TY - JOUR

T1 - Elevated iron concentration in putamen and cortical speech motor network in developmental stuttering

AU - Cler, Gabriel J

AU - Krishnan, Saloni

AU - Papp, Daniel

AU - Wiltshire, Charlotte E E

AU - Chesters, Jennifer

AU - Watkins, Kate E

N1 - © The Author(s) (2021). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.

PY - 2021/11/29

Y1 - 2021/11/29

N2 - Theoretical accounts of developmental stuttering implicate dysfunctional cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical motor loops through the putamen. However, the analysis of conventional MRI brain scans in individuals who stutter has failed to yield strong support for this theory in terms of reliable differences in the structure or function of the basal ganglia. Here, we performed quantitative mapping of brain tissue, which can be used to measure iron content alongside markers sensitive to myelin and thereby offers particular sensitivity to the measurement of iron-rich structures such as the basal ganglia. Analysis of these quantitative maps in 41 men and women who stutter and 32 individuals who are typically fluent revealed significant group differences in maps of R2*, indicative of higher iron content in individuals who stutter in the left putamen and in left hemisphere cortical regions important for speech motor control. Higher iron levels in brain tissue in individuals who stutter could reflect elevated dopamine levels or lysosomal dysfunction, both of which are implicated in stuttering. This study represents the first use of these quantitative measures in developmental stuttering and provides new evidence of microstructural differences in the basal ganglia and connected frontal cortical regions.

AB - Theoretical accounts of developmental stuttering implicate dysfunctional cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical motor loops through the putamen. However, the analysis of conventional MRI brain scans in individuals who stutter has failed to yield strong support for this theory in terms of reliable differences in the structure or function of the basal ganglia. Here, we performed quantitative mapping of brain tissue, which can be used to measure iron content alongside markers sensitive to myelin and thereby offers particular sensitivity to the measurement of iron-rich structures such as the basal ganglia. Analysis of these quantitative maps in 41 men and women who stutter and 32 individuals who are typically fluent revealed significant group differences in maps of R2*, indicative of higher iron content in individuals who stutter in the left putamen and in left hemisphere cortical regions important for speech motor control. Higher iron levels in brain tissue in individuals who stutter could reflect elevated dopamine levels or lysosomal dysfunction, both of which are implicated in stuttering. This study represents the first use of these quantitative measures in developmental stuttering and provides new evidence of microstructural differences in the basal ganglia and connected frontal cortical regions.

KW - Adult

KW - Basal Ganglia/diagnostic imaging

KW - Brain Mapping/methods

KW - Cohort Studies

KW - Female

KW - Frontal Lobe/diagnostic imaging

KW - Humans

KW - Iron/metabolism

KW - Male

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Nerve Net/diagnostic imaging

KW - Putamen/diagnostic imaging

KW - Stuttering/diagnostic imaging

KW - Young Adult

U2 - 10.1093/brain/awab283

DO - 10.1093/brain/awab283

M3 - Article

C2 - 34750604

VL - 144

SP - 2979

EP - 2984

JO - Brain: A journal of Neurology

JF - Brain: A journal of Neurology

SN - 1460-2156

IS - 10

ER -