http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010723/hl/stuttering.html

Monday July 23 5:45 PM ET

Stuttering Linked to Brain Abnormalities

By Merritt McKinney

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For the first time scientists have identified anatomical differences in the brains of people who stutter.

In a study of 16 people who stuttered and 16 who did not, MRI scans detected differences in a brain region called the planum temporale, which helps control language and speech. This part of the brain was significantly larger in stutterers than in nonstutterers.

Stutterers were also more likely to have irregularities in the shape of the brain, researchers report in the July 24th issue of the journal Neurology. However, there was no single variation in brain structure that accounted for all the differences between those who stuttered and those who did not.

``Our study provides the first strong evidence that anatomical variation...in brain areas devoted to speech and language functions may be associated with an increased risk for the development of stuttering,'' the study's lead author, Dr. Anne L. Foundas of Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, told Reuters Health.

The findings suggest that developmental stuttering is biologically linked, according to Foundas.

Assuming that the biological link between brain variations is confirmed, it may have implications for the treatment of stuttering, she said.

The New Orleans researcher and her colleagues not only detected differences between stutterers and nonstutterers, but also between subgroups of stutterers.

``Our study found that there were anatomical differences when men and women and right- and left-handers who stutter were compared,'' Foundas explained. ``Whether individuals in groups based on gender and hand preference are biologically distinct within developmental stuttering and whether these subgroups respond differently to specific treatments requires additional study.''

SOURCE: Neurology 2001;57:207-215.

-- (in@health.news), July 24, 2001

Answers

M-m-m-my brain is n-n-n-n-normal, you d-d-d-d-.......asshole.

-- (nemesis@awol.com), July 24, 2001.

I really wanted to respond to this thread, but MY brain abnormalities forgot all the details. I can't remember his name, but there's a black actor [older now] who played in Field of Dreams. I love his movies because of his eloquence of speech. He claims that he was once a stutterer and that his eloquence of speech came as a result of attempts to overcome his handicap. Does this mean that he reshaped his brain?

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), July 24, 2001.

Neurocranial Restructuring

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), July 24, 2001.

Anita,

James Earl Jones.

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), July 24, 2001.

Was Diogenes the guy who practiced speaking with a mouthful of pebbles (while he searched for an honest man)?

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), July 24, 2001.

David, I never heard of NCR. It sounds a little hokey but if it is successful, I know someone who might benefit. Do you recommend it?

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), July 24, 2001.

Pebbles in the mouth = Demosthenes.

-- Miserable SOB (misery@misery.com), July 24, 2001.

John Stossel also stuttered.

-- (news@cas.ter), July 24, 2001.

I was just gonna say that about John Stossel. Now there is a good man.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), July 24, 2001.

Stossel is a running dog of the capitalists. We will string him high.

-- (Leon Trotsky@wobblies.MotherJones), July 24, 2001.

Lars,
I don't personally know anyone who has tried NCR, but I've read encouraging reports about it. A pretty strong testimonial is that physicians are taking the initiative to become trained in it.

Nonetheless, caution would not be out of place. A therapy that benefits a given person might not do the same for someone else.

To someone seriously contemplating undergoing NCR (or just about any type of treatment), I'd suggest doing plenty of reading, finding a compatible practitioner and posing tough questions to that person, asking to speak with patients who've had the procedure done, and only then making a decision.

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), July 24, 2001.

I stuttered alot when I was in grade school. Used to wet my pants if the teacher ask me to get up in front of the class and read something. You can't believe how embarrasing it can be! I've been a board member with several local organizations and always declined when my time came up for chairmanship. I pretty much conquered the worst part in my teen years when somebody said put rocks in your mouth and try to talk normally. After swallowing two and near choking I found a better way. When I had to talk to somebody I'd put my hand in my pocket and grab some prepuce and pinch hard. That way I was always concentrating on pain and not on the difficulty of speech. I try not to do that anymore cause people see you grimace and they think you don't enjoy their company.

-- Boswell (fundown@thefarm.net), July 25, 2001.

Poor Boswell born with a stutter

He couldn't utter a mutter

He squeezed on his prepuce

until his tongue came loose

His dick became b-b-butter

-- (nemesis@awol.com), July 26, 2001.

Excellent Bos! Try asking your Doc for a few propranolol tablets. FDA indications are for BP & heartbeat irregularity but public speaking-acting types use it all the time for butterflies. Works good.

Meanwhile pity those whose parents deprived them of a prepuce.

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), July 26, 2001.