White matter microstructural differences underlying beta oscillations during speech in adults who stutter

• Main Authors: Cheyne, D. (Author), De Nil, L. (Author), Jobst, C. (Author), Mersov, A. (Author), Mollaei, F. (Author), Woodbury, M. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Academic Press Inc. 2021
• Subjects: adult; Adult; anisotropy; Anisotropy; Article; basal ganglion; beta rhythm; clinical article; controlled study; Developmental stuttering; diagnostic imaging; diffusion tensor imaging; Diffusion tensor imaging; Diffusion Tensor Imaging; disease association; disease severity; female; fractional anisotropy; functional connectivity; human; Humans; magnetoencephalography; Magnetoencephalography; male; oscillation; Probabilistic tractography; putamen; sample size; speech; Speech; Speech production; stuttering; Stuttering; thalamocortical tract; tractography; white matter; White matter; White Matter
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 The basal ganglia-thalamocortical (BGTC) loop may underlie speech deficits in developmental stuttering. In this study, we investigated the relationship between abnormal cortical neural oscillations and structural integrity alterations in adults who stutter (AWS) using a novel magnetoencephalography (MEG) guided tractography approach. Beta oscillations were analyzed using sensorimotor speech MEG, and white matter pathways were examined using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and probabilistic tractography in 11 AWS and 11 fluent speakers. TBSS analysis revealed overlap between cortical regions of increased beta suppression localized to the mouth motor area and a reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) in the AWS group. MEG-guided tractography showed reduced FA within the BGTC loop from left putamen to subject-specific MEG peak. This is the first study to provide evidence that structural abnormalities may be associated with functional deficits in stuttering and reflect a network deficit within the BGTC loop that includes areas of the left ventral premotor cortex and putamen. © 2021 Elsevier Inc.