A new study conducted by researchers in Montreal has revealed that playing a rhythmic game on a tablet may be beneficial for children who struggle with stuttering. Led by psychology professor Simone Falk from the Université de Montréal, the study aimed to explore the potential benefits of rhythmic training for children facing speech challenges.
The research team previously demonstrated that a similar intervention helped children with ADHD improve their attention and inhibitory control. Building on this, they wanted to investigate whether rhythmic training could also have a positive impact on children dealing with stuttering.
According to Falk, advancements in neuroscience have shed light on the underlying reasons for stuttering, suggesting that individuals who stutter may experience difficulties in managing the timing of speech. In the rhythmic game, children are required to tap the screen in sync with the music to construct a virtual building, with their progress linked to their performance accuracy.
The study involved 21 French-speaking Quebec children aged nine to 12 who had stuttering issues but no other language disorders. Over a three-week period, these children were randomly assigned to either play the rhythmic game or a non-rhythmic control game. Results showed that only the participants who engaged in rhythmic training demonstrated improvements in rhythmic synchronization, interference control, oromotor performance, and a reduction in stuttering.
The study authors noted that similar enhancements in cognitive and linguistic outcomes had been observed in patients with Parkinson’s disease through rhythm-based training. The more the children played the rhythmic game, the more they improved, with verbal fluency also showing positive associations with rhythmic performance.
While the improvements were not significant and the study group was small, Falk highlighted a 24% decrease in speech errors among children who played the game. She emphasized the importance of precise timing and motor coordination in speech production, suggesting that stuttering may arise from minor timing inaccuracies, possibly rooted in innate factors.
The researchers concluded that rhythm-based training could potentially enhance cognitive and linguistic abilities in preadolescents dealing with stuttering. The findings of this study were published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
