compared the problem areas identified by her brain scans to maps of where various genes are active in the brain . Two of Drayna ’ s genes , GNPTG and NAGPA , were active at high levels in the speech and hearing network in the brains of nonstutterers , she saw . That suggests those genes are really needed in those areas , bolstering Drayna ’ s hypothesis that defects in the genes would interfere with speech .
The team also observed something novel : Genes involved in energy processing were active in the speech and hearing areas . There ’ s a big rise in brain activity during the preschool years , when stuttering tends to start , Chang says . Perhaps , she theorizes , those speechprocessing regions don ’ t get all the energy they need at a time when they really need to be cranking at maximum power . With that in mind , she plans to look for mutations in those energy-control genes in children who stutter . “ There are obviously a lot of dots that need to be connected ,” she says .
Maguire is also connecting dots : He says he ’ s working on a theory to unite his work with Drayna ’ s genetic findings . Meanwhile , after struggling through med school interviews and choosing a career in talk therapy despite his difficulties with speech , he ’ s hopeful about ecopipam : With colleagues , he ’ s starting a new study that will compare 34 people on ecopipam with 34 on placebo . If that treatment ever becomes part of the standard stuttering tool kit , he will have realized a lifelong dream .
This article was originally published in Knowable Magazine . Read the original article here .
Genes involved in energy processing were active in the speech and hearing areas . There ’ s a big rise in brain activity during the preschool years , when stuttering tends to start , Chang says . Perhaps , she theorizes , those speechprocessing regions don ’ t get all the energy they need at a time when they really need to be cranking at maximum power .
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