Background

Stuttering is a complex speech fluency disorder occurring in childhood. In young children, stuttering has been associated with speech-related auditory and motor areas of the brain. During transition into adolescence, the majority of children who stutter (75–80%) will experience remission of their symptoms. The current study evaluated brain (micro-)structural differences between pre-adolescents who persisted in stuttering, those who recovered, and fluently speaking controls.

Methods

This study was embedded in the Generation R Study, a population-based cohort in the Netherlands of children followed from pregnancy onwards. Neuroimaging was performed in 2211 children (mean age: 10 years, range 8–12), of whom 20 persisted in and 77 recovered from stuttering. Brain structure (e.g., gray matter) and microstructure (e.g., diffusion tensor imaging) differences between groups were tested using multiple linear regression.

Results

Pre-adolescents who persisted in stuttering had marginally lower left superior frontal gray matter volume compared to those with no history of stuttering (β −1344, 95%CI −2407;-280), and those who recovered (β −1825, 95%CI −2999;-650). Pre-adolescents who recovered, compared to those with no history of stuttering, had higher mean diffusivity in the forceps major (β 0.002, 95%CI 0.001;0.004), bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculi (β 0.001, 95%CI 0.000;0.001), left corticospinal tract (β 0.003, 95%CI 0.002;0.004), and right inferior longitudinal fasciculus (β 0.001, 95%CI 0.000;0.001).

Conclusion

Findings suggest that relatively small difference in prefrontal gray matter volume is associated with persistent stuttering, and alterations in white matter tracts are apparent in individuals who recovered. The findings further strengthen the potential relevance of brain (micro-)structure in persistence and recovery from stuttering in pre-adolescents.

中文翻译：

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坚持和从口吃中恢复的青少年前期的结构性大脑差异。

背景

口吃是儿童时期发生的一种复杂的语言流利性障碍。在幼儿中，口吃与语言相关的听觉和大脑运动区域有关。在过渡到青春期期间，大多数口吃的儿童（75–80％）会缓解症状。当前的研究评估了坚持口吃，康复和口语流利的青少年之间的大脑（微）结构差异。

方法

这项研究被嵌入到了R世代研究中，R世代研究是荷兰的一项基于人口的队列研究，从怀孕开始一直追踪儿童。对2211名儿童（平均年龄：10岁，范围8-12）进行了神经影像学检查，其中20例持续存在，77例从口吃中康复。使用多元线性回归测试组之间的脑结构（例如灰质）和微结构（例如扩散张量成像）差异。

结果

与没有口吃史的人（β-1344，95％CI -2407; -280）和恢复者（β-1825，95％）相比，坚持口吃的青少年前期左上额额叶灰质略低CI -2999； -650）。与没有口吃史的青少年相比，康复前的青春期前大钳平均扩散系数（β0.002，95％CI 0.001; 0.004），双侧上纵筋膜（β0.001，95％CI 0.000; 0.001） ，左皮质脊髓束（β0.003，95％CI 0.002; 0.004）和右下纵筋膜（β0.001，95％CI 0.000; 0.001）。

结论

研究结果表明，前额叶灰质体积的相对较小差异与持续性口吃有关，并且在恢复的个体中白质束的改变很明显。这些发现进一步加强了大脑（微）结构在青春期前的口吃坚持和恢复中的潜在相关性。