Testing theories of stuttering: cognitive heterogeneity but shared orosensory tactile weaknesses

The cognitive underpinnings of stuttering are likely heterogeneous. Yet existing research typically focuses on testing only one or a few hypotheses and on group-level differences. Here, 12 adults who stutter (AWS) completed a comprehensive battery assessing linguistic, auditory, somatosensory, rhythmic and motor abilities supporting fluent speech. Each AWS's performance was compared with that of 20 control participants to establish individual cognitive profiles. The AWS showed heterogeneous profiles; however, all exhibited some form of orosensory tactile weakness, which, for some, was the only weakness observed. These findings demonstrate the value of individualized cognitive profiling in stuttering and suggest a stronger link between stuttering and orosensory tactile processing than previously recognized.