Fluency Chapters 1-3

Question 1

ABC’s of Stuttering

Answer 1

Affective, behavioral, cognitive

Question 2

Adaptation

Answer 2

The tendency for speakers to stutter less and less up to a point when repeatedly reading a passage.

Question 3

Anticipation

Answer 3

An individual’s ability to predict on which words or sounds they will stutter.

Question 4

Attitude

Answer 4

A feeling the has become a pervasive part of someone’s beliefs.

Question 5

Avoidance Behavior

Answer 5

A speaker’s attempt tp prevent stuttering when they anticipate a stutter. Word based avoidances like “uh” may be said before the expected word or sound.

Question 6

Block

Answer 6

An inappropriate flow of air, voice, or movement of articulators.

Question 7

Consistency

Answer 7

The tendency for speakers to stutter on the same words when reading a passage several times.

Question 8

Core Behaviors

Answer 8

Basic speech behaviors of stuttering; repetition, prolongation, and block.

Question 9

Developmental Stuttering

Answer 9

Most common form of stuttering that develops during childhood.

Question 10

Disfluency

Answer 10

Interruption of speech such as repetition, hesitancy, or prolongation of sound that may occur in people who do or do not stutter.

Question 11

Escape Behavior

Answer 11

The attempt to terminate a stutter and finish the word. Occurs when the speaker is already in the moment of stuttering.

Question 12

Fluency

Answer 12

Effortless flow of speech.

Question 13

Heterogeneity

Answer 13

Differences among various types of a disorder.

Question 14

Incidence

Answer 14

Index of how many people have stuttered at some time in their lives.

Question 15

Do all cultures have stuttering?

Answer 15

Yes, it is found in all cultures and races, and affects people regardless of intellect, income, race, sex, or age.

Question 16

What causes people to stutter?

Answer 16

It is likely genetic, and affects the neural pathways associated with verbal language.

Question 17

Cerebral dominance for speech.

Answer 17

“Both old and new studies have shown that individuals who stutter have greater activity in their right hemispheres than in their left hemispheres, during both fluent and stuttered speech. Just to remind you, this is the reverse of the pattern shown by fluent typical subjects who show considerable left-hemisphere activity and little right-hemisphere activity during speech.”

Question 18

Overactivation in Midbrain Areas

Answer 18

“A number of researchers have reported unusually high levels of activity in midbrain structures that, via pathways to the cerebral cortex, may influence speech movements. Specifically, some structures of the basal ganglia have been shown to be overactive in those who stutter. This midbrain area is important in speech motor activity, via loops that send signals from the cortex to the basal ganglia, which then send “go” or “no go” signals to the supplementary motor area (SMA), which itself is responsible for initiating the respiratory, phonatory, and articulatory movements needed for speech. Excess activity in the basal ganglia associated with stuttering could possibly result “in inhibitory signals sent to SMA that would prevent the initiation of speech movements”

Question 19

Brain Structure Differences in People Who Stutter Compared with People Who Do Not Stutter

Answer 19

“The findings suggested that sensory, planning, and motor areas in the left hemisphere of these individuals developed differently from those in matched nonstuttering individuals. For example, white matter tracts, which convey information from sensory centers in the left hemisphere (which, e.g., store phonological representations of sounds) to motor execution areas of the left hemisphere, have been shown to be less dense than those in typical speakers. However, the same tracts were found to be denser in the right hemisphere of those who stuttered. It is perhaps a consequence of the right hemisphere takeover of some typical left-hemisphere functions, mentioned earlier.”

“Overall, stuttering was associated with abnormal connectivity in networks associated with attention, motor performance, perception, and emotion. This finding may help explain why there is such variability in stuttering (connectivity changes over time) and why stuttering may co-occur with other disorders such as attention deficit disorder and anxiety. This study is probably the first of many that will follow, exploring abnormal connectivity in networks of individuals who stutter”

Question 20

Anomaly

Answer 20

A difference from the normal structure or function.

Question 21

Proprioception

Answer 21

Sensory information from the body the conveys position of structures and movements of structures.

Question 22

Sensorimotor control

Answer 22

The way all movement is carried out with sensory information used before, after, and during to improve the precision of movement.

Question 23

Sensory processing

Answer 23

Activity of the brain as it interprets information coming from the senses, such as sounds arriving via the ears and auditory nerves.

Question 24

Stuttering and sensory processing deficits

Answer 24

Auditory perception, cortical speech processing, dichotic listening, and control of movement using kinesthetic feedback. These deficits may signal some weakness in use of sensory information to make movements used in speech production.

Question 25

Reaction times

Answer 25

Sensorimotor responses like reaction times are slower in those who stutter. Movements in fluent speech are also slower.

Question 26

Stress

Answer 26

The stress of language input at ages 2 to 5, or emotion arousal may contribute to stuttering.