Visuoperceptual and visuomotor deficits in developmental stutterers: an exploratory study

Abstract

Although the cause of stuttering is unknown, there is strong evidence for it being a neuromotor disorder characterised by an abnormality of higher control encompassing not only speech but other motor systems. The aim of this exploratory study was to look for the presence of non-speech/language deficits--in particular, visuomotor and visuoperceptual deficits--in persons who stutter. Twelve moderate to severe developmental stutterers were compared with a group of fluent speakers, matched for age and sex, on a range of computerized sensory-motor tasks. These tasks covered various aspects of visuomotor function--ballistic movement, dynamic steadiness, and several types of tracking--and visuoperceptual function--acuity, static perception, and dynamic perception. A novel technique was used to remove the visuospatial component from tracking performance. Stutterers had slower reaction times, less accurate random tracking, and impaired dynamic visual perception. Severity of stuttering correlated with reaction time and dynamic perception. Removal of the visuoperceptual component from tracking performance indicated that the impaired tracking in the stutterers was predominantly due to reduced dynamic perception. This is the first study to provide preliminary evidence for the presence of non-linguistic visuoperceptual and upper-limb visuomotor tracking deficits in people with moderate to severe stuttering. These findings support a neurogenic aetiology for stuttering and are compatible with evidence of an overactive dopamine system in stutterers.