Stuttering Research Lab
Patricia M. Zebrowski, Ph.D., Director

The lab's primary research focus is the onset and development of stuttering in early childhood. Currently, two studies are underway to achieve this mission.

One research project is designed to investigate articulatory movements produced during speech by 4-6
year-old children who do and do not stutter, and relate them to how speech and language are processed. Ultimately, this study may further our understanding of the neural processes underlying the organization of movement in speech, and how they relate to the neural systems involved in language processing.

A second study looks at subtypes and risk factors in childhood stuttering. The general objective of this multi-site (University of Illinois, Northern Illinois University, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) project is to study variations in the onset and subsequent developmental course of stuttering in children under age six. Investigators are interested in finding out why and how some children develop more chronic and severe symptoms shortly after onset, while others recover without treatment.

Link to the Stuttering Project at Iowa website.