Naslov
Editorial: The Neurophysiology of Developmental Stuttering: Unraveling the Mysteries of Fluency

Autori
Busan, Pierpaolo ; Neef, Nicole E. ; Rogić Vidaković, Maja ; Battaglini, Piero Paolo ; Sommer, Martin

Izvornik
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (1662-5161) 15 (2022); 1-4

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, uvodnik, stručni

Ključne riječi
developmental stuttering, neurophysiology, speech motor networks, speech and motor deficit, stuttering treatment

Sažetak
Speaking is essential for everyday life: we speak to communicate, sharing our thoughts. However, not everybody speaks easily: speech movements are often out of control in stuttering, and everyday life may be impaired. Developmental Stuttering (DS) is the idiopathic form of the disturbance, usually characterized by speech dysfluencies, such as blocks and repetitions, especially in the initial parts of words and sentences. Also, associated movements (e.g., oro-facial grimaces), accompanying dysfluencies, may be present. DS typically appears in childhood: in the majority of cases, children recover from dysfluencies, but, sometimes, they persist in adulthood. DS is a neurodevelopmental and multifactorial disorder, characterized by the presence of genetic alterations, as well as by abnormalities in the functioning of speech and motor cerebral systems. Neuroimaging/neurophysiological tools have begun to elucidate the dysfunctional neural dynamics of DS: stuttering is seen as a motor/timing disorder related to basal ganglia dysfunction and disconnection of speech-related motor cortical regions. The strong central component of DS influences the functioning of even wider neural networks, such as those related to emotional regulation, also affecting, in interaction with peripheral nervous system, temperamental characteristics, and/or psycholinguistics behaviors. In spite of this amount of knowledge, several questions still remain, which concern, for example, the volitional control of speech or the neural control of motor sequencing/timing (also in relation to response inhibition). These are crucial aspects that need to be considered for a deeper understanding of physiological/pathophysiological bases of DS. Accordingly, the scope of this Research Topic is to help in unraveling the mysteries of (dys)fluency, in stuttering. Hence, we present a collection of original and review contributions around new frontiers in research, trying to contribute to the better understanding of this disorder. Ultimately, 22 articles, including 15 original papers, 4 reviews, 2 hypotheses and theory articles, and 1 brief research report, were produced by 71 of the most influential world-wide experts. The outcome is a potpourri of scientific pieces, tackling a multidisciplinary/integrated vision of DS, to get closer to understanding its mechanisms, and also toward the implementation of more effective evidence-based interventions. Specifically, contributions involve: (i) Current demographic characteristics of DS ; (ii) Causal mechanisms and neural modeling of DS ; (iii) Central neurophysiological evidence of (dys)fluency in DS ; (iv) Behavioral evidence of motor deficits in DS ; (v) DS and the peripheral nervous system ; (vi) Temperamental and cognitive functioning in DS ; (vii) Intervention and rehabilitation in DS

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Temeljne medicinske znanosti, Psihologija, Kognitivna znanost (prirodne, tehničke, biomedicina i zdravstvo, društvene i humanističke znanosti)

POVEZANOST RADA