ABSTRACT
Explicit consideration of nervous system anatomy and physiology underlying speech and language is critical to provide a more concrete basis for linguistic and behavioral theories of communication. The purpose of the present paper is to provide a data-based neuroanatomical model for the nervous system actions associated with the motor programming and execution of speech movements. Recent studies indicate that speech motor control requires the integration of multiple sensory signals with internally specified, general motor goals. Results from these recent investigations of speech sensorimotor control and considerations of neuroanatomical and neurophysiological findings from nonhuman primates offer some specific hypotheses regarding underlying nervous system operations. In particular, it is possible to evaluate the speech motor programming and execution contributions of the premotor, primary motor, and supplementary motor cortical areas, and the inputs to these important cortical sites from the cerebellum, basal ganglia, and other cortical regions. Although this model is based on data obtained primarily from the perioral region and its CNS representations, the hypotheses provided are sufficiently basic to reflect general operations of the nervous system in this critically human function.
