State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P.R. China.
Exp Neurol. 2010 Jan;221(1):146-56. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2009.10.016. Epub 2009 Oct 29.
Using an fMRI-based classification approach and the structural equation modeling (SEM) method, this study examined the neural bases of atypical planning and execution processes involved in stuttering. Twelve stuttering speakers and 12 controls were asked to name pictures under different conditions (single-syllable, multi-syllable, or repeated-syllable) in the scanner. The contrasts between conditions provided information about planning and execution processes. The classification analysis showed that, as compared to non-stuttering controls, stuttering speakers' atypical planning of speech was evident in their neural activities in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and right putamen and their atypical execution of speech was evident in their activations in the right cerebellum and insula, left premotor area (PMA), and angular gyrus (AG). SEM results further revealed two parallel neural circuits-the basal ganglia-IFG/PMA circuit and the cerebellum-PMA circuit-that were involved in atypical planning and execution processes of stuttering, respectively. The AG appeared to be involved in the interface of atypical planning and execution in stuttering. These results are discussed in terms of their implications to the theories about stuttering and to clinical applications.
本研究采用基于功能磁共振成像（fMRI）的分类方法和结构方程模型（SEM）方法，探讨了口吃者不典型的计划和执行过程的神经基础。12 名口吃者和 12 名对照者在扫描仪中被要求在不同条件（单音节、多音节或重复音节）下命名图片。条件之间的对比提供了关于计划和执行过程的信息。分类分析表明，与非口吃对照组相比，口吃者的言语异常计划表现在他们的双侧额下回（IFG）和右侧壳核的神经活动中，而他们的言语异常执行则表现在他们的右侧小脑和脑岛、左侧运动前区（PMA）和角回（AG）的激活中。SEM 结果进一步显示，两个平行的神经回路——基底神经节-IFG/PMA 回路和小脑-PMA 回路——分别参与了口吃者不典型的计划和执行过程。AG 似乎参与了口吃者不典型计划和执行的接口。这些结果从口吃理论和临床应用的角度进行了讨论。
