Study of Brain and Speech Responses in People Who Stutter Using Brain Stimulation and Behavioral Tests

What this Trial Is About

Stuttering affects communication and the quality of life for individuals who experience it. This research aims to build a strong foundation for developing brain and behavior-based treatments for stuttering. Participants will engage in activities such as naming pictures, reading words or sentences silently or aloud, and listening to speech and nonspeech sounds while their speech, muscle, and brain signals are recorded. Some may also receive brain stimulation during reading and speaking tasks. The study involves different behavioral interventions to explore how the brain processes speech and auditory feedback in people who stutter. Four experimental groups will experience various interventions including delayed speech initiation using brain stimulation, auditory errors with brain activity monitoring during speech, electrical stimulation of a specific speech brain area, and delayed auditory feedback to create mismatches between predicted and heard speech. Participants will be involved in sessions lasting up to two hours where brain activity and speech changes are measured, especially observing how the brain responds before and during speaking and when auditory errors occur. The research monitors brain signals, speech patterns, and muscle activity during these tasks to better understand stuttering. The study is sponsored by Arizona State University and includes healthy volunteers aged 3 years and older.

Auditory Prediction and Error Evaluation in the Speech of Individuals Who Stutter