This is a review of the article: "Structural connectivity of right frontal hyperactive areas scaled with stuttering severity". from BRAIN: a journal of Neurology, 2018 issue 141, pages 191-204. (Authors listed at end of article)
Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a diagnostic test for measuring biochemical changes in the brain. An MRS scan is conducted on the same machine used for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). It provides chemical information on metabolites (brain chemicals), and gives more information about the tissues of the human body, and not just the structure.
Our personalities can determine a lot about the way we live – how we relate to our surroundings, our reactions to different people and situations, and the coping methods we employ during those times when the universe throws a monkey-wrench into our life’s machinery. While there are many factors to personality composition, one of the most obvious is a person’s degree of extraversion versus intraversion.
Research has shown that a child who stutters can be issue-free in all other areas of child development, such as IQ, overall cognitive skills, reading comprehension, and literacy. But it can also be the case that stuttering exists alongside other speech disorders. There is particular concern among some parents who have observed the onset of stuttering in their child during or after treatment for other disorders.
Voice recognition systems promise a hands free world. Want to check the weather? Just ask Siri. Want to know the time in Vancouver, she can tell you that too. But, this widespread technology, which can be found in smart phones, TVs (and who knows maybe even washing machines one day!), is not all inclusive.
Summary of the Research paper: Anxiety of children and adolescents who stutter: A review. By Kylie A. Smith, Lisa Iverach, Susan O’Briand, Elaina Kefalianosa, and Sheena Reilly. Published in the Journal of Fluency Disorders 40 (2014) 22–34.
Approaches to stuttering treatment have undergone changes over the decades. As in any field, practitioners don’t always entirely agree. But one thing all speech pathologists would definitely concur on is the need for more research into the nature of stuttering, its impact and causes, and implications for better treatment methods.