Foundas A L, Bollich A M, Corey D M, Hurley M, Heilman K M
Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Tulane University Health Science Center, New Orleans 70112, USA.
Neurology. 2001 Jul 24;57(2):207-15. doi: 10.1212/wnl.57.2.207.
The major aim of this study was to determine whether adults with persistent developmental stuttering (PDS) have anomalous anatomy in cortical speech-language areas. The major postulate was that anomalous cerebral dominance, reflected by anomalous cortical anatomy in various regions, may put an individual at increased risk for the development of stuttering.
Adults with PDS (n = 16) and controls (n = 16) matched for age, sex, hand preference, and education were studied. Volumetric MRI scans were completed. Frontal (pars triangularis, pars opercularis) and temporo-parietal areas (planum temporale, posterior ascending ramus) were measured in the left and right hemispheres and interhemispheric asymmetries were computed. Gyral variants were assessed within these perisylvian cortical speech-language areas.
The right and left planum temporale were significantly larger in the adults with PDS (p = 0.045), and the magnitude of the planar asymmetry was reduced (p = 0.003). Some gyral variants were unique to the adults with PDS, including a second diagonal sulcus and extra gyri along the superior bank of the sylvian fossa. In addition, anatomic subgroups emerged based on sex and hand preference. Overall, the adults with PDS had significantly more gyral variants (mean = 4.19) than controls (mean = 1.31, p < 0.0005).
These results provide strong evidence that adults with PDS have anomalous anatomy in perisylvian speech and language areas. No one anatomic feature distinguished the groups, but multiple loci within a widely distributed neural network differed between groups. These results provide the first evidence that anatomic anomalies within perisylvian speech-language areas may put an individual at risk for the development of stuttering.
本研究的主要目的是确定患有持续性发育性口吃（PDS）的成年人在皮质语言区域是否存在解剖结构异常。主要假设是，不同区域皮质解剖结构异常所反映的大脑优势异常，可能会使个体患口吃的风险增加。
对年龄、性别、利手和教育程度相匹配的16名患有PDS的成年人及16名对照组进行研究。完成了容积性磁共振成像扫描。测量了左右半球的额叶（三角部、岛盖部）和颞顶叶区域（颞平面、后升支），并计算了半球间不对称性。在这些外侧裂周围皮质语言区域内评估脑回变异。
患有PDS的成年人左右颞平面明显更大（p = 0.045），平面不对称程度降低（p = 0.003）。一些脑回变异是患有PDS的成年人所特有的，包括第二条对角沟和沿外侧裂窝上缘的额外脑回。此外，根据性别和利手出现了解剖学亚组。总体而言，患有PDS的成年人脑回变异明显多于对照组（平均 = 4.19）（平均 = 1.31，p < 0.0005）。
这些结果提供了有力证据，表明患有PDS的成年人在外侧裂周围的语言区域存在解剖结构异常。没有一个解剖特征能区分两组，但广泛分布的神经网络中的多个位点在两组之间存在差异。这些结果首次证明，外侧裂周围语言区域的解剖结构异常可能会使个体有患口吃的风险。
