Altered Modulation of Silent Period in Tongue Motor Cortex of Persistent Developmental Stuttering in Relation to Stuttering Severity.

ABSTRACT: Motor balance in developmental stuttering (DS) was investigated with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), with the aim to define novel neural markers of persistent DS in adulthood. Eleven DS adult males were evaluated with TMS on tongue primary motor cortex, compared to 15 matched fluent speakers, in a "state" condition (i.e. stutterers vs. fluent speakers, no overt stuttering). Motor and silent period thresholds (SPT), recruitment curves, and silent period durations were acquired by recording tongue motor evoked potentials. Tongue silent period duration was increased in DS, especially in the left hemisphere (P<0.05; Hedge's g or Cohen's dunbiased = 1.054, i.e. large effect size), suggesting a "state" condition of higher intracortical inhibition in left motor cortex networks. Differenc

SUBMITTER: Busan P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5053488 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature