Multiple Modern Theories Of Stuttering

Stuttering was also thought to be a symptom of mental disorders such as neurosis and anxiety. Comparison studies have found that people who stutter are not more neurotic than people who do not. Stutterers exhibit their difficulties only when they are involved in communication situations, while neurotics express their neurotic behavior in many other situations. 

Talking about anxiety, stutterers did have higher anxiety levels, but the anxiety appeared to have developed as a result of the stuttering and so would not be considered a causal factor. However, it is likely that some individuals who stutter have a predisposition to develop anxiety.

A recent study investigated temperamental factors in children who stutter. Compared to normally-fluent children, children who stutter were less adaptable to new situations, less distractible, and less regular in daily physiologic functions. The study concluded that “temperamental features could possibly contribute, in some unknown way, to the beginning and development of stuttering”.

Behavioral studies showed that parents who overreact to the normal disfluency of their children may be one causative factor. Kids who are afraid of negative parental reactions attempt to avoid this disfluency, and stuttering can develop as a result of this struggle. Another behavioral concept, called the approach–avoidance concept, suggests that the desire to communicate collides with the desire to avoid speech anxiety, which may be as a result of prior negative experiences with stuttering.

Biological theories suggest that stuttering may be a form of dystonia – a convulsive condition caused by the parts of the brain that are responsible for language production. Another theory suggests that the origin of stuttering may be the dysfunction of the basal ganglia, the part of the brain which is involved in the control of a movement, and a disorder of neural links and neurotransmitters levels such as dopamine, that has been also linked with other similar conditions such as Tourette syndrome, characterized by motor and vocal tics. 

Stuttering Is Linked To Rhythm Perception Deficiency

The newest findings are linking stuttering with a condition known as rhythm perception deficiency. Scientists have found that children who stutter have difficulty identifying a beat in music rhythms, which could be a reason for their staggering speech patterns. The study showed that children who stuttered also had difficulty identifying similar and Differing rhythms. 

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This is the first study that connects stuttering with a deficiency of rhythm perception. In other words, it seems that stutterers "don’t have an ear" for rhythm and music. McAuley, a professor of psychology said: "That's important because it identifies potential interventions which might focus on improving beat perception in children who stutter, which then might translate to improved fluency in speech." According to this finding, stutterers should train beat perception and maintainance with a metronome. It is believed to be critical for normal speech because it serves as a pacing signal.