Study of Brain Activity During Speech Production and Speech Perception

Stuttering Clinical Trial

Official title: Brain Activation During Developmental Speech Production and Speech Perception

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the brain's activity and organization in the development of speech disorders. It will compare brain activity in people with normal speech development with those who stutter or who have a phonological disorder (a deficit in how the brain processes speech sounds).

Stuttering and phonological disorders emerge during the critical period of speech development between 2.5 and 12 years of age. During this period, the brain is much more adaptable for speech development than it is after puberty. This study will examine how the brain organization for speech production and perception develops normally during the critical period and how the normal pattern is altered when stuttering and phonological disorders become chronic problems, persisting throughout life.

Volunteer adults and children with and without speech disorders may participate in this study. Eligibility screening will include a brief neurological and physical examination and tests to determine normal speech or a speech disorder. The speech testing will be videotaped. The subject will speak aloud, describe pictures, recall words or numbers, imitate speech sounds and words, and perform some listening tests.

Study participants will undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study brain activity. For this procedure, the subject lies on a stretcher that is moved into a donut-shaped machine with a strong magnetic field. During the MRI scan, the subject will perform simple tasks, such as listening to speech or other sounds and saying nonsense words. The procedure should take less than 60 minutes, and usually takes from 20 to 40 minutes.

Clinical Trial Description

This is a study of two developmental speech production disorders, which emerge during the critical period of speech development between 2.5 and 12 years of age. During this critical period there is considerably greater brain plasticity for speech functioning which disappears following puberty. Our purpose is to determine how normal brain organization for speech production and perception develops during the critical period and how this normal pattern is altered when stuttering and phonological disorders become chronic problems, persisting throughout the life span. Functional MRI and magnetoencephalography (MEG) are non-invasive methodologies suitable for research in these disorders in children. New methodologies using fMRI and MEG provide the first opportunity for the study of speech production both in normally developing children as well as children and adults with stuttering and/or phonological disorders. Our hypothesis is that, with development, the brain organization for speech production becomes less distributed involving fewer brain regions, and that phonological processing mechanisms become lateralized to the left hemisphere during the critical period of speech development. This research will address whether the brain regions involved in speech are more diffuse and less selective in persons who develop chronic stuttering and phonological disorders, leading to a less efficient dynamic system for speech production. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Articulation Disorders
• Developmental Articulation Disorder
• Stuttering

• NCT number: NCT00004991
• Study type: Observational
• Source: National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC)
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: March 14, 2000