Stuttering ‘is caused by restricted blood flow to the brain’, study reveals

tunisante January 5, 2017

Stuttering has long thought to be genetic or caused by family dynamics
But a new study has, for the first time, linked stutters to resting blood flow
Experts claim the research could transform what we know about the condition
Famous sufferers include King George VI, Emily Blunt, Winston Churchill

Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com

Published:
19:31 EST, 4 January 2017

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Updated:
19:31 EST, 4 January 2017

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Stuttering is cause by limited blood flow to part of the brain, a breakthrough study has found.

Researchers at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles discovered that stutters have reduced blood flow in region in the frontal lobe of the brain linked to speech production.

The more severe the stutter, the more limited the blood flow in this region.

Lead investigator Dr Bradley Peterson claims this study – the first to measure stuttering and resting blood flow – represents ‘a critical mass of evidence’ that could transform our understanding of the common disability.

A new study claims stutters could be caused by limited blood flow in parts of the brain. King George VI had a stutter (portrayed famously by Colin Firth in The King’s Speech)

Until now, it was largely assumed to be a genetic condition or caused by family dynamics.

More than 70 million people stutter worldwide, including about 3 million in America and 700,000 in the UK.

It is far more common in men (four times as much) than women, and is most commonly treated with speech therapy.

High profile sufferers include Emily Blunt, Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, Carly Simon, John Updike, and King George VI.

The new study builds on Dr Peterson’s industry-leading work into speech and cerebral blood flow at the Institute for the Developing Mind.

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His team used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to look at brain regions in both adults and children who stutter.

They were able to focus in on the brain’s speech center – also known as the Broca’s area – as well as related brain circuitry specifically linked to speech.

Using regional cerebral blood flow as a measure of brain activity, they found blood flow was inextricably linked with stuttering.

In addition, a greater abnormality of cerebral blood flow in the posterior language loop, associated with processing words that we hear, correlates with more severe stuttering.

This finding suggests that a common pathophysiology throughout the neural ‘language’ loop that connects the frontal and posterior temporal lobe likely contributes to stuttering severity.

‘When other portions of the brain circuit related to speech were also affected according to our blood flow measurements, we saw more severe stuttering in both children and adults,’ said first author Jay Desai, MD, a clinical neurologist at CHLA.

‘Blood flow was inversely correlated to the degree of stuttering – the more severe the stuttering, the less blood flow to this part of the brain,’ said Desai, adding that the study results were ‘quite striking’.