Speaking is not only the basic mode of communication, but also the most complex motor skill humans can perform. Disorders of speech and language are the most common sequelae of brain disease or injury, a condition faced by millions of people each year. Health care practitioners need to interact with basic scientists in order to develop and evaluate new methods of clinical diagnosis and therapy to help their patients overcome or compensate their communication difficulties. In recent years, collaboration between those in the the disciplines of neurophysiology, cognitive psychology, mathematical modelling, neuroscientists, and speech science have helped accelerate progress in the field.
This book presents the latest and most important theoretical developments in the area of speech motor control, offering new insights by leaders in their field into speech disorders. The scope of this book is broad - presenting state-of-the art research in the areas of modelling, genetics, brain imaging, behavioral experimentation in addition to clinical applications.
The book will be valuable for researchers and clinicians in speech-language pathology, cognitive neuroscience, clinical psychology, and neurology.

Speaking is one of the most complex skills that humans perform. In our everyday communication, we transfer sentences, concepts, thoughts, and ideas. How though, is the speaker able to convert these into movements of the speech apparatus? These speech movements are the observable end-product, but what neurological, psycholinguistic, and perceptual--motor processes lie behind their production?
To fully understand speech disorders, such as stuttering, apraxia of speech, and Parkinsonian dysarthria, the disruptions in this complex interplay are highly relevant. Equally important is the question of how the infant develops from random babbling to precisely controlled production of words, syllables, and phonemes.
This volume presents state of the art research in the science of speech motor control and speech disorders. All the chapters take a fundamental, model-oriented perspective, as introduced in the first section of the volume. Further topics covered in this book are: brain imaging studies and the rapid progression in comprehending neural mechanisms; developmental studies revealing perceptual-motor continuities and discontinuities; psycholinguistic experimentation showing higher-order influences on speech motor control; and recent notions and applications to the understanding of speech disorders.
This will be an important volume for all those involved in speech research and speech pathology, including those from the disciplines of psychology, neurology, and ENT.