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Global motor inhibition precedes stuttering events

  • Research points to neurofunctional differences underlying fluent speech production in stutterers and non-stutterers. There has been considerably less work focusing on the processes that underlie stuttered speech, primarily due to the difficulty of reliably eliciting stuttering in the unnatural contexts associated with neuroimaging experiments. We used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to test the hypothesis that stuttering events result from global motor inhibition–a “freeze” response typically characterized by increased beta power in nodes of the action-stopping network. We leveraged a novel clinical interview to develop participant-specific stimuli in order to elicit a comparable amount of stuttered and fluent trials. Twenty-nine adult stutterers participated. The paradigm included a cue prior to a go signal, which allowed us to isolate processes associated with stuttered and fluent trials prior to speech initiation. During this pre-speech time window, stuttered trials were associated with greater beta power in the right pre-supplementary motor area, a key node in the action-stopping network, compared to fluent trials. Beta power in the right pre-supplementary area was related to a clinical measure of stuttering severity. We also found that anticipated words identified independently by participants were stuttered more often than those generated by the researchers, which were based on the participants’ reported anticipated sounds. This suggests that global motor inhibition results from stuttering anticipation. This study represents the largest comparison of stuttered and fluent speech to date. The findings provide a foundation for clinical trials that test the efficacy of neuromodulation on stuttering. Moreover, our study demonstrates the feasibility of using our approach for eliciting stuttering during MEG and functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments so that the neurobiological bases of stuttered speech can be further elucidated.

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Author:Joan OrpellaORCiD, Graham FlickORCiD, M. Florencia AssaneoORCiD, Liina PylkkänenORCiD, David PoeppelORCiDGND, Eric S. JacksonORCiD
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-730850
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.02.501857
Parent Title (English):bioRxiv
Document Type:Preprint
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2022/08/03
Date of first Publication:2022/08/03
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2023/04/18
Issue:2022.08.02.501857
Page Number:26
HeBIS-PPN:507498836
Institutes:Angeschlossene und kooperierende Institutionen / MPI für empirische Ästhetik
Dewey Decimal Classification:1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 15 Psychologie / 150 Psychologie
6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - CC BY-NC-ND - Namensnennung - Nicht kommerziell - Keine Bearbeitungen 4.0 International