The effects of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on speech production in the brains of people who stutter and people who do not.

The proposed project aims to utilize the beneficial effects of the non-invasive brain stimulation technique, tDCS (transcranial Direct Current Stimulation) on the production of language. To do this, studies using both healthy humans and people who stutter will be used to measure the ability of tDCS to increase language production abilities as measured by standardized behavioural tests. Using Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation (NIBS) to change the cognitive abilities of humans has garnered much interest over the last two decades and with equipment becoming more practical, cost-effective and safer, NIBS is well suited for a new generation of cost-effective mainstream treatments for neurological damage. The specific mechanisms underlying such techniques are better understood and thus can be well applied to a range of cognitive abilities. In the field of language, NIBS has mostly been applied to test comprehension abilities. The significance of this work is four-fold. Firstly, by demonstrating causal relationships between specific areas of the brain and behavioural outcomes using short term plastic changes in the cortex, insights into the brain's ability to reorganise and the mechanisms behind this can be studied in both healthy and clinical samples. Secondly, it will further the understanding of how tDCS can be used to enhance a specific language function. Thirdly, it will add to the increasingly popular area of developing practical protocols for the use of NIBS in clinical settings. And finally, it will help elucidate the mechanisms behind therapies for developmental stuttering in order to inform both behavioural and neurological therapies.