Overview
This study is being done to understand the effect of aripiprazole on adults who stutter. Stuttering is a disorder that affects speech fluency. This study aims to understand sensorimotor pathways of stuttering and possible interventions.
Description
Stuttering is a disorder of speech fluency that affects 3.5 million people in the USA alone. The goal of this project is to assess whether fluency ehnancement with auditory feedback manipulations or with pharmacological agents that regulate dopamine uptake improve the sensorimotor functions of speech feedback prediction and processing in stuttering.
This study may lay the foundation for stuttering treatments that combine dopamine regulators and behavioral treatments. Aripiprazole is an FDA-approved anti-psychotic typically used for treatment of schizophrenia or acute manic episodes. A typical dose is 10-15 mg per day, given daily for treatment. In this study, one 10 mg dose will be given. The usage in this study is purely investigational (experimental) and not FDA approved.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- native speakers of American English
- for adults who stutter, presence of stuttering will be confirmed, with onset before age 6 years
- Normal hearing
- Ages of 18 to 65 years
- healthy adults without hearing-language difficulties
Exclusion Criteria:
- self-reported speech-language-hearing difficulties other than stuttering
- self-reported neurological or psychological problems
- other medications (drugs that affect dopaminergic system and/or benzodiazepines)