Sensorimotor learning during synchronous speech is modulated by the acoustics of the other voice.

Abstract

This study tested the hypothesis that speaking with other voices can influence sensorimotor predictions of one's own voice. Real-time manipulations of auditory feedback were used to drive sensorimotor adaptation in speech, while participants spoke sentences in synchrony with another voice, a task known to induce implicit imitation (phonetic convergence). The acoustic-phonetic properties of the other voice were manipulated between groups, such that convergence with it would either oppose (incongruent group, n = 15) or align with (congruent group, n = 16) speech motor adaptation. As predicted, significantly greater adaptation was seen in the congruent compared to the incongruent group. This suggests the use of shared sensory targets in speech for predicting the sensory outcomes of both the actions of others (speech perception) and the actions of the self (speech production). This finding has important implications for wider theories of shared predictive mechanisms across perception and action, such as active inference.