6th International Conference on Speech Motor Control Groningen: Abstracts

Samenvatting

This Supplement contains the abstracts of the sixth edition of the International Conference on Speech Motor Control, which will be held in Groningen, The Netherlands, June 8 - 11, 2011. With this sixth conference a well- established Nijmegen tradition is continued. Since the first edition in 1985, the series of international Nijmegen conferences on speech motor control have reflected tremendous progress in this area. The initial focus was on applications in the just expanding field of speech motor control in stuttering. The second conference (1990) highlighted the development of more general speech motor control models and the inclusion of higher order psychomotor and psycholinguistic processes, broadening the scope to other motor speech disorders than stuttering. At the third conference (1996), more emphasis was put on the emerging field of brain imaging. In addition, development of speech motor control became a prominent topic. At the fourth conference (2001), we witnessed the introduction of important theoretical neurophysiological and neurobehavioral concepts, and a strong interest in the ‘interface’ between higher order cognitive/psycholinguistic processes and speech production. The fifth conference (2006) focused on the development of interdisciplinary collaboration in the field of speech motor research on populations with and without speech disorders. Integration was the key-concept: integration of principles and models of perception-action relations; biomechanical and neurobiological aspects of motor control; and the genetics of motor learning (automation) and language disorders. Thus, in the past five editions, we have witnessed the fundamental insights in speech motor control processes gaining shape, showing a stronger embedding in general aspects of the origin, development and maintenance of cognitive, linguistic and motor processes as well as demonstrating their unique properties as part of the human genetic make-up. In the upcoming conference, we encourage participants to take this evolvement a step further. Special topics of the 2011 conference are: – Relationship between perception-production processes in speech, including the role of speech motor control in speech perception; – The Evolution of the Neural Bases of Speech Motor Control; – New developments in computational models of speech motor control; – Speech Motor Control and Healthy Aging; – New applications in speech-technology and rehabilitation of speech-motor functions; – New developments in genetic research on speech motor functions and disorders. In addition, special workshops will address apraxia of speech, pediatric speech motor control disorders, and articulography. Conference organisation In order to fulfil the main purpose of the conference a relatively large number of keynote speakers have been invited to present tutorials on specific topics. To stimulate a lively interaction, all presentations are plenary. Because of time constraints only a very limited number of submissions could be scheduled as oral presentations. This amounted to less than one third of those submissions that were rated as acceptable for admission. For this reason thematic poster sessions form a major part of the conference program, offering a large variety of research in speech motor control in normal and deviant speech from all over the world. Many conferences advocate the policy to value oral presentations and posters equally, as do the organisers of this conference. In order to underscore this policy a special prize will be awarded to the most informative and well-designed poster. The University of Groningen and the organising departments are proud to attract such high-level researchers and clinical workers in the field to travel to Groningen and report on the results of their theoretical and empirical work to this platform of scientific exchange and discussion. We look forward to a stimulating and productive conference, Ben Maassen Groningen Pascal van Lieshout Toronto May 2011