Nursery World - Mechanism behind stuttering revealed

Stuttering, or stammering, affects about 1 per cent of adults, although many children experience a transient phase of stuttering between three and five years old. Many more men than women are affected, and there is a genetic component. Despite decades of research, the origin and structural basis of this disorder are unknown, but recent research published in The Lancet has thrown light on its cause. Dr Martin Sommer and colleagues from the Universities of Hamburg and Guettingen in Germany write that stuttering is caused by a structural abnormality in the left hemisphere of the brain. The German group used a magnetic resonance imaging technique to assess brain tissue structure in 15 people with stuttering and a control group of 15 people with normal speech.

Dr Martin Sommer and colleagues from the Universities of Hamburg and Guettingen in Germany write that stuttering is caused by a structural abnormality in the left hemisphere of the brain. The German group used a magnetic resonance imaging technique to assess brain tissue structure in 15 people with stuttering and a control group of 15 people with normal speech.

The tissue structure of a region in the left hemisphere of the brain in stuttering patients was significantly different to that in controls. Fibre tracts in this region connect brain structures involved in the articulation and planning of speech, which could explain how disturbed signal transmission in this area prevents fluid speech production.

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