Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 30, 2026
Utilizing Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Improve Language Function in Stroke Patients with Chronic Non-fluent Aphasia
Published on: July 2, 2013
A positron emission tomography study of short- and long-term treatment effects on functional brain activation in
Luc F De Nil1, Robert M Kroll, Sophie J Lafaille
1Graduate Department of Speech-Language Pathology, University of Toronto, Ont., Canada M5G 1V7. luc.denil@utoronto.ca
Unlabelled:
Previous studies have shown that fluency-inducing techniques, such as choral speech, result in changes in neural activation as measured by functional neuroimaging. In the present study, positron emission tomography was used to investigate the effects of intensive behavioural treatment, followed by a 1-year maintenance program, on the pattern of cortical and subcortical activation in stuttering adults during silent and oral reading of single words. The results indicate changes in activation lateralisation, as well as a general reduction in over-activation, especially in the motor cortex, following treatment. The results are discussed in light of previous functional imaging studies with stuttering adults.
Educational Objectives:
The reader will learn about and be able to describe the: (1) use of functional neuroimaging PET in the study of stuttering; (2) differences in neural activation between stuttering and non-stuttering adults; and (3) effects of behavioural fluency treatment on cortical and subcortical activations in stuttering speakers.
