Frank Guenther, PhD, MS

Health Matters Virtual Conference

Dr. Guenther presents How Technology is Changing Rehabilitation. Hosted by Boston University College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College, this presentation was a part of an online, virtual conference, “Health Matters,” which took place on September 17, 2015.

Scholarly, Research, and/or Practice Interests

• Research combines theoretical modeling with behavioral and neuroimaging experiments to characterize the neural computations underlying speech.
• Originator of the DIVA model, which provides a quantitative account of the neural computations underlying speech motor control and their breakdown in communication disorders such as stuttering and apraxia of speech.
• Develops brain-machine interfaces to restore speech communication to individuals suffering from locked-in syndrome, characterized by complete paralysis with intact cognition.
• Speech neuroscience
• Neuroimaging
• Neural prosthesis

Selected Presentations

• “The neural mechanisms of speech production: From computational modeling to speech prosthesis.” Keynote Lecture, IEEE Workshop on Automatic Speech Recognition and Understanding,”, Waikoloa Village, Hawaii, December 15, 2011.
• “The neural mechanisms of speech: From computational modeling to neural prosthesis.” Cushing Neurosurgical Society, Harvard Medical School, November 16, 2010.
• “The neural mechanisms of speech: From computational modeling to neural prosthesis.” Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, September 9, 2010.
• “Investigating the neural bases of normal and disordered speech.” Center for Language and Speech Processing, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, April 7, 2009.
• “Development of a speech prosthesis in a locked-in individual.” Plenary talk, American Society for Artificial Internal Organs, Dallas, Texas, May 28, 2009.
• “Neural mechanisms of speech.” Keynote Speech, Foundation Ugo Bordoni, Rome, Italy, September 22, 2009.
• “The neural control of speech.” Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Goettingen, Germany, June 27, 2008.
• “The neural control of speech.” Willard R. Zemlin Lecture in Speech Science, Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, November 16, 2007.
• “Auditory, somatosensory, and motor interactions in speech production.” M.D. Steer Distinguished Lecture, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, February 23, 2006.
• “Auditory, somatosensory, and motor interactions in speech production.” Distinguished Lecture in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, December 9, 2004

Selected Publications

• Guenther, F.H. and Vladusich, T. (2012). A neural theory of speech acquisition and production. Journal of Neurolinguistics. 25, pp. 408-422.
• Cai, S., Ghosh, S.S., Guenther, F.H., and Perkell, J.S. (2011). Focal manipulations of formant trajectories reveal a role of auditory feedback in the online control of both within-syllable and between-syllable speech timing. Journal of Neuroscience, 31, pp. 16483-90.
• Patel, R., Niziolek, C., Reilly, K.J., and Guenther, F.H. (2011). Prosodic adaptations to pitch perturbation in running speech. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 54, pp. 1051-1059.
• Brumberg, J.S., Wright, E.J., Andreasen, D.S., Guenther, F.H., and Kennedy, P.R. (2011). Classification of intended phoneme production from chronic intracortical microelectrode recordings in speech motor cortex. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 5, Article 65.
• Golfinopoulos, E., Tourville, J.A., Bohland, J.W., Ghosh, S.S., Nieto-Castanon, A., and Guenther, F.H. (2011). fMRI investigation of unexpected somatosensory feedback perturbation during speech. NeuroImage, 55, 1324-1338.
• Civier, O., Tasko, S.M., and Guenther, F.H. (2010). Overreliance on auditory feedback may lead to sound/syllable repetitions: Simulations of stuttering and fluency-inducing conditions with a neural model of speech production. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 35, pp. 246-279.
• Bohland, J.W., Bullock, D., and Guenther, F.H. (2010). Neural representations and mechanisms for the performance of simple speech sequences. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22, pp. 1504-1529.
• Guenther, F.H., Brumberg, J.S., Wright, E.J., Nieto-Castanon, A., Tourville, J.A., Panko, M., Law, R., Siebert, S.A., Bartels, J.L., Andreasen, D.S., Ehirim, P., Mao, H., and Kennedy, P.R. (2009). A wireless brain-machine interface for real-time speech synthesis. PLoS ONE, 4(12), pp. e8218+.
• Tourville, J.A., Reilly, K.J., and Guenther, F.H. (2008). Neural mechanisms underlying auditory feedback control of speech. NeuroImage, 39, pp. 1429-1443.
• Loui, P., Guenther, F.H., Mathys, C., and Schlaug, G. (2008). Action-perception mismatch in tone-deafness. Current Biology, 18, pp. R331-R332.
• Guenther, F.H., Ghosh, S.S., and Tourville, J.A. (2006). Neural modeling and imaging of the cortical interactions underlying syllable production. Brain and Language, 96, pp. 280-301.
• Bohland, J.W. and Guenther, F.H. (2006). An fMRI investigation of syllable sequence production. NeuroImage, 32, pp. 821-841.
• Guenther, F.H., Hampson, M., and Johnson, D. (1998). A theoretical investigation of reference frames for the planning of speech movements. Psychological Review, 105, pp. 611-633.
• Guenther, F.H. (1995). Speech sound acquisition, coarticulation, and rate effects in a neural network model of speech production. Psychological Review, 102, pp. 594-621.

Professional Activities

• Faculty Member, Harvard/MIT Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology (1998 – Present)
• Research Affiliate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1997 – Present)
• Visiting Scientist, Massachusetts General Hospital (2003 – Present)•

Grant Activity

• NIH, P50 HD073912, Project II, 7/1/2013 – 6/30/2018, Principal Investigator.
• NIH, R01 DC007683, 5/1/2011-4/30/2016, Principal Investigator.
• NIH, R01 DC002852, 8/1/2011-7/31/2016, Principal Investigator.
• NSF, SMA-0835976, 10/1/2004– 02/28/2015, Co-Principal Investigator.

Awards and Honors

• 2011 – Top 10 Finalist, G.Tec Annual International Brain-Computer Interface Research Award
• 2009 – Distinguished Speaker in Cognitive Science, Michigan State University
• 2008 – Elected Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America
• 2007 Editor’s Award for top article in speech, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
• 2007 Editor’s Award for top article in hearing, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
• 2007 Willard R. Zemlin Lecture Award, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
• 2006 M.D. Steer Distinguished Lecturer, Purdue University
• 2004 Distinguished Lecturer in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard/MIT
• 1995-1997 – Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship