Brain imaging studies of developmental stuttering

This paper reviews recent brain imaging research on stuttering against a ba ckground of studies that the writer and colleagues have been conducting at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. The paper beg ins by reviewing some pertinent background to recent neuroimaging investiga tions of developmental stuttering. It then outlines the findings from four brain imaging studies that the San Antonio group has conducted using (H2O)- O-15 positron emission tomography (PET). Finally, some of the principal fin dings that are emerging across brain imaging studies of stuttering are revi ewed, while also highlighting - and attempting to resolve - some apparent a cross-study inconsistencies among the findings. Research on stuttering usin g magnetoencephalogaphy (MEG) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) i s also considered. The findings increasingly point to a failure of normal t emporal lobe activation during speech that may either contribute to (or is the result of) a breakdown in the sequencing of processing among premotor r egions implicated in phonologic planning. Learning outcomes: As a result of this activity, the participant will becom e familiar with some recent neurophysiological correlates of stuttering and what they suggest about the nature of this disorder. (C) 2001 Elsevier Sci ence Inc. All rights reserved.