title: Age-related effects on speech fluency.
abstract: This article provides a brief review of age-related changes in speech production before discussing fluency changes that have been found in aging, nonstuttering speakers. Most studies agree that old and young adults evidence similar frequencies of disfluency. The disfluencies of a 105-year-old woman were compared to the means of several geriatric groups whose average ages were more than 20 years younger. Overall frequencies and types were similar. Thus, aging speakers' fluency does not appear to be more susceptible to breakdowns than that of younger speakers, although there is some evidence that elderly speakers become much more disfluent than younger speakers under stressful conditions.
authors.affiliation: Orofacial Motor Control Lab, School of Speech Pathology & Audiology, Kent State University, OH 44242-0001, USA.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Caruso
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: McClowry
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Max
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D014705:Verbal Behavior