Speech Abilities Research Articles

Postoperative rehabilitation effect and influence factors of adult prelingual deafness with cochlear implant

Objective: To investigate whether pre-lingual deafness adult caused by inadequate auditory compensation in childhood can benefit from cochlear implants and the related influencing factors. Methods: A total of 26 prelingual deafness as experimental group [11 males and 15 females, the age of operation was (24.5±5.7) years] and 13 postlingual deafness as control group [5 males and 8 females, the age at the time of operation was (42.2±11.4) years] were recruited. Objective assessment included hearing threshold and speech recognition rate tests while wearing cochlear implants. Subjective assessment used Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire to assess hearing-related quality of life of subjects. The changes of hearing ability in the prelingual deafness group before and after operation and the differences with the postlingual deafness group were compared, and the correlation between speech recognition ability and the age diagnosed as severe or profound deafness, the age of hearing aid invalid, and duration of wearing cochlear implant were analyzed as factor indicators. All statistical results were analyzed by SAS 9.4 software. Results: In terms of objective indicators, the speech recognition rate of pre-lingual deafness was significantly lower than that of post-lingual deafness [(35.4±28.0)% vs (80.9±8.0)%,t=7.67, P<0.001], while there was no statistical difference in hearing threshold between the two groups [(34.8±4.0) dB HL vs (33.1±3.7) dB HL, t=1.30, P>0.05]. The indicators in the subjective questionnaire showed that the prelingual deafness group was only weaker in advanced sound perception, confidence and total mean score than the post-lingual deafness group (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference in other aspects(P>0.05), meanwhile, all indicators of the prelingual deafness group were significantly improved compared with the preoperative level (P<0.001). There was a moderate positive correlation between the hearing quality and the speech recognition rate in the prelingual deafness group(r=0.51, P=0.008). The regression analysis showed that the invalid age of hearing aid was the exact influencing factor of speech recognition rate. Conclusions: Certain prelingual deaf adults can adapt to cochlear implants and obtain different degrees of auditory assistance. Compared with the improvement of objective auditory ability assessment, the patient who received cochlear implantation gain more improvement in auditory related quality of life subjectively. The ineffective age of preoperative hearing aid is an important factor, which needs to be aroused sufficient preoperative attention.

Evaluation of hearing and speech rehabilitation after cochlear implantation in children with Waardenburg syndrome

Objective:By comparing the hearing and speech rehabilitation effects of cochlear implantation （CI） in children with Waardenburg syndrome （WS） and children with common deafness genes （SLC26A4, GJB2） in the Chinese population, and the hearing and speech rehabilitation effects of bilateral CI and unilateral CI in children with WS, to provide a reference for clinical CIin children with WS. Methods:Follow up and return visit 72 pedestrian cochlear implant children with severe and above sensorineural hearing loss and clear gene mutation type diagnosed by Kunming Children's Hospital from 2017 to 2019, including 24 cases in the WS group, 24 cases in the control group （SLC26A4 deafness group and GJB2 deafness group）. All enrolled children were evaluated for auditory and speech ability 12 months after startup. Results:The hearing aid threshold, the correct recognition rate of speech recognition ability evaluation, IT-MAIS / MAIS score rate, CAP score, SIR score, there was no significant difference（P>0.05）. The correct recognition rates of IT-MAIS / MAIS score, SIR score, natural environment sound recognition, vowel recognition, tone recognition, monosyllabic word recognition, disyllabic word recognition and short sentence recognition in children with WS bilateral CI were significantly higher than those in children with WS unilateral CI （P<0.05）. There was no significant difference in CAP score, initial recognition and correct recognition rate of trisyllabic words between children with WS bilateral CI and children with WS unilateral CI （P>0.05）. Conclusion:Common deafness genes in children with WS and Chinese population （SLC26A4, GJB2） the effect of cochlear implantation on hearing and speech rehabilitation of sick children is equivalent. For children with severe and above sensorineural hearing loss associated with this syndrome, CI can be used clinically to improve their hearing and speech ability. WS bilateral CI has advantages in some hearing and speech abilities compared with unilateral CI, so those whomeet the conditions should be encouraged bilateral implantation.

Effects of Preschool Speech Sound Disorder on School Age Activities · Participation

Purpose: Childhood speech sound disorders are related to a variety of problems, and it is important to identify and minimize problems. This study divided groups based on speech abilities and examined differences in the developmental trajectories of activities ∙ participation, and the effect of child factors and environmental factors on the developmental trajectories in activities ∙ participation.Methods: Using the Panel Study on Korean children for the 7th and 9th years, the groups were classified into typically developing, having mild speech sound disorder, and having moderate speech sound disorder based on speech ability. Through multilevel growth model analysis, each group was examined for developmental trajectories in activities ∙ participation in the first and second grades and analyzed the impact of child factors and environmental factors on developmental trajectories.Results: The group with speech sound disorders received low rating scores in various areas of activities ∙ participation in the first and second grades. The child factors and environmental factors contained different effects on each group. Activities ∙ participation of speech sound disorders affected the executive function, school preference, school environment, school location, and childcare policies.Conclusion: This study provides a basis for the need for various types of institutional support to be provided to children with speech sound disorders by showing the effect of speech sound disorders on the performance of children’s life functions, and by examining the effect of child factors and environmental factors on the patterns of developmental trajectories.

Exploring the relationship between children's facial emotion processing characteristics and speech communication ability using deep learning on eye tracking and speech performance measures

The ability of efficient facial emotion recognition (FER) plays a significant role in successful human communication and is closely associated with multiple speech communication disorders (SCD) in children. Despite the relevance, little is known about how speech communication abilities (SCA) and FER are correlated or of their underlying mechanism. To address this, we monitored eye movements of 115 children while watching human faces with different emotions and designed a machine-learning based SCD prediction model to explore the underlying pattern of eye movements during the FER task as well as their correlation with SCA. Strong and detailed correlations were found between different dimensions of SCA and various eye-movement features. A group of FER gazing patterns was found to be highly sensitive to the possibility of children's SCD. The SCD prediction model reached an accuracy as high as 88.9%, which offers a possible technique to fast screen SCD for children.

Language Screening in Toddlers with Cleft Lips and or Palates: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Children with cleft lips and or palates are at risk for speech and language disorders. Early speech and language intervention help them to advance their full speech and language abilities. This study aimed to determine whether language abilities in toddlers with oral clefts would differ from those of normal children.Materials and Methods: The study recruited 2 groups of children aged 12 to 24 months. The toddlers with cleft lips and or palates as a group of children with orofacial anomalies were born at Shahid Akbar-Abadi Hospital from March 2017 to March 2019 in Tehran City, Iran. The parents of non cleft children and those with oral clefts answered the questions of the verbal and non-verbal communication screening checklist for Persian-speaking children.Results: The results showed significant differences between the scores of the receptive-expressive language achieved by toddlers with clefts and non-clefts peers aged 12-18 months (P&lt;0.05) and 18-24 months (P&lt;0.05). But the results showed no significant differences between the non cleft toddlers and those with clefts in non-verbal communication (P&gt;0.05).Conclusion: The toddlers with orofacial anomalies need early speech and language intervention.

Hearing Aids and The Quality of Life of Children with Hearing Loss

Hearing loss in children may cause social isolation and poor communication skills, potentially affecting mental disorders and quality of life. Hearing aids (HA) provide auditory stimuli that can improve children's speech ability and influence their quality of life. A cross-sectional study in three special schools-B (SLB-B) in Semarang was carried out. A total of 82 children (7-12 years old) with severe hearing loss with or without hearing aids were included. Quality of life was assessed by the Hearing Environments and Reflection on Quality of Life (HEAR-QL) questionnaire. The results showed that 48 (58.54%) subjects used hearing aids, and 34 (41.46%) did not use hearing aids. The average subject's age was 10.77±1.56 years old. Hearing-aid use was associated with a good quality of life of children with hearing loss (p0.001). Good quality of life was found in 68.8% of children with hearing aids compared to only 2.9% in children without hearing aids. Duration of hearing-aid use (p0.001), mother education (p0.006) was associated with good quality of life of children, whereas gender (p=0.49), number of siblings (p=0.06), and socioeconomic status (p=0.63) were not. The quality of life of children who use hearing aids is better than without hearing aids.

Investigating the Differences Between Prepared and Spontaneous Speech Characteristics: Descriptive Approach

In the modern EFL paradigm, pre-task planning time is viewed as a norm. Pre-task planning time is one of the central concerns of teachers, test-developers, as well as researchers. Pre-task planning is planning a speech before performing a task, and it also involves rehearsal and strategic planning. The paper addresses the problem of pre-task planning advisability for A2 Russian EFL speakers. The research presented in this paper examines the structure, breakdown, repair, syntactic complexity, lexical diversity as well as the accuracy of the discourse produced by 145 Russian participants of the English language competition held in Kazan, Russia, in January 2020. The discourse analysis revealed that the pre-task time is used by A2 EFL speakers not only to focus on a dialog but also to elicit a topic text from memory, thus focusing on form rather than meaning. Hence, in A2 tests prioritizing meaning over form and measuring the ability for spontaneous speech, the one-minute pre-task planning time is viewed as questionable.

Effect of Levothyroxine Sodium Tablets on Pregnancy Outcome and Offspring Development Quotient of SCH during Pregnancy.

Objective To investigate the effect of levothyroxine sodium tablets (L-T4) on pregnancy outcome and offspring development quotient in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) during pregnancy. Material and Methods. Pregnant women with gestational age less than 12 weeks who underwent the first prenatal examination in our hospital from January 2019 to December 2019 were prospectively selected as subjects. According to the level of thyroid hormone in pregnant women, they were divided into the treatment group (n = 63) and received L-T4 treatment, untreated group (n = 64), and control group (n = 54). Three groups of pregnancy outcomes, children's physical development, and the development of offspring were compared at when one full year of life. Results After treatment, the contrast difference of the three groups about abortion and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The abortion rate and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in the untreated group were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The contrast difference of the treatment group and control group about abortion and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is not statistically significant (P > 0.05); The contrast difference of the three groups about a filial generation at birth and one-year-old body length is not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The contrast difference between the three groups of individual children who are one-year old having the individual action energy, material ability, speech ability, and human ability is statistically significant (P < 0.05). One-year-old developmental quotient (DQ) of the treatment group and control group was higher than that of the untreated group (P < 0.05); the Pearson correlation analysis showed that the treatment group TSH levels have no correlation between the offspring developmental quotient (DQ) level of one-year-old children (P > 0.05). Conclusion Levothyroxine sodium tablets (L-T4) can not only improve the pregnancy outcome of patients with SCH during pregnancy but also play a positive role in improving the neurointellectual development of their offspring.

The Affect The Effect Of Motoric, Sensoric And Cognitive On Speaking Ability Of Intellectual Disability Children

Background: The growth and development of children is very important for parents to pay attention. The growth and development of children includes the development of motor, sensory and cognitive abilities. Normal sensory and cognitive motor abilities show maturity of brain function, but if there is a delay in motor, sensory and cognitive abilities, it can be caused by impaired brain function maturity, and this can occur in children with intellectual disabilities. &#x0D; Methods: This study applies a quantitative research with an observational analytic design through a cross sectional approach. The research sample was 50 respondents. Bivariate analysis using Spearman rank statistical test and multivariate analysis using multinomial logistic linear regression test model. &#x0D; Results: The results of Spearman's Rank analysis on motor development variables showed a p-value of 0.001 (p 0.05) and a correlation coefficient of 0.647 meaning that there was an effect. The results of the Spearman Rank analysis on the sensory development variable show a p value of 0.030 (p 0.05) and a correlation coefficient value of 0.738 which means there is an effect. The results of the Spearman Rank analysis on cognitive development variables show a p value of 0.003 (p 0.05) and a correlation coefficient of 0.455 which means there is an effect. The results of multivariate statistical tests using multinominal logistic regression analysis obtained a significance value of 0.005 (&lt;0.05). &#x0D; Conclusion: The results of statistical tests with Spearmen Rank showed that sensory and cognitive motor development had an effect on the speech ability of ID children with a p value of 0.001; 0.30; 0.003 and the correlation coefficient value is 0.647; 0.738; 0.455. Meanwhile, the results of the multivariate test using logistic regression showed the value of sig. 0.005 &lt; 0.05.

Longitudinal change in speech classification between 4 and 10years in children with cerebral palsy.

AimTo examine speech impairment severity classification over time in a longitudinal cohort of children with cerebral palsy (CP).MethodA total of 101 children (58 males, 43 females) between the ages of 4 and 10 years with CP participated in this longitudinal study. Speech severity was rated using the Viking Speech Scale (VSS), a four‐level classification rating scale, at 4, 6, 8, and 10 years (age 4 years: mean = 52 months [3 SD]; age 6 years: mean = 75 months [2 SD]; age 8 years: mean = 100 months [4 SD]; age 10 years: mean = 125 months [5 SD]). We used Bayesian mixed‐effects ordinal logistic regression to model (1) the extent to which speech severity changed over time and (2) patterns of change across age groups and classification rating group levels.ResultsVSS ratings decreased (speech severity became less severe) between 4 and 10 years of age. Children who were first classified in VSS levels I, II, or III at age 4 years had a high probability of staying at, or improving to, VSS level I by 10 years. Children who were first classified in VSS level IV at 4 years had a high probability of remaining in VSS level IV at 10 years.InterpretationEarly speech performance is highly predictive of later childhood speech abilities. Children with any level of speech impairment at age 4 years should be receiving speech therapy. Those with more severe speech impairments should be introduced to augmentative and alternative communication as soon as possible.What this paper adds Children with early Viking Speech Scale (VSS) ratings below level IV have a good prognosis for speech improvement.Children with early VSS level IV ratings are likely to remain at VSS level IV over time.Children did not show worsening of VSS level between the ages of 4 and 10 years.

Effect of accountable care on the recovery of speech, limb function and self-care ability of daily life in patients with cerebral thrombosis.

article: Effect of accountable care on the recovery of speech, limb function and self-care ability of daily life in patients with cerebral thrombosis - Minerva Surgery 2022 October;77(5):527-9 - Minerva Medica - Journals

Hyperdirect connectivity of opercular speech network to the subthalamic nucleus.

SUMMARYHow the basal ganglia participate in the uniquely human behavior of speech is poorly understood, despite their known role in modulating critical aspects of cognitive and motor behavior. The subthalamic nucleus (STN) is well positioned to facilitate basal ganglia functions critical for speech. Using electrocorticography in patients undergoing awake deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery, evidence is reported for a left opercular hyperdirect pathway in humans via stimulating the STN and examining antidromic-evoked activity in the left temporal, parietal, and frontal opercular cortex. These high-resolution cortical and subcortical mapping data provide evidence for hyperdirect connectivity between the inferior frontal gyrus and the STN. In addition, evoked potential data are consistent with the presence of monosynaptic projections from areas of the opercular ections may be unique to humans, evolving alongside the ability for speech.

The Construction of Interactive Teaching Quality Monitoring System From the Perspective of Psychology.

The article first proposes a reflection on the status quo of classroom teaching in public universities, selects a large number of educational scenes, and analyzes these selected educational concepts in detail from a theoretical perspective. Through the establishment of a teaching quality monitoring system based on careful observation and analysis, several major problems in public university classrooms have been discovered: poor classroom interaction mode, single classroom interaction mode, low classroom interaction efficiency, and inefficient classroom interaction feedback. Specific manifestations include the alienation of teacher–student relationship, insufficient student coverage, lack of interaction channels, lack of interaction context, only formalized teacher–student interaction, low impact, and simplification of teacher–student interaction. Summarizing the causes of classroom interaction problems, the article summarizes three factors: teachers, students, and the macro environment. In the experiment, 85% of the students thought that the teacher–student relationship was relatively ordinary. Among the 11 students who participated in the experiment, 60% of the students were very active in interactive classroom discussions. Therefore, based on the analysis of problems and factors, the article puts forward an optimization strategy to create a classroom interaction atmosphere, improve classroom interaction mode, improve classroom interaction efficiency, and strengthen classroom interaction feedback. In particular, it promotes the integration of teacher–student relationship, emphasizes the role of students, improves the level of classroom interaction, creates conditions for classroom interaction, improves teacher–student interaction control ability, enhances student interactive speech ability, strengthens error correction and feedback, and increases multiple feedback methods.

Spatiotemporal target selection for intracranial neural decoding of abstract and concrete semantics.

Decoding the inner representation of a word meaning from human cortical activity is a substantial challenge in the development of speech brain-machine interfaces (BMIs). The semantic aspect of speech is a novel target of speech decoding that may enable versatile communication platforms for individuals with impaired speech ability; however, there is a paucity of electrocorticography studies in this field. We decoded the semantic representation of a word from single-trial cortical activity during an imageability-based property identification task that required participants to discriminate between the abstract and concrete words. Using high gamma activity in the language-dominant hemisphere, a support vector machine classifier could discriminate the 2-word categories with significantly high accuracy (73.1 ± 7.5%). Activities in specific time components from two brain regions were identified as significant predictors of abstract and concrete dichotomy. Classification using these feature components revealed that comparable prediction accuracy could be obtained based on a spatiotemporally targeted decoding approach. Our study demonstrated that mental representations of abstract and concrete word processing could be decoded from cortical high gamma activities, and the coverage of implanted electrodes and time window of analysis could be successfully minimized. Our findings lay the foundation for the future development of semantic-based speech BMIs.

Reliability among School-Based Professionals: Using a Feature-Matching Screening Checklist to Identify Communication Systems

Students with complex communication needs may require augmentative and alternative communication systems to supplement or replace their speech abilities. To effectively identify a communication system, a feature-matching process should be implemented as it considers the student’s present levels of performance. Due to the unique communication characteristics of students with complex communication needs, informal assessment tools are often used to help determine the students’ skills in natural contexts. A challenge often faced with informal assessment tools is the reliability among evaluators. As such, this pilot study attempted to evaluate the reliability of a feature-matching screening checklist and its corresponding matrices among potential professionals who would be part of the educational team. Results indicated that (a) pre-service and in-service special education teachers were the most reliable combination when completing the screening checklist, (b) exposure to the screening checklist was an influencing factor on reliability, and (c) in-service speech-language pathologists made the most errors while completing the screening checklist. Implications for practices and future research directions are discussed.

Keras Deep Learning for Pupil Detection Method

Nowadays, deep learning is the most common field in artificial intelligence, deep learning is a technique invented by man in order to try to imitate the way the human mind works. Deep learning tries to simulate the human mind in all its capabilities, which include; Seeing, understanding speech, composing it, hearing, and other powerful abilities that our human mind possesses and is not rivaled by anything else, or so it was. The matter did not stop at that only, but that scientists have studied the human brain and how it works in order to design algorithms and programs capable of simulating it, and for this reason we find that these algorithms are inspired by medical and neurological studies of humans and try as much as possible to imitate them, but by computer methods. Not biological. In this paper studied and practiced the multi-task deep convolution neural network(MTCNN) for face detection after detecting the faces its try to extract eyes from image, finally pupil detector works by using Keras model in python. The result of this paper shows the power of deep learning field biologically comparative with human thinks.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE AUTHENTIC TEXT AS A BASIS FOR THE FORMATION OF FUTURE DOCTORS’ PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION

The article deals with practicability substantiation of English language authentic texts as the basis for medical students’ professional communication formation. The essence of foreign language communication as an essential concept of future Health Care worker profile is revealed. Formation of a medical student’s foreign language communication is emphasized to be an integral aspect of the professional education in higher education medical establishments and is realized by mastering the peculiarities of language competence at its phonetic, lexical and grammatical level. The attention is focused on the necessity of using educational authentic texts as a core component of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The issues of ESP substantive content, selection of teaching materials, development of students’ communicative component in mastering English language professional skills are considered. Basic peculiarities of the use of professional authentic texts are described; evidence-based samples of exercises for the formation of communicative competence are considered; the need for lexical mastering in order to speak properly is emphasized. The examples of communicative lexical exercises for the implementation of professional speech activities of medical students are suggested. The use of authentic texts and different exercises has been found to develop professional speech skills and abilities, thus making possible to evaluate and to express one’s opinion, as well as to promote self-development and self-actualization of medical students.

Nonword Repetition Performance Differentiates Children Who Stutter With and Without Concomitant Speech Sound and Developmental Language Disorders.

The aim of this study was to examine how nonword repetition (NWR) performance may be impacted by the presence of concomitant speech and language disorders in young children who stutter (CWS). One hundred forty-one children (88 CWS and 53 children who do not stutter [CWNS]) participated. CWS were divided into groups based on the presence of speech sound and/or language disorder or typical speech sound production and language abilities. NWR abilities were measured using stimuli composed of one- to four-syllable nonwords. CWS with typical speech and language and CWNS had higher accuracy scores than CWS with concomitant speech and language disorders. We found no difference in accuracy scores between CWNS and CWS with typical speech and language abilities, nor did we find differences between CWS with speech sound disorder and CWS with both speech sound and language disorders. Accuracy decreased as nonword length increased for all groups. We found that the presence of a concomitant speech and language disorder was a driving factor behind poorer NWR performance in CWS. Accuracy scores differentiated CWS with concomitant disorders from CWS with typical speech and language but not CWS with typical speech and language from CWNS. Considering the speech and language abilities of CWS helped clarify poorer NWR performance and enhances generalizability to the population that exists clinically.

Malocclusion and its relationship with oral health-related quality of life in patients with eating disorders.

ABSTRACTObjective: To evaluate the prevalence and severity of malocclusion and its impact on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and self-reported satisfaction of patients with anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Methods: The sample consisted of sixty women who attended a specialized mental health clinic of a Brazilian medical school. Participants were distributed into two groups: patients with anorexia and bulimia nervosa (ABN; n=30) and control patients without eating disorders (CN; n=30). The dental occlusion was evaluated by the Dental Aesthetic Index; the OHRQoL was assessed using the OHIP-14 questionnaire; and the self-reported satisfaction with the appearance of teeth, speech ability and chewing was obtained by interviews. Results: Severe and very severe malocclusion were observed in 26.67% and 46.67% of patients in the ABN group, respectively, while the CN group showed 80.00% of patients without abnormality/mild malocclusion. ABN group showed a higher proportion of patients (p < 0.05) with tooth loss, spacing in the region of incisors, maxillary misalignment, and mandibular misalignment in relation to CN group. ABN group presented lower (p< 0.05) OHRQoL and self-reported satisfaction with the appearance of teeth, speech ability and chewing, compared to the CN group. There was a significant positive correlation (p< 0.05) between the Dental Aesthetic Index and OHIP-14 scores in the ABN group. Conclusions: The prevalence of severe malocclusion in ABN group was high, with a negative impact on OHRQoL and self-reported satisfaction with the chewing ability, speech ability and appearance of teeth.

The unique role of the frontal aslant tract in speech and language processing

The frontal aslant tract (FAT) is a recently described intralobar tract that connects the superior and inferior frontal gyri. The FAT has been implicated in various speech and language processes and disorders, including motor speech impairments, stuttering disorders, opercular syndrome, and verbal fluency, but the specific function(s) of the FAT have yet to be elucidated. In the current study, we aimed to address this knowledge gap by investigating the underlying role that the FAT plays in motor aspects of speech and language abilities in post-stroke aphasia. Our goals were three-fold: 1) To identify which specific motor speech or language abilities are impacted by FAT damage by utilizing a powerful imaging analysis method, High Angular Resolution Diffusion Imaging (HARDI) tractography; 2) To determine whether damage to the FAT is associated with functional deficits on a range of motor speech and language tasks even when accounting for cortical damage to adjacent cortical regions; and 3) To explore whether subsections of the FAT (lateral and medial segments) play distinct roles in motor speech performance. We hypothesized that damage to the FAT would be most strongly associated with motor speech performance in comparison to language tasks. We analyzed HARDI data from thirty-three people with aphasia (PWA) with a history of chronic left hemisphere stroke. FAT metrics were related to scores on several speech and language tests: the Motor Speech Evaluation (MSE), the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) aphasia quotient and subtests, and the Boston Naming Test (BNT). Our results indicated that the integrity of the FAT was strongly associated with the MSE as predicted, and weakly negatively associated with WAB subtest scores including Naming, Comprehension, and Repetition, likely reflecting the fact that performance on these WAB subtests is associated with damage to posterior areas of the brain that are unlikely to be damaged with a frontal lesion. We also performed hierarchical stepwise regressions to predict language function based on FAT properties and lesion load to surrounding cortical areas. After accounting for the contributions of the inferior frontal gyrus, the ventral precentral gyrus, and the superior precentral gyrus of the insula, the FAT still remained a significant predictor of MSE apraxia scores. Our results further showed that the medial and lateral subsections of the FAT did not appear to play distinct roles but rather may indicate normal anatomical variations of the FAT. Overall, current results indicate that the FAT plays a specific and unique role in motor speech. These results further our understanding of the role that white matter tracts play in speech and language.