Stuttering: Our Current Knowledge, Research Opportunities, and Ways to Address Critical Gaps

DOI

10.1162/nol_a_00162

Soo-Eun Chang, Department of Psychiatry, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Jennifer E. Below, The Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
Ho Ming Chow, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
Frank H. Guenther, Departments of Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
Amanda M. Hampton Wray, Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Eric S. Jackson, Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, New York University, New York, NY, USA.
Ludo Max, Department of Speech & Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Nicole E. Neef, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Georg August University, Göttingen, Germany.
Shahriar SheikhBahaei, Neuron-Glia Signaling and Circuits Unit, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA.
Lana Shekim, National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA.
Seth E. Tichenor, Department of Speech-Language Pathology, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Bridget Walsh, Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Kate E. Watkins, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
J Scott Yaruss, Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Nan Bernstein Ratner, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences & Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

1-1-2025

Publication Title

Neurobiology of language (Cambridge, Mass.)

Volume

6

Keywords

genetics, intervention, neurobiology, research priorities, speech disorder, treatment

Abstract

Our understanding of the neurobiological bases of stuttering remains limited, hampering development of effective treatments that are informed by basic science. Stuttering affects more than 5% of all preschool-age children and remains chronic in approximately 1% of adults worldwide. As a condition that affects a most fundamental human ability to engage in fluid and spontaneous verbal communication, stuttering can have substantial psychosocial, occupational, and educational impacts on those who are affected. This article summarizes invited talks and breakout sessions that were held in June 2023 as part of a 2-day workshop sponsored by the US National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The workshop encompassed topics including neurobiology, genetics, speech motor control, cognitive, social, and emotional impacts, and intervention. Updates on current research in these areas were summarized by each speaker, and critical gaps and priorities for future research were raised, and then discussed by participants. Research talks were followed by smaller, moderated breakout sessions intended to elicit diverse perspectives, including on the matter of defining therapeutic targets for stuttering. A major concern that emerged following participant discussion was whether priorities for treatment in older children and adults should focus on targeting core speech symptoms of stuttering, or on embracing effective communication regardless of whether the speaker exhibits overt stuttering. This article concludes with accumulated convergent points endorsed by most attendees on research and clinical priorities that may lead to breakthroughs with substantial potential to contribute to bettering the lives of those living with this complex speech disorder.

Open Access

40201450 (pubmed); PMC11977836 (pmc); 10.1162/nol_a_00162 (doi); nol_a_00162 (pii)

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