Highlighted Research

A recent review published in the European Journal of Neuroscience highlights important similarities and critical differences between Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and Developmental Stuttering (DS), two distinct conditions that affect speech motor control. The review examines how both disorders involve disruptions in basal ganglia circuits and dopaminergic pathways — brain systems essential for motor timing and speech fluency. Emerging evidence also suggests overlapping contributions from neuroinflammation, autoimmune processes, and cellular energy regulation.

Breakthrough Research

At the CNS Summit meeting held in Boston this week, the results of the Orpheus study were released in a poster presentation with STARS founder, Gerald A Maguire MD, as the lead author.  The study, sponsored by Noema Pharma (noemapharma.com) investigated  gemlapodect in the treatment of adults with Childhood Onset Fluency Disorder (Stuttering.)

Understanding the Genetics of Stuttering

A new landmark study published in Nature Genetics has confirmed what many in the stuttering community have long known stuttering is a biological, motor-speech condition with strong genetic roots.

Researchers from an international team analyzed genetic data from over 1.1 million people, identifying 57 regions in the human genome linked to stuttering.

For a long time, scientists have suspected that stuttering — a common speech condition that affects an estimated 1 in every 100 people — could be heritable. Despite how common it is, it’s still a remarkably understudied condition. Listen to the Short Wave Podcast here.

In The King’s Speech, the 2010 biopic that portrays the United Kingdom’s King George VI’s lifelong struggle with his severe stutter, the king’s father tries to quell his son’s stammering by shouting, “Relax! Relax!” as if it were something he could simply control. Decades of research has shown stuttering is, in fact, an involuntary condition that is highly heritable, though its causes are multifaceted and murky. Now, some of the murk has cleared.

Findings from the largest genetic analysis of stuttering are published in Nature Genetics; they point to 48 genes associated with stuttering and highlight neurological pathways of risk.