Anomalous White Matter Morphology in Adults Who Stutter

Aims: Developmental stuttering is now generally considered to arise from genetic determinants interacting with neurologic function. Changes within speech-motor white matter (WM) connections may also be implicated. These connections can now be studied in great detail by high-angular-resolution diffus...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of speech, language, and hearing research Vol. 58; no. 2; pp. 268 - 277
Main Authors: Cieslak, Matthew, Ingham, Roger J., Ingham, Janis C., Grafton, Scott T.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) 01.04.2015
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Subjects:
Adult
Adults
Algorithms
Analysis
Arcuate Nucleus of Hypothalamus - diagnostic imaging
Arcuate Nucleus of Hypothalamus - pathology
Brain
Brain - diagnostic imaging
Brain - physiopathology
Brain Hemisphere Functions
Brain Mapping - methods
Brain research
Case-Control Studies
Comparative Analysis
Corpus Striatum - diagnostic imaging
Corpus Striatum - pathology
Cortex
Diagnostic Tests
Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Effect Size
Etiology
Frontal Lobe - diagnostic imaging
Frontal Lobe - pathology
Genetic research
Genetics
Handedness
Humans
Inferences
Magnetic resonance imaging
Male
Males
Mathematics
Medical imaging
Morphology
Neurological Impairments
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Speech
Speech Impairments
Speech motor control
Studies
Stuttering
Stuttering - diagnostic imaging
Stuttering - pathology
Temporal Lobe - diagnostic imaging
Temporal Lobe - pathology
White Matter - diagnostic imaging
White Matter - pathology
Young Adult
ISSN:1092-4388, 1558-9102, 1558-9102
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Aims: Developmental stuttering is now generally considered to arise from genetic determinants interacting with neurologic function. Changes within speech-motor white matter (WM) connections may also be implicated. These connections can now be studied in great detail by high-angular-resolution diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. Therefore, diffusion spectrum imaging was used to reconstruct streamlines to examine white matter connections in people who stutter (PWS) and in people who do not stutter (PWNS). Method: WM morphology of the entire brain was assayed in 8 right-handed male PWS and 8 similarly aged right-handed male PWNS. WM was exhaustively searched using a deterministic algorithm that identifies missing or largely misshapen tracts. To be abnormal, a "tract" (defined as all streamlines connecting a pair of gray matter regions) was required to be at least one 3rd missing, in 7 out of 8 subjects in one group and not in the other group. Results: Large portions of bilateral arcuate fasciculi, a heavily researched speech pathway, were abnormal in PWS. Conversely, all PWS had a prominent connection in the left temporo-striatal tract connecting frontal and temporal cortex that was not observed in PWNS. Conclusion: These previously unseen structural differences of WM morphology in classical speech-language circuits may underlie developmental stuttering.
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SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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Editor: Jody Kreiman
Disclosure: The authors have declared that no competing interests existed at the time of publication.
Associate Editor: Hans-Georg Bosshardt
ISSN:1092-4388
1558-9102
1558-9102
DOI:10.1044/2015_JSLHR-S-14-0193