Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 25, 2025
Probing the Brain in Autism Using fMRI and Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Published on: September 12, 2011
White matter connectivity in neonates at risk of stuttering: Preliminary data
Ann Packman1, Mark Onslow1, Jim Lagopoulos2
1University of Technology Sydney, Australian Stuttering Research Centre(2), NSW, Australia.
Insights
This study found reduced white matter integrity in the corpus callosum of neonates genetically at risk for developmental stuttering. These pre-onset brain differences suggest a causal role for corpus callosum white matter integrity in stuttering development.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Genetics
Background:
- Developmental stuttering is linked to brain structural impairments.
- Establishing causality requires identifying these impairments before stuttering onset.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate pre-onset brain structural differences in neonates at genetic risk for developmental stuttering.
- To explore the potential causal role of white matter integrity in the corpus callosum.
Main Methods:
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) on 18 neonates (8-18 weeks old), including 6 genetically at-risk infants.
- Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) and Automated Fiber Quantification (AFQ) for white matter analysis.
Main Results:
- No significant group differences in overall white matter integrity.
- Lower fractional anisotropy (FA) and higher mean diffusivity (MD) in the corpus callosum of the at-risk group (uncorrected).
- Lower FA in the forceps minor of the corpus callosum in the at-risk group via AFQ.
Conclusions:
- Findings suggest reduced corpus callosum white matter integrity may causally contribute to developmental stuttering.
- This is the first study examining brains before stuttering onset, supporting further longitudinal research.
- Absence of findings in the arcuate fasciculus may be due to its later development relative to birth.
Background:
Developmental stuttering is thought to be underpinned by structural impairments in the brain. The only way to support the claim that these are causal is to determine if they are present before onset.
Materials And Methods:
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was conducted on 18 neonates, aged 8-18 weeks, 6 of whom were determined to be genetically at risk of stuttering.
Results:
With tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) analysis, no statistically significant differences were found between the at-risk group and the control group. However, fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), and radial diffusivity (RD) in the corpus callosum of the at-risk group were lower (uncorrected) than in the control group. Automated Fiber Quantification (AFQ) yielded lower FA in the at-risk group than in the control group in the medial section of the callosum forceps minor.
Discussion:
The findings, albeit with a small number of participants, support the proposition that reduced integrity of white matter in the corpus callosum has a causal role in developmental stuttering. Longitudinal research to determine if children with this impairment at birth later start to stutter is needed to confirm this. The left arcuate fasciculus is thought to develop as speech develops, which likely explains why there were no abnormal findings in this area in our at-risk neonates so soon after birth. This is the first study to investigate the brains of children before the onset of stuttering, and the findings warrant further research.
More Related Videos
13:12Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping
Published on: August 12, 2019
11:14A Novel Experimental and Analytical Approach to the Multimodal Neural Decoding of Intent During Social Interaction in Freely-behaving Human Infants
Published on: October 4, 2015