>*"Stuttering doesn't make sense if we reduce it to external triggers. Triggers are like a symptom of stuttering. Triggers doesn't take into account what's going on in the brain during a stutter moment, and that is where the money is."* Thank you for the thoughtful reply! Triggers are indeed fascinating, as you have pointed out, at one moment, they elicit a negative response, and the next moment seemingly for no reason, no maladaptive behavior occurs. Yet, the use of terms like "triggers" differs significantly between everyday language and theoretical frameworks. Psychological frameworks (e.g., those depicted in the diagram) often use the term "trigger" in different ways. Consider this: on a moment-to-moment basis, a neutral stimulus can transform into a conditioned stimulus, eliciting an undesired response (involuntary in classical conditioning, voluntary in operant conditioning). When negative associations during the acquisition process successfully transform a perceived stimulus into a conditioned one, a negative conditioned response follows. The key question to consider is: What factors govern or influence the acquisition and deconditioning phases? This is probably more insightful than simply asking why a trigger sometimes elicits a negative response and other times results in a neutral or positive one. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading research on triggers and brain activity. It’s actually a very captivating subject! I warmly encourage you to dive deeper into it; I think you’ll find it both rewarding and fascinating. * [https://www.google.com/search?q=triggers+brain+research](https://www.google.com/search?q=triggers+brain+research) * [https://www.google.com/search?q=conditioned+stimulus+brain+research](https://www.google.com/search?q=conditioned+stimulus+brain+research) * [https://www.google.com/search?q=cues+brain+research](https://www.google.com/search?q=cues+brain+research) * [https://www.google.com/search?q=stimuli+brain+research](https://www.google.com/search?q=stimuli+brain+research)