(Edmonton) A new study by a University of Alberta researcher shows that children who stutter have less grey matter in key regions of the brain responsible for speech production than children who do not stutter.
The findings not only improve our understanding of how the brain is built for speech production and why people stutter, but also affirm the importance of seeking treatment early, using approaches such as those pioneered by the Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the U of A, said Deryk Beal, ISTAR's executive director.
Previous research has used MRI scans to look at structural differences between the brains of adults who stutter and those who do not. The problem with that approach is the scans come years after the onset of stuttering, typically between the ages of two and five years, Beal said.
"You can never be quite sure whether the differences in brain structure or function you're looking at were the result of a lifetime of coping with a speech disorder or whether those brain differences were there from the beginning," explained Beal, a speech-language pathologist.
For his study, Beal scanned the brains of 28 children ranging from five to 12 years old. Half the children were diagnosed with stuttering; the other half served as a control.
Results showed that the inferior frontal gyrus region of the brain develops abnormally in children who stutter. This is important because that part of the brain is thought to control articulatory coding—taking information our brain understands about language and sounds and coding it into speech movements.
"If you think about the characteristics of stuttering—repetitions of the first sounds or syllables in a word, prolongation of sounds in a word—it's easy to hypothesize that it's a speech-motor-control problem," explained Beal. "The type of stuttering treatment we deliver at ISTAR is delivered with this limitation of the speech system in mind, and we have good success in stuttering treatment."
Beal initiated the research at the University of Toronto and completed the work upon his arrival at the U of A. He sees the results as a first step toward testing to see how grey matter volumes are influenced by stuttering treatment and understanding motor-sequence learning differences between children who stutter and those who do not.
"The more we know about motor learning in these kids, the more we can adjust our treatment—deliver it in a shorter period of time, deliver it more effectively."
Explore further: Does stuttering stop children from doing more than just speaking?
More information: The study was published in the September issue of the peer-reviewed journal Cortex.
Medical Xpress on facebook
Related Stories
Does stuttering stop children from doing more than just speaking?
May 29, 2013
(Medical Xpress)—Dr Lisa Iverach and Professor Ron Rapee AM from the Centre for Emotional Health, Macquarie University, are investigating the social and emotional impact of childhood stuttering.
Giving a voice to kids with Down syndrome
Feb 25, 2013
Researchers from the University of Alberta are helping children with Down syndrome who stutter find their voice and speak with ease.
Profound reorganization in brains of adults who stutter
Aug 15, 2011
Hearing Beethoven while reciting Shakespeare can suppress even a King's stutter, as recently illustrated in the movie "The King's Speech". This dramatic but short-lived effect of hiding the sound of one's own speech indicates ...
Focus on early intervention: Stuttering test could be used to screen all schoolchildren
Oct 26, 2012
A new model developed by Wellcome Trust researchers to predict the persistence of stuttering could be used to screen all children at school age, new research in the Journal of Fluency Disorders suggests.
Preschoolers who stutter do just fine emotionally and socially, study finds
Aug 26, 2013
(Medical Xpress)—Stuttering may be more common than previously thought, but preschool stutterers fair better than first thought, a study by The University of Melbourne, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute ...
Recommended for you
Increased risk of depression linked to mountaintop coal mining
1 hour ago
People who live among the destructive environmental effects of mountaintop coal mining face an increased risk of major depression. The results of a study conducted in the coal mining regions of Central Appalachia ...
Genes predispose some people to focus on the negative
2 hours ago
(Medical Xpress)—A new study by a University of British Columbia researcher finds that some people are genetically predisposed to see the world darkly.
School body image lessons improve teen body esteem
4 hours ago
(Medical Xpress)—Training teachers to deliver body image lessons to teenagers in schools could help improve body esteem and reduce the risk of eating disorders, according to new research by King's College ...
Depression and poor diet during pregnancy 'can affect child cognitive function'
4 hours ago
(Medical Xpress)—New research led by King's College London shows that women who are depressed during pregnancy are more likely to have an unhealthy diet – which can negatively impact on their children's ...
Suicidal talk on Twitter mirrors suicide rates
4 hours ago
(Medical Xpress)—Heart-breaking accounts of cyber bullying and suicide seem all too common, but a new study offers hope that social media can become an early warning system to help prevent such tragedies.
Limited evidence that facial procedures improve quality of life
5 hours ago
(Medical Xpress)—Despite the rapid rise in facial cosmetic procedures, there are few studies that investigate their psychological impact on patients, especially among those who undergo minimally invasive procedures using ...
User comments
© Medical Xpress 2011-2013, Phys.org network
(Edmonton) A new study by a University of Alberta researcher shows that children who stutter have less grey matter in key regions of the brain responsible for speech production than children who do not stutter.
The findings not only improve our understanding of how the brain is built for speech production and why people stutter, but also affirm the importance of seeking treatment early, using approaches such as those pioneered by the Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the U of A, said Deryk Beal, ISTAR's executive director.
Previous research has used MRI scans to look at structural differences between the brains of adults who stutter and those who do not. The problem with that approach is the scans come years after the onset of stuttering, typically between the ages of two and five years, Beal said.
"You can never be quite sure whether the differences in brain structure or function you're looking at were the result of a lifetime of coping with a speech disorder or whether those brain differences were there from the beginning," explained Beal, a speech-language pathologist.
For his study, Beal scanned the brains of 28 children ranging from five to 12 years old. Half the children were diagnosed with stuttering; the other half served as a control.
Results showed that the inferior frontal gyrus region of the brain develops abnormally in children who stutter. This is important because that part of the brain is thought to control articulatory coding—taking information our brain understands about language and sounds and coding it into speech movements.
"If you think about the characteristics of stuttering—repetitions of the first sounds or syllables in a word, prolongation of sounds in a word—it's easy to hypothesize that it's a speech-motor-control problem," explained Beal. "The type of stuttering treatment we deliver at ISTAR is delivered with this limitation of the speech system in mind, and we have good success in stuttering treatment."
Beal initiated the research at the University of Toronto and completed the work upon his arrival at the U of A. He sees the results as a first step toward testing to see how grey matter volumes are influenced by stuttering treatment and understanding motor-sequence learning differences between children who stutter and those who do not.
"The more we know about motor learning in these kids, the more we can adjust our treatment—deliver it in a shorter period of time, deliver it more effectively."
Explore further: Does stuttering stop children from doing more than just speaking?
More information: The study was published in the September issue of the peer-reviewed journal Cortex.
Medical Xpress on facebook
Related Stories
Does stuttering stop children from doing more than just speaking?
May 29, 2013
(Medical Xpress)—Dr Lisa Iverach and Professor Ron Rapee AM from the Centre for Emotional Health, Macquarie University, are investigating the social and emotional impact of childhood stuttering.
Giving a voice to kids with Down syndrome
Feb 25, 2013
Researchers from the University of Alberta are helping children with Down syndrome who stutter find their voice and speak with ease.
Profound reorganization in brains of adults who stutter
Aug 15, 2011
Hearing Beethoven while reciting Shakespeare can suppress even a King's stutter, as recently illustrated in the movie "The King's Speech". This dramatic but short-lived effect of hiding the sound of one's own speech indicates ...
Focus on early intervention: Stuttering test could be used to screen all schoolchildren
Oct 26, 2012
A new model developed by Wellcome Trust researchers to predict the persistence of stuttering could be used to screen all children at school age, new research in the Journal of Fluency Disorders suggests.
Preschoolers who stutter do just fine emotionally and socially, study finds
Aug 26, 2013
(Medical Xpress)—Stuttering may be more common than previously thought, but preschool stutterers fair better than first thought, a study by The University of Melbourne, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute ...
Recommended for you
Increased risk of depression linked to mountaintop coal mining
1 hour ago
People who live among the destructive environmental effects of mountaintop coal mining face an increased risk of major depression. The results of a study conducted in the coal mining regions of Central Appalachia ...
Genes predispose some people to focus on the negative
2 hours ago
(Medical Xpress)—A new study by a University of British Columbia researcher finds that some people are genetically predisposed to see the world darkly.
School body image lessons improve teen body esteem
4 hours ago
(Medical Xpress)—Training teachers to deliver body image lessons to teenagers in schools could help improve body esteem and reduce the risk of eating disorders, according to new research by King's College ...
Depression and poor diet during pregnancy 'can affect child cognitive function'
4 hours ago
(Medical Xpress)—New research led by King's College London shows that women who are depressed during pregnancy are more likely to have an unhealthy diet – which can negatively impact on their children's ...
Suicidal talk on Twitter mirrors suicide rates
4 hours ago
(Medical Xpress)—Heart-breaking accounts of cyber bullying and suicide seem all too common, but a new study offers hope that social media can become an early warning system to help prevent such tragedies.
Limited evidence that facial procedures improve quality of life
5 hours ago
(Medical Xpress)—Despite the rapid rise in facial cosmetic procedures, there are few studies that investigate their psychological impact on patients, especially among those who undergo minimally invasive procedures using ...
User comments
© Medical Xpress 2011-2013, Phys.org network
0 comments:
Post a Comment