Sudden onset stuttering in an adult: Neurogenic and psychogenic perspectives

A healthy 33 year old man with no previous history of speech language problems was referred to speech language therapy services following an episode which left him with a pronounced stutter, and which worsened over the next ten days. A range of neurological and psychological assessments failed to find any abnormality, as did MRI testing, and a diagnosis of psychogenic stuttering was made. This client was seen for three sessions of fluency therapy without significant improvement, after which he ceased attending. This paper considers the relationship between psychogenic and neurogenic stuttering generally, then more specifically in regard to this client, and the treatment he received. The paper concludes by considering problems in differentially diagnosing neurogenic from psychogenic stuttering.

Self, memory, and imagining the future in a case of psychogenic amnesia

We report a case of psychogenic amnesia and examine the relationships between autobiographical memory impairment, the self, and ability to imagine the future. Case study JH, a 60 year old male, experienced a 6 year period of pervasive psychogenic amnesia covering all life events from childhood to the age of 53. JH was tested during his amnesic period and again following hypnotherapy and the recovery of his memories. JH’s amnesia corresponded with deficits in self-knowledge and imagining the future. Results are discussed with reference to models of self and memory and processes involving remembering and imagining.

The aetiology and treatment of developmental stammering in childhood

Developmental stammering (DS, also known as idiopathic stammering or stuttering) is a disorder of speech fluency that affects approximately 0.75% to 1% of the populations of Great Britain, Australia and America,(1-4) although a recent study puts the point prevalence figure at between 1% and 3% in the UK.(5) Prevalence is generally thought to be similar amongst communities worldwide, although there have been occasional suggestions that this figure might be lower in countries where there is less pressure on verbal acuity.(6) DS may be distinguished from neurogenic stammering, which can occur subsequent to neurological damage of various aetiologies (for example, stroke, tumour, degenerative disease) and psychogenic stammering, whose onset can be related to a significant psychological event such as bereavement. While a diagnosis of neurogenic stammering might be made in early childhood and adolescence, both neurogenic and psychogenic types are typically associated with an adult onset. DS is by far the most common form of stammering and usually develops in the pre-school years. The mean age at onset is 4 2, with 75% of cases beginning before the age of 6.(1) However, occasionally, stammering onset may be seen as late as 12 or 13 years of age.

Commentary: not just genes - reclaiming a role for environmental influences on aetiology and outcome in autism. A commentary on Mandy and Lai (2016)

Mandy and Lai (2015) do the field a service in 'reclaiming' the role of pre- and postnatal environmental influences on the aetiology and course of autism spectrum conditions (ASC). This follows several decades where now discredited theories about putative psychogenic and biological disease models held sway, not least in the public mind. We discuss issues that arise from their review; including the need to identify how large the environmental influences on ASC are likely to be; the specificity of these environmental influences to ASC as opposed to a broader range of neurodevelopmental conditions and outcomes; how best to study complex interactions between genetic and environmental influences; and the promise of novel insights into their mechanisms of action. The review highlights current research that aims to better our understanding of the role of environmental factors in the aetiology and course of ASC and, in the near future, may offer the potential for personalised medicine approaches to intervention based on these discoveries.