[Abstract Title]. - Society for Neuroscience

epresentation is superior to the region of laminar cortical infarct (white arrow) involving the
motor strip. Focal cortical infarct in the parietal lobe (white arrowhead) is also seen.
Disclosures: J.A. Riley , None; J.A. Butman, None; W. Idsardi, None; A.R. Braun, None.
Poster
249. Dyslexia, SLI, and Other Disorders of Cognition and Behavior
Time: Sunday, November 16, 2008, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Program#/Poster#: 249.25/V10
Topic: F.01.d. Language
Support: MRC
Title: Analysis of grey matter volume in persistent developmental stuttering: a voxel-based
morphometry study
Authors: *P. M. GOUGH 1,2 , S. DAVIS 3 , D. WARD 4 , P. HOWELL 3 , K. E. WATKINS 1,2 ;
1 Exp Psychology, 2 Fmrib, Univ. Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; 3 Psychology, UCL, London,
United Kingdom; 4 Psychology, Univ. Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Abstract: Functional imaging studies of people who stutter (PWS) are reaching a consensus
regarding the brain areas that are abnormally active during speech. Similarly, structural analyses
of white matter integrity show a remarkably similar pattern of deficits in the tracts connecting
motor and sensory cortices in PWS. In contrast, structural analyses of grey matter show a more
varied pattern of results across studies. We carried out a Voxel-Based Morphometry analysis of
grey matter volume in a large group of PWS. We compared 29 PWS (age range 14-42 years,
16M, 13F) with 22 age-matched and fluent-speaking controls (age range 14-42 years, 11M, 11F).
T1-weighted 1-mm isotropic structural images of the whole brain were acquired at 1.5T. A
study-specific symmetrical template was constructed. In each subject, an image of grey matter
was created using an automated tissue classifier (FAST, FSL; http://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/fsl).
These grey matter segmented images were nonlinearly transformed (FNIRT, FSL) to the
template image and the Jacobian determinant was used to modulate the grey matter signal at each
voxel to reflect its original size. These images were smoothed to 10-mm FWHM. A t-test
between the two groups was performed voxel-wise across the whole brain. Images were
thresholded at p