Stuttering: Neurological vs psychological vs genetics

[peebee]

I'm curious to know other peoples opinion on the root cause of their stutter. I know everyones stutter is different, but does that mean the cause of our stuttering is different as well?

My Opinion: Right now I feel that stuttering is mostly related to anxiety. How else can you explain perfect fluency under certain conditions, i.e talking to self and intoxicatation. I often feel that if I woke up tomorrow forgetting that I stuttered I would be fluent. Genetics also plays a part too I think... it's pretty amazing what DNA can do and from what I've read on these forums it looks like a lot of people have had family members who stutter(ed), myself included (although they got over theirs at a young age).

[Silent]

How else can you explain perfect fluency under certain conditions, i.e talking to self and intoxicatation.
I stutter when I talk to myself, unless I use fluency techniques.
The only situations I'm fluent is chorus talking/reading and unconscious speech (e.g. cursing).

I believe stuttering is a neurological condition primarily, but it's always accompanied by acquired stuff which triggers stuttering occurrences in the first place. The stuff is acquired by all kinds of conditioning, sensitization to certain stimuli (visual, auditory, proprioceptive), etc., and it involves 'emotional habits' (fear, anxiety, self-consciousness), 'mental habits' (e.g. thinking about a word instead of just saying it) as well as 'physical habits' (erratic breathing, muscle tension).

All these elements form a complex network of relations and feedback loops. I believe this network can be dismantled with hard work. Some elements are beyond our direct conscious control, but doing the work on the conscious ones can weaken the unconscious ones. It won't be a cure though. The condition will still be there, but it won't manifest often or at all.

[emily445455]

I believe what science says on the subject. That it is a brain abnormality/disfunction that is sometimes genetic and sometimes not. And that it cannot be 100% cured.

[Mullen]

I stutter as well when I'm alone, or at least I have trouble articulating certain words. But since there is no time restraint or embarassment, I am able to speak as slowly and carefully as I wish. This has the effect of minimizing my stutter.

It seems to me that the problem is neurological: due to the inner workings of the brain, the stutterer's speech coordination is impaired. And everything else that frustrates and shames the stutterer follows from that.

[Adrian]

I believe what science says on the subject. That it is a brain abnormality/disfunction that is sometimes genetic and sometimes not. And that it cannot be 100% cured.

I think that about says it all. The science clearly shows it to be neurologic.

[Kryt]

I've what's called an "acquired" stutter - I wasn't born with it, but it started at around 16 years old for no reason whatsoever. My dad and my brother both stutter, the latter from birth.

Brief research, without having enough medical or scientific expertise to back this up, tells me that in many stutterers the right hemisphere of the brain is acting hyperactively and slightly out of sync with other parts controlling the speech. Some people have been able to calm this down by "arousing" certain parts - Bruce Willis was able to do this by putting himself on the spot so to speak. Other research shows excessive dopeamine levels contributing to a caused or increased stutter.

It will be "cured" without question of doubt - the only thing that will stop that is the annihilation of the human race or de-civilisation through war. However, just like many "cures" it will be a matter of treating symptoms rather than the cause, the underlying root of the problem(s).

I've little doubt that my stutter is exasperated by my Asperger's Syndrome, a complex yet subtle batch of mental issues that all interact and work with others, some in positive ways (increased neural activity, above average intelligence, increased focus and a reflex rate half of average) some in negative (anxiety, agoraphobia, the stutter). However "curing" that problem would without doubt act as a catalyst for other problems too numerous to mention.

I've sat down and pondered long and hard as to why my stutter would have started with very little to no reason - no trauma's or accidents, no more mental stress than usual for a teenager back then, and the only result is that the following days I am far worse for having thought about it.

I'm now thinking about it subconsciously more than usual as I start a new job tomorrow - it doesn't involve much telephone work but probably enough to make me nervous in itself. However should the speech have been an issue, I'd have not got the job in the first place, so here's hoping it goes well.

Sorry for a bit of a long post, sometimes it seems to help to write these things down :)

[chris2112]

I think that about says it all. The science clearly shows it to be neurologic.

Where did you get that from? Science says no one knows why people stutter, they have hunches based on evidence, but no conclusions whatsoever.

[Violet]

Where did you get that from? Science says no one knows why people stutter, they have hunches based on evidence, but no conclusions whatsoever.

But zillions of studies have been made that point to that fact... I think it also may depend on the person's individual stutter as to what level it is neurological or something else.

Personally I have stuttered since birth, and on top of this i had something like eight other speech disorders. But with intensive speech therepy it was all kicked out of me except for the stutter..
To me this points to it being neurological, because what is the chance that at a very young age i just randomly aquired like eight speech disorders when everyone i have ever come into contact with has spoken perfectly.. so it wasn't like i was copying them or anything.. It is clearly a fault in my brain. I believe its also genetic.. even though i have no known relatives that stutter.. but I am sure that i do have relatives who are long gone and who did stutter..

And i also believe that the psychology of it all greatly affects it... but is in no way the cause. For instance...(and i actually have no idea whether this is true or not) but when you are happy, levels of something in the brain change.. when you are scared things change... etc etc.. and i think that these changing emotions subtly affect the speech region in our brain..

So pretty much stuttering is a multy faceted thing and this, alongside sciences trivial knowledge of genetics and stuff at this current point in time, makes it impossible to find a cure. :p

[Adrian]

But zillions of studies have been made that point to that fact...

Exactly. We still don't know the exact cause, but these studies clearly show neurological abnormalities in the brain.

[JDRow]

I don't even have to come up with anything new to say.

I believe what science says on the subject. That it is a brain abnormality/disfunction that is sometimes genetic and sometimes not. And that it cannot be 100% cured.[quote]

and

[quote]And i also believe that the psychology of it all greatly affects it... but is in no way the cause

[Adrian]

I don't even have to come up with anything new to say.

I believe what science says on the subject. That it is a brain abnormality/disfunction that is sometimes genetic and sometimes not. And that it cannot be 100% cured.

and And i also believe that the psychology of it all greatly affects it... but is in no way the cause


I believe it is physically impossible to stutter without a neurological breakdown. Even if we agree psychology is the trigger to stuttering, how do we explain how psychology equals stuttering? It makes no sense. If anything it is psychology equals neurology equals stuttering. There has to be a neurological flaw.

[peebee]

To the people that said they stutter when they speak to themselves: Would you mind sharing if you have a mild, average or severe stutter? Mild being you can speak somewhat fluently with word substitutions and minor repeating and severe being stuttering/blocking for long periods of time.


I've read some (although I'm sure I haven't done as much research on the subject as other people in this thread) studies that talk about chemical imbalances or abnormalities in the brain like some of you mentioned but nothing concrete. Also, how can you believe that stuttering cannot be 100% cured when there is living proof of many people being fluent who stuttered in the past... i.e Joe Biden. His VP debate with Palin, the ENTIRE WORLD was watching it and he did an absolutly amazing job, you can't really top that in terms of anxiety :D

[peebee]

And i also believe that the psychology of it all greatly affects it... but is in no way the cause. For instance...(and i actually have no idea whether this is true or not) but when you are happy, levels of something in the brain change.. when you are scared things change... etc etc.. and i think that these changing emotions subtly affect the speech region in our brain..



You're very smart and intuitive to pick that up! What you're referring to may be Dopamine

[Silent]

To the people that said they stutter when they speak to themselves: Would you mind sharing if you have a mild, average or severe stutter? Mild being you can speak somewhat fluently with word substitutions and minor repeating and severe being stuttering/blocking for long periods of time.
I have a very severe stutter.

[Violet]

To the people that said they stutter when they speak to themselves: Would you mind sharing if you have a mild, average or severe stutter? Mild being you can speak somewhat fluently with word substitutions and minor repeating and severe being stuttering/blocking for long periods of time.

My stutter is moderate to mild, and on really good days i can appear practically fluent..

However i still stutter when i read outloud to myself, especially if i am having a bad stutter day... The stutter is very slight and if someone was to be in the room they may think i was just pausing.. or was unsure what the word was.. or probably wouldn't even notice.. its more of a slight tension in my throat than an actual stutter.
My stutter is mostly blocks.. so when i read out loud to myself they are like 'mini' blocks.... I can tell when i'm going to have a harder time speaking depending on the frequency of these miniblocks... and i find that if i keep on reading most of them time i can become completely fluent while reading to myself after an hour.. and then i can turn a bad stutter day into a okay stutter day..

[Vegeta]

My mother stuttered since her 11 years to about 23 or 24.. She said that it just got away naturally. She started to work, She got away from all those oral presentations at school and I'm 18 and have been stuttering since I was 4 years old.. I've tried so many things now, but can it be possible to go away natually?

[Mullen]

To the people that said they stutter when they speak to themselves: Would you mind sharing if you have a mild, average or severe stutter? Mild being you can speak somewhat fluently with word substitutions and minor repeating and severe being stuttering/blocking for long periods of time.

I suppose I'm mild to moderate, but I've always found it misleading to try to classify stuttering in that way. Some days are better than others, some blocks more severe than others. I have to a great extent adjusted my personality and lifestyle to accomodate my stutter: I'm not as talkative as I could be, I've chosen the sort of work that doesn't involve interacting with the public, etc.. That's not necessarily a good or bad thing, but it has lessened my stutter considerably.

It would be interesting if someone were to do a study on those who have "overcome" their stuttering. How do their genetic backgrounds compare to the stuttering population overall? When did their stuttering begin? That sort of thing.

[Kryt]

Moderate to severe depending on - well, nothing, the way the wind blows ;)

Absolutely 100% fluent when talking to myself with no substitutions, delays or trying harder than normal to speak - as if I do not stutter whatsoever.

Around 80% fluent when talking to my wife face to face. Very rarely stumble over any words with her and when I do, it's short lived.

100% fluent again when talking to my 4 month old son. Granted, he can't answer back short of a giggle, laugh or grimace, but I do have some fairly long (and one sided!) conversations with him even outside of my inane babbling to keep him happy ;)