Anomalous sensorimotor integration in adults who stutter: a tendon vibration study

Anomalies in oral movement control have been identified in stuttering, which suggest this speech disorder involves a sensorimotor deficit. To test whether adults who stutter (AWS) display aberrant proprioceptive function, masseter tendon vibration was used to manipulate jaw proprioception as AWS and normal speakers performed a jaw-opening task. A movement amplitude reduction in the vibration condition was observed in both groups indicating the movements of AWS and controls were influenced in a similar manner by altering masseter proprioception. However, the undershoot magnitude was reduced in AWS relative to the control participants indicating a subtle difference in proprioceptive integration among the stuttering participants. Our interpretation is that AWS use proprioceptive information less efficiently than normal speakers, which could interfere with sensorimotor integration during speech production.