What the study found
The study found that attention to auditory feedback altered speech error detection and vocal control in people with post-stroke aphasia. It also found that neural responses to pitch-shifted feedback were enhanced under attentional instructions.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors conclude that attention to auditory feedback may help support speech monitoring and improve communicative outcomes in aphasia. They also suggest it may link cortical error processing to conscious feedback awareness.
What the researchers tested
The researchers studied 66 people with post-stroke aphasia and 64 age-matched controls. Participants sustained the vowel /a/ while real-time auditory feedback was randomly shifted by plus or minus 100 cents during EEG recordings, with and without instructions to monitor the feedback and press a button when they detected a pitch change.
What worked and what didn't
People with aphasia showed significantly lower accuracy in detecting pitch shifts than controls. Under instructions, P2 amplitude, an EEG component linked to neural processing of sound, increased in both groups, with stronger effects in controls than in aphasia; vocal compensations were reduced in controls but not in aphasia. Under instructions, larger P2 activity was associated with smaller vocal compensations, and in aphasia larger P2 amplitudes predicted better detection accuracy.
What to keep in mind
The abstract does not describe follow-up, treatment effects over time, or outcomes beyond the task studied here. It also does not provide details about aphasia subtype, stroke timing, or whether the findings generalize beyond this vocal feedback task.
Key points
- People with post-stroke aphasia detected pitch-shift changes less accurately than age-matched controls.
- Attentional instructions increased the P2 EEG response in both groups, with a larger effect in controls.
- Instructions reduced vocal compensations in controls, but not in people with aphasia.
- Under instructions, larger P2 activity was linked to smaller vocal compensations.
- In aphasia, larger P2 amplitudes predicted better pitch-shift detection.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Attentional instructions improved feedback monitoring in post-stroke aphasia
- Authors:
- Yilun Zhang, Roozbeh Behroozmand
- Institutions:
- The University of Texas at Dallas, The University of Texas at Dallas
- Publication date:
- 2026-03-10
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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