Does experience in talking facilitate speech repetition?

Speech is unique among highly skilled human behaviors in its ease of acquisition by virtually all individuals who have normal hearing and cognitive ability. Vocal imitation is essential for acquiring speech, and it is an important element of social communication. The extent to which age-related changes in cognitive and motor function affect the ability to imitate speech is poorly understood. We analyzed the distributions of response times (RT) for repeating real words and pseudowords during fMRI. The average RT for older and younger participants was not different. In contrast, detailed analysis of RT distributions revealed age-dependent differences that were associated with changes in the time course of the BOLD response and specific patterns of regional activation. RT-dependent activity was observed in the bilateral posterior cingulate, supplementary motor area, and corpus callosum. This approach provides unique insight into the mechanisms associated with changes in speech production with aging. •Young and middle-aged adults repeated real words and pseudowords during fMRI.•Distributions of repetition response times were fitted with an ex-Gaussian Function.•The exponential (τ) and Gaussian (μ) components were differentially affected by age.•Differences in μ were associated with activity in the bilateral posterior cingulate.•Differences in τ were associated with activity in the SMA and corpus callosum.