What causes stuttering?

1 Feb 2016

What Causes Stuttering with Dr. Soo-Eun Chang from the Speech Neurophysiology Lab at the University of Michigan (Ep. 568)

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Soo-Eun Chang, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Dr. Soo-Eun Chang joins Peter Reitzes to discuss what causes stuttering from a brain imaging and brain research perspective. This is the fifth episode in a series on the cause of stuttering.

Dr. Chang discusses what brain research tells us or suggests regarding the structure and function of the brains of people who stutter, deficits in white matter tracts, how stuttering may relate to lysosomal dysfunction, persistency and recovery, how the right and left hemispheres interact and much more.

Soo-Eun Chang, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is the Principal Investigator and Director of the Speech Neurophysiology Lab at the University of Michigan and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Rosa Casco Solano-Lopez Research Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Michigan. Soo-Eun is also an Adjunct Professor at the Michigan State University, in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, and the Department of Psychology.

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9 Jan 2016

What Causes Stuttering with Dr. Gerald Maguire from UC Riverside School of Medicine and the Kirkup Center (Ep. 564)

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Gerald Maguire, M.D., DFAPA

Today on StutterTalk we ask Dr. Gerald Maguire what causes stuttering? This is the fourth episode in a series on the cause of stuttering. Dr. Maguire discusses the cause of stuttering while also providing listeners with a research update and much more.

Dr. Maguire is Chair of Psychiatry in the University of California’s, Riverside School of Medicine and a professor of psychiatry. Dr. Maguire is the Kirkup Center Chair in Stuttering Treatment and considered by many to be the leading authority on the medical treatment of stuttering. Jerry is well-published in numerous psychiatric journals. His previous appearances on StutterTalk are archived here.

Dr. Maguire may be contacted via email: gerald.maguire@ucr.edu

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1 Jan 2016

What Causes Stuttering with Nina G (Ep. 563)

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Nina G, comedian, speaker, author, advocate

What causes stuttering is a question that professionals and others in the stuttering community are frequently called upon to answer. Today on StutterTalk we ask Nina G how she responds when asked this question. This is the third episode in StutterTalk’s series on what causes stuttering. Nina largely agrees with the first two guests that stuttering “appears to be a problem with neural processing of speech involving genetics.” However, Nina shares her view that we should not be calling stuttering a problem “because a problem indicates that it needs to be changed.”

Nina G is asked to discuss a range of topics including disability rights and stuttering, her term neural diversity, inspirational porn, informed consent, stuttering humor on the Howard Stern show and much more. Nina mentions StutterTalk’s interviews with John Melendez (Stuttering John) and Mel Tillis.

Nina G, is a comedian, speaker, advocate, disability activist, storyteller, counselor and the author of a children’s book, Once Upon An Accommodation: A Book About Learning Disabilities (link). Nina G’s album is Disabled Comedy Only. 

Nina G was kind enough to provide a transcript of this episode.

Related Episodes:

  • What Causes Stuttering with Dr. Dennis Drayna from the NIH (Ep. 560)
  • What Causes Stuttering with Dr. Mark Onslow from ASRC (Ep. 558)
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16 Dec 2015

What Causes Stuttering with Dr. Dennis Drayna from the NIH (Ep. 560)

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Dennis Drayna, Ph.D., Senior Investigator, National Institutes of Health

What causes stuttering is a question that professionals and others in the stuttering community are frequently called upon to answer. Today on StutterTalk we ask Dr. Dennis Drayna how he responds when parents ask this question. Dr. Drayna reports that a fourth stuttering gene has been found and that scientists may not be able to account for upwards of 12-20% of stuttering cases.

Dennis Drayna, Ph.D., is Senior Investigator at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Read more about Dr. Drayna at the NIH website here. Dr. Drayna’s other StutterTalk appearances are archived here.

Related Episodes:

  • What Causes Stuttering with Dr. Mark Onslow from ASRC (Ep. 558)
  • Ask. Dr. Dennis Drayna from the NIH about Genetics and Stuttering (StutterTalk Ep. 500)
  • Did Neanderthals Stutter? – with Dr. Dennis Drayna from the NIH (StutterTalk Ep.  378)

Related Links:

  • Association between Rare Variants in AP4E1, a Component of Intracellular Trafficking, and Persistent Stuttering (abstract)
  • Mucolipidosis types II and III and non-syndromic stuttering are associated with different variants in the same genes (abstract)
  • NIH researchers pinpoint additional gene tied to persistent stuttering (link)
  • How NIDCD research is leading to an understanding of stuttering (videocast featuring Dr. Drayna)
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9 Dec 2015

What Causes Stuttering with Dr. Mark Onslow from ASRC (Ep. 558)

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Mark Onslow, PhD, The University of Sydney

One of the most challenging questions to satisfactorily answer in stuttering treatment and in the community is what causes stuttering? Today on StutterTalk we launch a series featuring a range of perspectives and experiences on this important topic. Our first guest for this series is Dr. Mark Onslow.

Dr. Onslow discusses his view that stuttering “appears to be a problem with neural processing of speech involving genetics” (link) and is asked to discuss brain imaging research on the cause of stuttering that is currently being conducted at the University of Sydney. Dr. Onslow is asked how his treatment and research experience may influence how he views causation and much more.

Mark Onslow is the Foundation Director of the Australian Stuttering Research Centre (ASRC) at The University of Sydney. From 2004-2008, Dr. Onslow was a Principal Research Fellow of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, being the only speech pathologist to have received this distinction. Dr. Onslow’s accomplishments include authoring over 250 publications related to stuttering. Dr. Onslow is one of the lead developers of the Lidcombe Program, a widely used and researched preschool stuttering treatment (see full bio here).

Related Links:

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