Acquired Stuttering in Parkinson's Disease.

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Speech-Language Pathology

Background:

• Parkinson's disease (PD) often leads to communication difficulties.
• The occurrence of new-onset stuttering in PD patients is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence of acquired neurogenic stuttering in individuals with PD.
• To explore the relationship between stuttering, cognitive function, and motor performance in PD.

Main Methods:

• 100 PD patients and 25 controls provided speech samples (conversation, picture description, reading).
• Stuttered disfluencies (SD) were identified and quantified.
• Neuropsychological tests and motor assessments were administered.

Main Results:

• PD participants exhibited significantly more SD during conversation compared to controls (2.2% vs 1.2%).
• 21% of PD patients met the diagnostic criteria for stuttering.
• SD in PD correlated with disease duration, levodopa dosage, and poorer cognitive and motor scores.

Conclusions:

• Acquired neurogenic stuttering is prevalent in PD, affecting 1 in 5 individuals.
• Speech disfluency assessment should be integrated into standard PD care.
• The findings challenge purely motor-based explanations for stuttering in PD, highlighting cognitive and motor links.