Beyond production: Brain responses during speech perception in adults who stutter.
Developmental stuttering is a speech disorder that disrupts the ability to produce speech fluently. While stuttering is typically diagnosed based on one's behavior during speech production, some models suggest that it involves more central representations of language, and thus may affect language perception as well. Here we tested the hypothesis that developmental stuttering implicates neural systems involved in language perception, in a task that manipulates comprehensibility without an overt speech production component. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signals in adults who do and do not stutter, while they were engaged in an incidental speech perception task. We found that speech perception evokes stronger activation in adults who stutter (AWS) compared to controls, specifically in the right inferior frontal gyrus (RIFG) and in left Heschl's gyrus (LHG). Significant differences were additionally found in the lateralization of response in the inferior frontal cortex: AWS showed bilateral inferior frontal activity, while controls showed a left lateralized pattern of activation. These findings suggest that developmental stuttering is associated with an imbalanced neural network for speech processing, which is not limited to speech production, but also affects cortical responses during speech perception.
The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel; The Cognitive Science Program, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Tali
T
Halag-Milo
The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
Nadav
N
Stoppelman
The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
Vered
V
Kronfeld-Duenias
The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
Oren
O
Civier
The Department of Communication Disorders, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Ofer
O
Amir
The Department of Communication Disorders, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Ruth
R
Ezrati-Vinacour
The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel; Department of English Literature and Linguistics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel. Electronic address: michalb@mail.biu.ac.il.
Michal
M
Ben-Shachar
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013342:Stuttering / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
D010100:Oxygen
Functional lateralization; Persistent developmental stuttering; Signal correlated noise; Speech perception; fMRI