Towards a functional neural systems model of developmental stuttering
Section snippets
The Jürgens Model of speech production
A recent model of the neural basis of speech production proposed by Jürgens (2002) has attempted to synthesize current knowledge about the neurologic foundations of speech production. This elaborate “box and arrow” model of neural regions and structures participating in speech production is derived from a careful integration of findings from lesion, invasive brain stimulation, single-unit recording and brain imaging studies. The model builds on currently known structural connections between and
The San Antonio studies: an overview
Over the course of a series of PET studies conducted in the Research Imaging Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, the authors and colleagues have sought to systematically isolate the neural regions that are functionally associated with developmental stuttering. These studies have been confined to right-handed participants and include adult stutterers of both genders, plus controls matched for age and sex. The findings of these studies have been reported in
Study 1: neural region activations by stutterers and controls during oral reading
This section uses the framework of the Jürgens Model to reanalyze the findings of the Fox et al. (1996) study. Fox et al. used PET to investigate the neural region effects of chorus reading on stuttering.
Discussion
The San Antonio studies constitute a program of brain imaging research that is designed to isolate the neural regions that are consistently associated with stuttering and its frequency during connected speech. Beginning with the Fox et al. (1996) study it was observed that stuttering was associated with unusual overactivation in the right hemisphere with abnormal activations in motor cortex, subcortical regions, and cerebellum. There was an absence of activation—even strong deactivation—in the
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (1RO1MH60246-01; 1RO1DC036801-A1; PO1MH/DA52176) and from the National Library of Medicine (LM06858).
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