Functional neuroimaging studies show an overactivation of speech and language related homologous areas of the right hemisphere in persons who stutter. In this study, we inhibited Broca's homologues using 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and assessed its effects on stuttering severity. The investigated cortical areas included pars opercularis (BA44), anterior and posterior pars triangularis (BA45), mouth area on the primary motor cortex (BA4). We collected reading and speaking samples before and after rTMS sessions and calculated the percentage of syllables stuttered. Only right anterior pars triangularis stimulation induced significant changes in speech fluency. Notably, the effects were differential for reading and speaking conditions. Overall, our results provide supportive evidence that right anterior BA45 may be a critical region for stuttering. The observed differential effects following the inhibition of right anterior BA45 merits further study of contributions of this region on different language domains in persons who stutter.

中文翻译：

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Neuronavigated rTMS 抑制口吃中右三角肌前部：对阅读和口语的不同影响

功能性神经影像学研究表明，口吃者右半球的言语和语言相关同源区域过度激活。在这项研究中，我们使用 1 Hz 重复经颅磁刺激 (rTMS) 抑制了 Broca 的同系物，并评估了其对口吃严重程度的影响。研究的皮质区域包括鳃盖部 (BA44)、前三角部和后部三角部 (BA45)、初级运动皮层上的嘴部区域 (BA4)。我们收集了 rTMS 会话前后的阅读和口语样本，并计算了口吃音节的百分比。只有右前三角肌刺激引起言语流畅度的显着变化。值得注意的是，阅读和口语条件的影响是不同的。全面的，我们的结果提供了支持性证据，表明右前 BA45 可能是口吃的关键区域。在抑制右前 BA45 后观察到的不同效应值得进一步研究该区域对口吃者不同语言域的贡献。