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Abstract:
Abstract: It is hypothesized that stuttering, a production
based disorder, involves interacting factors, including
neurolinguistic processing. The occurrence of stuttering has a
predictable relationship to linguistic constructs. Depending on
age, stuttering occurs most often on either closed (9 yrs) or open
class words (9 years). While previous behavioral measures have been
inconclusive in determining whether IWS process language
differently from normal speakers (NS), online-RT measures suggest
that lexical access may be slower for IWS. The aim of the present
study was to clarify the contribution of neurolinguistic processing
to the disorder of stuttering by determining whether IWS display
altered brain organization for language processing, even with no
speech production demands. ERPs were obtained while10 IWS
and 10 NS read sentences silently. Results indicate that
the latencies for processing closed class words (N280) are slightly
slower (20ms) for IWS. In contrast, the latencies for open class
words (N350), even in the semantic anomaly condition (N400), were
similar for IWS and NS. Increased P200 amplitudes and
decreased negatives that followed (N280, N350, N400) were observed
for the IWS, particularly over the left hemisphere. These
findings suggest that in a visual paradigm that may invoke
Baddeley$E2s articulatory rehearsal, IWS may process semantic and
grammatical information differently from NS, and that slower
processing for IWS may be specific to closed class words.
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