New study shows 1 week of therapy may reorganize the brain and reduce stuttering

According to a new study published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, just one week of speech therapy may reorganize the brain, helping to reduce stuttering.

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"The study involved 28 people with stuttering and 13 people who did not stutter. Fifteen of the people with stuttering received a week of therapy with three sessions per day. The other stutterers and the controls received no therapy. Therapy involved the participants repeating two-syllable words that were spoken to them and then reading words presented to them visually. ... The average scores on stuttering tests and percent of stuttered syllables improved for those who received the therapy. There was no change in scores for the stutterers who did not receive therapy."

“These results show that the brain can reorganize itself with therapy, and that changes in the cerebellum are a result of the brain compensating for stuttering,” said study author Chunming Lu, PhD, of Beijing Normal University in China. “They also provide evidence that the structure of the pars opercularis area of the brain is altered in people with stuttering.”