Credit: UCR School of Medicine.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. Astrocytes star-shaped cells in the brain that are actively involved in brain function may play an important role in stuttering, a study led by a University of California, Riverside, expert on stuttering has found. Our study suggests that treatment with the medication risperidone leads to increased activity of the striatum in persons who stutter, said Dr. Gerald A. Maguire, professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the UCR School of Medicine, who led the study. The mechanism of risperidone s action in stuttering, in part, appears to involve increased metabolism or activity of astrocytes in the striatum.