Normal interhemispheric inhibition in persistent developmental stuttering |
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Authors: | Martin Sommer MD Kathrin Knappmeyer Evke Jane Hunter Alexander Wolffvon Gudenberg MD Nicole Neef SLP Walter Paulus MD |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University of G?ttingen, G?ttingen, Germany;2. Institut der Kasseler Stottertherapie, Feriendorfstra?e 1 34308 Bad Emstal, Germany |
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Abstract: | Imaging studies suggest a right hemispheric (pre)motor overactivity in patients with persistent developmental stuttering (PDS). The interhemispheric inhibition (IHI) studied with transcranial magnetic stimulation is an established measure of the interplay between right and left motor areas. We assessed IHI in 15 young male adults with PDS and 15 age‐matched fluent‐speaking subjects. We additionally studied the ipsilateral silent period (iSP) duration. We found no significant between‐group difference for IHI or for iSP duration. We conclude that the interplay between the primary motor cortices is normal in patients with PDS. The abnormal right motor and premotor activity observed in functional imaging studies on PDS are not likely to reflect altered primary motor cortex excitability, but are likely to have a different origin. © 2009 Movement Disorder Society |
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Keywords: | persistent developmental stuttering transcranial magnetic stimulation interhemispheric transcallosal ipsilateral silent period |
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