Integrating Posture Control in Speech Motor Models: A Parallel-Structured Simulation Approach

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel speech motor control model that integrates posture control principles, demonstrating that speech posture is resilient to perturbations and crucial for maintaining balance and improving speech production.

Contribution

The study presents a new simulation-based model incorporating postural control into speech motor modeling, bridging a gap in existing models that overlook posture influences.

Findings

Speech posture is robust to perturbations.

Posture contributes to local segment balance.

Enhanced speech production observed with integrated posture control.

Abstract

Posture is an essential aspect of motor behavior, necessitating continuous muscle activation to counteract gravity. It remains stable under perturbation, aiding in maintaining bodily balance and enabling movement execution. Similarities have been observed between gross body postures and speech postures, such as those involving the jaw, tongue, and lips, which also exhibit resilience to perturbations and assist in equilibrium and movement. Although postural control is a recognized element of human movement and balance, particularly in broader motor skills, it has not been adequately incorporated into existing speech motor control models, which typically concentrate on the gestures or motor commands associated with specific speech movements, overlooking the influence of postural control and gravity. Here we introduce a model that aligns speech posture and movement, using simulations to explore whether speech posture within this framework mirrors the principles of bodily postural control. Our findings indicate that, akin to body posture, speech posture is also robust to perturbation and plays a significant role in maintaining local segment balance and enhancing speech production.