We might anticipate stuttering 90% of the time caused by negative experiences. But did you know that this anticipation prompts unique activity in the brain? Can new research work on curing stuttering (anticipation)? Research: "Study finds stuttering anticipation prompts unique activity in the brain"

We might anticipate stuttering 90% of the time caused by negative experiences. But did you know that this anticipation prompts unique activity in the brain? Can new research work on curing stuttering (anticipation)? Research: "Study finds stuttering anticipation prompts unique activity in the brain" **Researchers reveal elevated activity during stuttering anticipation in a part of the brain that plays key role in cognitive control** The right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (R-DLPFC) in the brain plays a key role in cognitive control—decision making, memory processing, task planning, etc. New research suggests that cognitive control underlies how stutterers respond to stuttering anticipation (the sense that upcoming speech will be stuttered; the point in time at which the speaker becomes aware that should they proceed as planned, they will stutter), offering fresh insight into the brain’s processing and response to stuttering. Per Alm says: "*The gesture of the new person (e.g., the extended hand) serves as an external cue that the stutterer will soon have to produce their name, an action to which the stutterer is averse. This cue may trigger a “freezing” response to the threat of producing the anticipated word.*" “*We’ve always known that stutterers anticipate stuttering, but no one has explored how the brain processes anticipation*,” says NYU Steinhardt Assistant Professor [Eric S. Jackson](https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/people/eric-s-jackson), lead author of the study. “*This represents a significant gap in the literature, likely due to anticipation being a primarily covert phenomenon*.” The researchers studied 44 participants (22 stutterers and 22 non-stutterers) who were tasked with producing words that included anticipated words (words participants identified as likely to be stuttered) and unanticipated words. The participants’ neural activity was measured during a five-second window preceding speech using a brain imaging technology called functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The researchers found that activation in the R-DLPFC increased when participants anticipated stuttering (demonstrated by changes in blood flow). Additionally, anticipated words were associated with reduced connectivity between the R-DLPFC and the right supramarginal gyrus (R-SMG)—another part of the brain in the cognitive control network. “*The results show that the R-DLPFC is activated in response to anticipated words, and that anticipation is associated with destabilization in the broader cognitive control network. This work provides a foundation for developing a brain-based account of this critical phenomenon, and also may have important clinical implications related to targeted neuromodulation as a component of therapy for stutterers*,” said Jackson. [Jackson](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10158639) says: "*Anticipated words are associated with reduced connectivity between the R-DLPFC and R-SMG. The results also support previous accounts of error-likelihood monitoring and action-stopping in stuttering anticipation. Anticipation occurs on a temporal continuum from a looming sense of impending stuttering. Anticipation is driven by error-likelihood monitoring whereby the speaker learns associations between “errors” (i.e., stuttered utterances) and listener reactions or other environmental consequences, thereby learning to predict the occurrences of these errors. Adult stutterers predict stuttering with high accuracy (greater than 90% accuracy). Most important in the speaker’s experience is how they learn or choose to respond to anticipation, whether by avoiding, approaching, or implementing physical speaking strategies that prevent stuttering. In this way, responding to anticipation is mediated by cognitive control.*" Davidow adds that stuttering anticipation results from learnt associations between stuttered utterances and any self-experienced or environmental consequence) and error monitoring. Kell says: "*Stutterers who reported recovering from stuttering without treatment did not show elevated activation in R-DLPFC, suggesting that these patterns reflect compensatory efforts not learned in therapy (e.g., avoiding, stalling, or using other self-learned speaking strategies).*" Brown says: "*The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) underlies error-likelihood monitoring: ACC underlies the detection of errors in response to unintended outcomes and generates error signals, and DLPFC holds task-relevant information in working memory and initiates subsequent actions. The ACC underlies stuttering anticipation—the recognition of the breakdown or “glitch” in speech-language planning—and reasonable to predict that the R-DLPFC underlies initiating a response to this breakdown.*" Arenas says: "*Associative learning underlies anticipation. Speakers learn which words or sounds are difficult and are thus primed to respond to upcoming stuttering when encountering these words again. Stuttering involves global inhibition (over-suppression) that impedes successive motor programs' execution.*" However, the study did not find heightened activity in the R-IFG or R-preSMA, implying that stuttering anticipation occurs at a cognitive rather than a speech motor control level. [Jackson](https://direct.mit.edu/nol/article/5/2/432/119560/Reactive-Inhibitory-Control-Precedes-Overt) says: "*Independently generated anticipated words were associated with greater beta power and more stuttering than researcher-assisted anticipated words, pointing to a relationship between self-perceived likelihood of stuttering (i.e., anticipation) and inhibitory control.*" In a final note, Jackson wrote a [PDF document](https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1202&context=specedfacpub) how stuttering anticipation can be addressed: "*My client knows that he’s about to stutter:* ***how can we address stuttering anticipation****?*"