Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Georg August University, Göttingen, Germany.
Biomedizinische NMR Forschungs GmbH am Max-Planck-Institut für Biophysikalische Chemie, Göttingen, Germany.
Brain Struct Funct. 2018 Jan;223(1):165-182. doi: 10.1007/s00429-017-1476-1. Epub 2017 Jul 24.
Persistent developmental stuttering is associated with basal ganglia dysfunction or dopamine dysregulation. Here, we studied whole-brain functional connectivity to test how basal ganglia structures coordinate and reorganize sensorimotor brain networks in stuttering. To this end, adults who stutter and fluent speakers (control participants) performed a response anticipation paradigm in the MRI scanner. The preparation of a manual Go/No-Go response reliably produced activity in the basal ganglia and thalamus and particularly in the substantia nigra. Strikingly, in adults who stutter, substantia nigra activity correlated positively with stuttering severity. Furthermore, functional connectivity analyses yielded altered task-related network formations in adults who stutter compared to fluent speakers. Specifically, in adults who stutter, the globus pallidus and the thalamus showed increased network synchronization with the inferior frontal gyrus. This implies dynamic shifts in the response preparation-related network organization through the basal ganglia in the context of a non-speech motor task in stuttering. Here we discuss current findings in the traditional framework of how D1 and D2 receptor activity shapes focused movement selection, thereby suggesting a disproportional involvement of the direct and the indirect pathway in stuttering.
持续性发展性口吃与基底神经节功能障碍或多巴胺调节异常有关。在这里，我们研究了全脑功能连接，以测试基底神经节结构如何协调和重组口吃者的感觉运动脑网络。为此，口吃者和流利的说话者（对照组参与者）在磁共振成像扫描仪中执行了反应预期范式。手动 Go/No-Go 反应的准备可靠地产生了基底神经节和丘脑的活动，特别是在黑质中。引人注目的是，在口吃者中，黑质的活动与口吃的严重程度呈正相关。此外，与流利的说话者相比，口吃者的功能连接分析产生了与任务相关的网络形成的改变。具体而言，在口吃者中，苍白球和丘脑与额下回的网络同步性增加。这意味着在口吃的非言语运动任务中，通过基底神经节，反应准备相关网络组织发生了动态变化。在这里，我们在传统框架内讨论当前的发现，即 D1 和 D2 受体活性如何塑造集中运动选择，从而表明直接和间接通路在口吃中不成比例的参与。
