Recent advances in genetic studies of stuttering

that are not found in other species. Although it is well-known that many other animals can also communicate by generating vocalization, it is not entirely clear whether it has the syntactic rules. Human speech and language may be the most complex and well-organized form of vocalization compared with those in other animals [2,3]. When individuals have speech deficits, they are regarded as being affected with speech disorders, and these include fluency disorders (e.g., stuttering), voice disorder (e.g., spasmodic dysphonia), articulation disorder, verbal dyspraxia and aphasia [4-6]. Among these speech disorders, stuttering is the most common speech or fluency disorder characterized by repetitions, prolongations, and interruptions in the smooth flow of the speech [4]. In the population, stuttering shows high Recent advances in genetic studies of stuttering