Neuroanatomical and Morphometric Differences in Children Who Stutter

Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder commonly known as stuttering is a neurodevelopmental speech disorder characterized by disruptions in speech fluency. While genetic and neurobiological factors are implicated, the structural brain differences underlying stuttering remain unclear. This study investigated neuroanatomical alterations in children who stutter (CWS) compared to typically fluent children (TFC), focusing on gray matter volume, cortical thickness, and surface area in speech-related regions; the Inferior Frontal Gyrus, Middle Temporal Gyrus, and Pre-motor Operculum. High-resolution MRI data from 100 children (48 CWS, 52 TFC) aged 3–12 years were analyzed using FreeSurfer. Group comparisons revealed no statistically significant differences in cortical thickness, surface area, or gray matter volume between CWS and TFC. Within the CWS group, stuttering severity correlated negatively with cortical thickness suggesting that more severe stuttering is associated with thinner cortex in these regions. Additionally, reduced surface area was linked to higher stuttering severity scores. No significant associations were found between severity and gray matter volume. These findings indicate that while gross morphometric differences between CWS and TFC may be subtle, stuttering severity in our sample is associated with localized cortical thinning and reduced surface area in language and motor regions.