Protocol Number: 00-N-0095

Title:

Brain Activation During Developmental Speech Production and Speech Perception

Number:

00-N-0095

Summary:

The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the brain's activity and organization in the development of speech disorders. It will compare brain activity in people with normal speech development with those who stutter or who have a phonological disorder (a deficit in how the brain processes speech sounds).

Stuttering and phonological disorders emerge during the critical period of speech development between 2.5 and 12 years of age. During this period, the brain is much more adaptable for speech development than it is after puberty. This study will examine how the brain organization for speech production and perception develops normally during the critical period and how the normal pattern is altered when stuttering and phonological disorders become chronic problems, persisting throughout life.

Volunteer adults and children with and without speech disorders may participate in this study. Eligibility screening will include a brief neurological and physical examination and tests to determine normal speech or a speech disorder. The speech testing will be videotaped. The subject will speak aloud, describe pictures, recall words or numbers, imitate speech sounds and words, and perform some listening tests.

Study participants will undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study brain activity. For this procedure, the subject lies on a stretcher that is moved into a donut-shaped machine with a strong magnetic field. During the MRI scan, the subject will perform simple tasks, such as listening to speech or other sounds and saying nonsense words. The procedure should take less than 60 minutes, and usually takes from 20 to 40 minutes.

Sponsoring Institute:

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Recruitment Detail

Type: Active Accrual Of New Subjects

Gender: Male & Female

Referral Letter Required: No

Population Exclusion(s): None

Eligibility Criteria:

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

Subjects who have been diagnosed exclusively with stuttering or a phonological processing disorder, as well as their affected and unaffected family members, will be recruited.

Because brain organization for speech and language may differ in bilingual persons, only native-American English speakers, with only one language spoken in the home, will be included.

All subjects will be right-handed on the Edinburgh handedness questionnaire.

Only persons who have given their written consent for participation in the study will be included in our research.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

A subject will be excluded if he/she has a contraindication to MR scanning such as the following: aneurysm clip; implanted neural stimulator; implanted cardiac pacemaker or autodefibrillator; cochlear implant; ocular implant or foreign body (e.g. metal shavings or splinters); insulin pump; shrapnel; bullet or shot wound; artificial heart valve; tattooed makeup; prostheses of ferromagnetic material; surgical metal clips in the brain, eye or on blood vessels; implanted drug infusion device; intraventricular shunts, transdermal medication patches, wire sutures, bone/joint pins, screws, nails, plates, and body piercings. Other exclusion criteria are pregnancy (as determined by pregnancy testing at NIH's Clinical Center on the day of scanning); speech reception thresholds greater than 25 dB; left-handedness on the Edinburgh handedness questionnaire; non-native American English speech; developmental exposure to a language other than English in the home; language and/or cognitive functioning lower than 1 standard deviation below the age-adjusted mean value on screening tests.

Special Instructions: Currently Not Provided

Keywords:

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Stuttering

Phonological Disorder

Speech Perception

Speech Production

Phonology

Development

Motor Control

Neural Networks

Phonological Disorders

Recruitment Keywords:

None

Conditions:

Developmental Articulation Disorder

Stuttering

Investigational Drug(s):

None

Investigational Device(s):

None

Contacts:

Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office
Building 61
10 Cloister Court
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-4754
Toll Free: 1-800-411-1222
TTY: 301-594-9774 (local),1-866-411-1010 (toll free)
Fax: 301-480-9793

Electronic Mail:prpl@mail.cc.nih.gov

Citations:

Distribution of cortical neural networks involved in word comprehension and word retrieval

The neural substrates underlying word generation: a bilingual functional-imaging study

Brain organization for language in children, adolescents, and adults with left hemisphere lesion: A PET study

• Questions about participating in a study, please contact the Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office, CC.
• Technical questions regarding the Clinical Center web site, please contact the Department of Networks and Applications, CC.

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