Cortical associates of emotional reactivity and regulation in childhood stuttering

Abstract

Purpose: This study sought to determine the cortical associates of emotional reactivity and emotion regulation (as indexed by the amplitude of evoked response potentials [ERP]) in young children who do and do not stutter during passive viewing of pleasant, unpleasant and neutral pictures.

Method: Participants were 17 young children who stutter and 22 young children who do not stutter (between 4 years 0 months to 6 years 11 months). The dependent measures were (1) mean amplitude of late positive potential (LPP, an ERP sensitive to emotional stimuli) during passive (i.e., no response required) picture viewing and directed reappraisal tasks and (2) emotional reactivity and regulation related scores on caregiver reports of young children's temperament (Children's Behavior Questionnaire, CBQ).

Results: Young CWS, when compared to CWNS, exhibited significantly greater LPP amplitudes when viewing unpleasant pictures, but no significant between-group difference when viewing pleasant pictures and during the emotion regulation condition. There were, however, for CWS, but not CWNS, significant correlations between temperament-related measures of emotion and cortical measures of emotional reactivity and regulation.

Conclusions: Findings provide further empirical support for the notion that emotional processes are associated with childhood stuttering, and that CWS's inherent temperamental proclivities need to be taken into account when empirically studying or theorizing about this association.

Keywords: Brain; Children; Cortical; ERPs; Emotion; Emotional reactivity; Event-related potentials; LPP; Late positive potential; Regulation; Stuttering.

Figure B1

The present study’s measure of LPP amplitude was based on the average evoked response potentials across the 7 electrodes within the red circle. This red-circled cluster of electrodes corresponds to parietal location (Pz).

Figure 1

A diagram of the current study’s experimental procedures. Note: As per IAPS instructions, the original IAPS pictures have not been used in this illustration, rather, comparable non-copyrighted pictures were used instead. The loudspeaker ( ) symbols associated with neutral and pleasant appraisal conditions represent the pre-recorded sentence of reappraisal that each participant heard for each picture presented during the two reappraisal conditions (with the order of presentation of the each of the trials from the two conditions randomized).

Figure 2. CWS’s (n=17) LPP Amplitude during Emotional Reactivity Task

Note: The mean stimulus- locked ERPs (i.e., LPP) shown above were recorded at the parietal electrode cluster (i.e., Pz) during passive viewing of pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral pictures.

Figure 3. CWNS’s (n=22) LPP Amplitude during Emotional Reactivity Task

Note: The mean stimulus-locked ERPs (i.e., LPP) shown above were recorded at the parietal electrode cluster (i.e., Pz) during passive viewing of pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral pictures.

Figure 4. LPP Amplitude to Unpleasant Pictures in Middle Window

Note: The figure depicts CWS (n=17) and their CWNS peers’ (n=22) estimated marginal means and error bars (standard error of the mean) for LPP amplitudes during unpleasant pictures (covariates = gender and participants’ LPP amplitude while viewing neutral pictures)

Figure 5. CWS’s (n=15) LPP Amplitude during Emotion Regulation Task

Note: The mean stimulus-locked ERPs (i.e., LPP) shown above were recorded at the parietal electrode cluster (i.e., Pz) while viewing unpleasant pictures with pleasant and neutral reappraisal (i.e., emotion regulation conditions) versus viewing the same pictures without such appraisal (i.e., emotion reactivity conditions) pleasant picture viewing condition during emotional reactivity task.

Figure 6. CWNS’s (n=19) LPP Amplitude during Emotion Regulation Task

Note: The mean stimulus-locked ERPs (i.e., LPP) at the parietal electrode cluster (i.e., Pz) while viewing unpleasant pictures with pleasant and neutral reappraisal (i.e., emotion regulation conditions) versus viewing the same pictures without such reappraisal (i.e., emotion reactivity conditions) pleasant picture viewing condition during emotional reactivity task.