Neuronal effects of the SpeechEasy treatment for stuttering
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1
Henry Ford Hospital, United States
MEG imaging was used to localize brain regions activated during language processing in subjects who stutter with and without the use of the SpeechEasy device (compared to non-stuttering control subjects). This study was done to determine if the SpeechEasy device actually alters cortical processing when it helps relieve the symptoms of stuttering. Stuttering is a disruption in speech production, characterized by repetition, blocks or prolongation. The SpeechEasy is an in-the-ear auditory feedback device demonstrated to enhance fluency in people who stutter. It combines delayed auditory feedback with frequency altered feedback to create a choral effect, which occurs when people who stutter speak or sing in unison with others and the stutter is dramatically reduced or even eliminated. Eight stuttering subjects and five control subjects underwent MEG imaging to detect cortical activity during verb generation (VG) and single word reading aloud (RA) tasks. MEG data analyses were performed utilizing a distributed source model (MR- FOCUSS) and displayed on a standard MRI brain image. These results indicated that VG task activates Wernicke’s similarly regardless of the SpeechEasy device in the supramarginal gyrus (SMG). The RA tasks activated Broca’s areas with a longer delay with the SpeechEasy device in place than without the use of the device (487 vs 479ms). Also noted was more activation in Broca’s area and the auditory cortex with the SpeechEasy device in use than without it. The main aim of this study is to establish the efficacy of specific MEG imaging techniques in determining the structure, activation sequence, and strength of neuronal interaction modulations during language processing with and without the SpeechEasy device. This study of MEG neuroimaging has increased our understanding of how choral effects, from the SpeechEasy device, impact the process of stuttering. Research supported by Henry Ford Research A30882 and NIH/NINDS Grant RO1-NS30914.
Conference:
Biomag 2010 - 17th International Conference on Biomagnetism , Dubrovnik, Croatia, 28 Mar - 1 Apr, 2010.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Language
Citation:
Bowyer
S,
Peacock
J,
Tepley
N and
Moran
J
(2010). Neuronal effects of the SpeechEasy treatment for stuttering.
Front. Neurosci.
Conference Abstract:
Biomag 2010 - 17th International Conference on Biomagnetism .
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.06.00239
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Received:
31 Mar 2010;
Published Online:
31 Mar 2010.
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Correspondence:
Susan Bowyer, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, United States, smbowyer@gmail.com