title: Abnormal time course of low beta modulation in non-fluent preschool children: A magnetoencephalographic study of rhythm tracking.
abstract: Stuttering is a disorder of speech affecting millions of people around the world. Whilst the exact aetiology of stuttering remains unknown, it has been hypothesised that it is a disorder of the neural mechanisms that support speech timing. In this article, we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to examine activity from auditory regions of the brain in stuttering and non-stuttering children aged 3-9years. For typically developing children, we found that MEG oscillations in the beta band responded to rhythmic sounds with a peak near the time of stimulus onset. In contrast, stuttering children showed an opposite phase of beta band envelope, with a trough of activity at stimulus onset. These results suggest that stuttering may result from abnormalities in predictive brain responses which are reflected in abnormal entrainment of the beta band envelope to rhythmic sounds.
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders, Australia; Perception in Action Research Centre (PARC), Australia; Department of Cognitive Science, Australia. Electronic address: andrew.etchell@mq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Andrew C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Etchell
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders, Australia; Department of Cognitive Science, Australia.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders, Australia; Department of Cognitive Science, Australia.
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders, Australia; Department of Cognitive Science, Australia.
authors.forename: Blake W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders, Australia; Perception in Action Research Centre (PARC), Australia; Department of Cognitive Science, Australia.
authors.forename: Paul F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Sowman
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D008297:Male; D013342:Stuttering / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: Beta oscillations; Children; EEG/MEG; Rhythm; Stuttering; Timing