Do you consider the silent blocks as core behavior of stuttering and forceful blocks, prolongations and repetitions as compensatory? (in your own words)

Do you consider the silent blocks as core behavior of stuttering and forceful blocks, prolongations and repetitions as compensatory? (in your own words) In my opinion: I want to add a few research excerpts to clarify the neuro-anatomical perspective of this. Selected research excerpts: \- "Civier et al. (2013) and Chang and Guenther (2020) claim that the functional deficit underlying neurogenic stuttering is due to a malfunction within the cortico-cortical feedback loop including basal ganglia and thalamus (action control loop). One of the responsibilities of this cortico-cortical loop is to initiate the execution of speech motor programs. If this initiation process is not working in a proper way this may cause interruptions by blocking the production and execution of a syllable or by blocking the production and execution of a whole utterance directly at its beginning" \- Chang & Frank Guenther explicitly frame the core impairment as malfunction of the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamocortical loop responsible for initiating speech motor programs. Mechanistically, that can look like motor programs failing to be set up correctly (feedforward) or being over-reliant on corrective feedback (note: some people show more planning-loop anomalies, others more motor-loop anomalies) - [https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03088/full](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03088/full) \- "Neural models of speech processing comprise the modeling of speech production and speech perception/comprehension. Production models start with the specification of a verbal intention at the semantic or concept level, generate lemmata and phonological forms (cognitive-linguistic model part). These models subsequently initiate the motor execution processes including articulatory movement generation, acoustic signal generation, and sensory feedback signal generation (sensorimotor model part). " \- "Neurogenic stuttering reflects deficits in the initiation of execution of motor programs \- (Chang and Guenther, 2020). Guenther (2006), Guenther et al. (2006), Golfinopoulos et al. (2010), and Kearney and Guenther (2019) assume that the initiation map, which activates motor plans and motor programs and thus starts syllable execution as postulated in the DIVA and GODIVA models (Guenther, 2006; Bohland et al., 2010) \- "Action control as well comprises motor planning in form of motor plan and motor program activation and motor execution (see planning and motor loop in Bohland et al., 2010 and in Miller and Guenther, 2021). This control loop starts and ends in different areas of the neocortex and includes the basal ganglia and thalamus in its center (see Figures 1B, C, solid orange lines). " Source: [https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/language-sciences/articles/10.3389/flang.2023.1100774/full](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/language-sciences/articles/10.3389/flang.2023.1100774/full) (Attached is a screenshot from Soo-eun Chang’s research for reference.) https://preview.redd.it/5cimdmcgsjuf1.jpg?width=2046&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=03fb0ff95c13be0b0c117b2377270076ba0d6941 \~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ In my personal opinion, first, I think we need to ask: What ties blocks, repetitions, and prolongations together (i.e., what is the common denominator here)? Personally, I would argue, there is an interruption in the forward flow of speech (in regards to repetitions, blocks and prolongations). So, in other words, a failure of motor program initiation. We might view it as, the subconscious brain preventing, suppressing or inhibiting the execution of the speech-plan (or at least a segment of the speech-plan). It’s useful to distinguish two kinds of silent blocks, because they are not the same clinically or mechanistically: (1) Silent block before attempted execution of the speech plan— i.e., no voice or articulatory movement is initiated; the motor cortex has not yet activated the speech musculature. (This is the level/domain I’m referring to in my own viewpoint) (2) Silent block during attempted execution — i.e., the speaker has already attempted voice onset or articulation onset, but the attempt is interrupted (this is often the type SLPs describe at the observable/outward manifestation level). (this is the level of stuttering-like disfluencies) My post focuses specifically on (1): a silent block without voice or articulatory onset. This differs from the SLP-described silent block (2): that occurs when a speaker attempts to push through during an approach-avoidance conflict — that latter type involves an overt attempt which manifests on a different domain. For a more accessible explanation, there’s a short video where a researcher explains this viewpoint in lay terms (starts around 3:07): [https://youtu.be/LftpTGx0xhs?t=187](https://youtu.be/LftpTGx0xhs?t=187) For example, the PhD researcher states: "There is evidence to suggest that many people who stutter (PWS) have a mild underlying deficiency of dopamine which contributes to a mild underlying neurological difficulty with speech motor execution." In regards to non-neurogenic execution-difficulty stuttering he states: "Nobody speaks all of the time. Sometimes we remain silent despite having planned words or phrases that we could potentially have said. So there must be a mechanism inside our brains that regulates when we speak and when we remain silent. This mechanism is often referred to as the “Release threshold mechanism” or the “Execution threshold mechanism” because it uses a threshold mechanism to regulate when and where we release planned speech for motor execution." See: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jbljc9lVJZW-YvEa0bPB86-Gu2OdNs6o/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jbljc9lVJZW-YvEa0bPB86-Gu2OdNs6o/view?usp=sharing) \~\~\~\~ How would you answer the question?