20 subjects who were diagnosed with speech sound disorder after cleft palate repairment, and another group of 18 children with LPM were recruited. A group of 20 typical children were recruited as the control group. The ultrasonography was used to collect the articulation pattern of the 8 single vowels that are /a/, /o/, / ɘ/, /i/, /u/, /y/, /ɨ/, /ʉ/ in Mandarin Chinese. Various ultrasonic tongue parameters were analyzed from both sagittal and coronal planes. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, coronal height of peak point, coronal tongue dorsum constraint index, sagittal peak point offset distance, sagittal distance between tongue tip and peak point, and sagittal tongue dorsum constraint index of /ɘ/,/i/, /y/ and /ɨ/ were significantly smaller in the cleft-related lateralized and palatalized group (CLP) and noncleft-related lateralized and palatalized group (NLP) ( P   <  0.05). Compared with the noncleft-related later- alized and palatalized group and control group, sagittal peak point offset distance of the vowels /ɘ/ and /i/ was significant smaller in the cleft-related lateralized and palatalized group group ( P  < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The ultrasound images on the children with cleft palate showed a midline elevation of the tongue and a significant apical constriction. The children with LPM showed a midline elevation at the coronal plane and anterior movement of the tongue high point at the sagittal plane. The apical vowels were more informative and accurate in indicating the features of LPM than other vowels.

Effect of verbascoside on apoptosis and metastasis in human oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Despite significant advances in therapy, the 5-year survival rates for patients with advanced stage oral cancers still remains poor as an appropriate treatment has not been found yet, due to side effects of chemo/radiotherapy. Verbascoside (VB), a major bioactive constituent of the Tsoong herb, displays pharmacological properties by exhibiting anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities. However, the underlining function and mechanism of VB in human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains unclear. In this study, we show that VB significantly decreased the viability and metastasis of HN4 and HN6 tumor cells, while promoting apoptosis. A xenograft OSCC mouse model further showed that intraperitoneal injection of VB strongly inhibited growth and lung metastasis of implanted tumor cells. Immunoblot analysis confirmed that VB effectively suppressed nuclear factor (NF)-κB activation and downstream Bcl-2/Bcl-XL expression, resulting in increased OSCC cell apoptosis. In addition, VB suppressed mRNA and protein expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 via suppression of NF-κB activation, thereby inhibiting tumor cell metastasis. Inspiringly, compared to cisplatin-treated group, VB is a biocompatible agent without signficant side effects in vivo. Collectively, our results demonstrate that VB effectively inhibits OSCC tumor cell growth and metastasis via suppression of IκB kinase complex (IKK)/NF-κB-related signaling activation, suggesting that VB has potential use as a potent anticancer agent in OSCC therapeutic strategies.

Is Neural Processing of Negative Stimuli Altered in Addiction Independent of Drug Effects? Findings From Drug-Naïve Youth with Internet Gaming Disorder.

Difficulties in emotion regulation are commonly reported among individuals with alcohol and drug addictions and contribute to the acquisition and maintenance of addictive behaviors. Alterations in neural processing of negative affective stimuli have further been demonstrated among individuals with addictions. However, it is unclear whether these alterations are a general feature of addictions or are a result of prolonged exposure to drugs of abuse. To test the hypothesis of altered negative affect processing independent of drug effects, this study assessed neural function among drug-naïve youth with a behavioral addiction-Internet gaming disorder (IGD). Fifty-six young adults (28 with IGD, 28 matched controls) participated in fMRI scanning during performance of a well-validated emotion regulation task. Between-group differences in neural activity during task performance were assessed using a whole-brain, mixed-effects ANOVA with correction for multiple comparisons at currently recommended thresholds (voxel-level p<0.001, pFWE<0.05). Compared to controls, youth with IGD exhibited significantly blunted neural responses within distributed subcortical and cortical regions including the striatum, insula, lateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate in response to negative affective cues, as well as during emotion regulation. Independent component analysis (ICA) further identified between-group differences in engagement of a fronto-cingulo-parietal network, involving decreased engagement in IGD youth relative to controls. Study findings are largely consistent with those from prior neuroimaging studies in substance-use disorders, thus raising the possibility that neural processing of negative affect may be blunted across drug and behavioral addictions independent of acute or chronic drug effects.