This is our latest discovery re: the neural processes that precede stuttered speech. This study identified an inhibitory control- or “freezing-like” response that likely emanates from the right presupplementary motor area, an area in the brain well known for exactly these types of inhibitory responses. In simpler terms, a stutterer learns to become averse to overtly stuttering and as a result, implements this inhibitory or freezing-like response which reflects this aversion. Taken with our previous work, we are starting to identify brain regions in the right hemisphere that underlie neurocognitive processes like stopping or freezing, error monitoring, and maybe even decision-making–that reliably precede stuttered vs. fluent speech. NYU did a nice little story.
