Document Type : Original Articles

Authors

• Bijan Shafiei ¹
• Zahra Ghayumi ²
• Samira Tavakol ³
• Mohammad Reza Najafi ⁴
• Mohammad Saadat Nia ⁴

¹ Lecture, Department of Speech Therapy, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

² MSc, Department of Speech Therapy, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

³ BSc, Department of Speech Therapy, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

⁴ Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, School of Medical Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: The etiology of stuttering, which is estimated to have an incidence rate of 1%, and existent differences between stutterers and non-stutterers continues to be interesting and intriguing phenomena. The aim of the present study was to investigate EEG patterns in stutterers and non-stutterers resident in Isfahan.Materials and Methods: 31 stutterers and 31 non-stutterers participated in a case-control, double-blinded clinical trial study. Subjects were matched for age, sex, and education. None of subjects had cluttering, mental retardation, hearing loss, motor disorders, brain damage or history of medication use. EEG was performed in the same condition for all subjects and the results were statistically analyzed through independent t and exact fisher tests using SPSS version10.Results: The results of the present research showed that there were significant differences between two study groups (stutterers and non-stutterers) on the basis of frequency and amplitude. However, pathologic (epileptiform) waves did not significantly differ as these two groups were compared.Conclusion: The observed differences between stutterers and non-stutterers indicate brain functions differences which may affect processing, control, execution of speech.  Key words: Stuttering, EEG, Brain functions