Abstract

Up to 8% of children experience stuttering, and a comparable proportion struggle with developmental language disorder (DLD), a condition marked by unexplained difficulties in acquiring a first language. Despite their prevalence, the neural bases of these developmental conditions remain poorly understood. Using quantitative MRI , our work has identified distinct alterations in subcortical brain structures: elevated iron concentration in the putamen in stuttering, and reduced myelin in the caudate nucleus in DLD . These findings highlight separable subcortical circuits underlying motor control for speech and language learning. In stuttering, we combined non-invasive brain stimulation with fluency training to reduce speech disfluencies, linking behavioural improvement to functional changes in the putamen and connected speech motor cortex. In DLD , our results challenge the dominant view that the disorder stems solely from deficits in procedural learning circuits. Instead, we find involvement of additional subcortical learning systems, including the medial temporal lobe and cerebellum. Ongoing longitudinal studies are mapping how these neural differences shape developmental trajectories in speech, language, and brain maturation.

Host: Dr Mirjana Bozic (mb383@cam.ac.uk)

This talk will be recorded and uploaded to the Zangwill Club Youtube channel in due course.