Investigating the Effect of Anodal Electrical Stimulation of the Left Frontal Lobe on the Social Anxiety and Severity of Stuttering in Adults with Stuttering Disorder

Eil , Soheila; Fazeli , Zahra; Dehghanian , Mehdi; Semsar Yazdi , Sepideh; Ardani , Maryam; Kazemian , Farzad; Mohammadi , Amane; Alipour Ismaili Anari , Zohre; Saeidmanesh , Mohsen

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Eil S, Fazeli Z, Dehghanian M, Semsar Yazdi S, Ardani M, Kazemian F, et al . Investigating the Effect of Anodal Electrical Stimulation of the Left Frontal Lobe on the Social Anxiety and Severity of Stuttering in Adults with Stuttering Disorder. MEJDS 2024; 14 :27-27
URL: http://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-3098-en.html

Investigating the Effect of Anodal Electrical Stimulation of the Left Frontal Lobe on the Social Anxiety and Severity of Stuttering in Adults with Stuttering Disorder

Soheila Eil ^*

¹, Zahra Fazeli²

, Mehdi Dehghanian³

, Sepideh Semsar Yazdi³

, Maryam Ardani⁴

, Farzad Kazemian³

, Amane Mohammadi³

, Zohre Alipour Ismaili Anari³

, Mohsen Saeidmanesh⁵

1- MA in Clinical Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Chalus, Iran
2- MA in Clinical Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Medical Sciences Unit, Tehran, Iran
3- MA in Clinical Psychology, Science and Arts University, Yazd, Iran
4- MA in General Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Maybod, Iran
5- Associate Professor, Science and Arts University, Yazd, Iran

Abstract: (726 Views)

Abstract
Background & Objectives: Stuttering is an interruption in the flow of speech associated with certain types of inconsistencies, such as repetition of sounds, syllables, and monosyllabic words. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a non–invasive method of brain stimulation that may improve speech disorders in people who stutter. tDCS involves applying a weak electrical current across the head through electrodes placed on the scalp, modulating the membrane potential of neurons in the underlying cortex. Anodal tDCS over the left frontal cortex reduces attentional bias for threat in individuals with social anxiety, and the results confirm that this region influences the severity of attentional bias for threat among individuals with social anxiety disorder, thereby reducing social anxiety in individuals. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of tDCS on the left frontal lobe on social anxiety and stuttering severity in adults with Persian–speaking stuttering.
Methods: The method of this study was quasi–experimental with a pretest–posttest design and a control group. Among stuttering patients referred to the neurology and rehabilitation clinic in Yazd City, Iran, 30 people aged 20 to 30 years were selected. They were divided into the intervention group (n=15) and the control group (n=15). The inclusion criteria were as follows: having a stutter by approval of the speech therapist, having an age range of 20 to 30 years, being a Persian speaker, not using other treatment methods such as speech therapy and drug therapy, and lacking motivation to participate in research. The exclusion criteria included absence from a tDCS session and not completing the questionnaires during the study. The scores of the social anxiety variable measured by the Social Anxiety Inventory (Connor et al., 2000) and the stuttering severity variable by the Stuttering Severity Test (SSI–3) (Farazi et al., 2014) were compared at two time points: before and after the electrical stimulation treatment. In the control group, each patient received 10 sessions of repetitive artificial magnetic stimulation of the brain from the skull (20 minutes), and in the experimental group, 10 sessions of anodal tDCS (20 minutes) with a current of 2 milliamps in the left frontal cortex. Data analysis was done using covariance analysis in SPSS 17. The significance level of the tests was set at 0.05.
Results: Findings showed that the score on the social anxiety test and severity of stuttering in stuttering patients in the intervention group and after receiving treatment had decreased significantly compared to the control group (p<0.001). The results related to the effect size showed that 54% of the difference between the intervention group and the control group in the variable of social anxiety was due to brain electrical stimulation. This rate for the stuttering severity variable was 56%.
Conclusion: According to the results of this research, anodal tDCS of the left frontal lobe improves social anxiety and stuttering severity in adult stuttering patients, and these methods can be used along with other methods used as treatment to rehabilitate stuttering patients.

Keywords: Transcranial direct current stimulation, Social anxiety, Stuttering severity, Stuttering adults

Full-Text [PDF 288 kb] (176 Downloads)

Type of Study: Original Research Article | Subject: Rehabilitation

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