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Researchers are looking into the biological causes of stuttering.
研究人员正在研究口吃的生物学原因。
Stuttering is a speech problem that causes the speaker to repeat the beginning sound of some words.
口吃是一种言语问题，它会导致说话者重复某些单词的开头发音。
For centuries, people have feared being judged for stuttering.
几个世纪以来，人们一直害怕因口吃而受到评判。
It is a condition often misunderstood as a psychological problem caused by things like bad parenting or emotional trauma.
这是一种经常被误解为心理问题的疾病，心理问题是由不良的父母教育或情感创伤等原因造成的。
But research presented at a recent science conference explores its biological causes: genetics and brain differences.
但在最近的一次科学会议上提出的研究探讨了它的生物学原因：遗传学和大脑差异。
Stuttering affects 70 million people around the world, including U.S. President Joe Biden.
口吃影响着全世界7000万人，其中包括美国总统乔·拜登。
Biden has spoken publicly about being bullied by classmates for his speech problem.
拜登曾公开表示，他曾因言语障碍而被同学欺负。
He has said that overcoming his stutter was one of the hardest things he ever did.
他说，克服口吃是他做过的最难的事情之一。
After a campaign event in 2020, he met a New Hampshire teenager who also stuttered, Brayden Harrington.
在2020年的一场竞选活动之后，他遇到了一个同样患口吃的新罕布什尔州少年布雷登·哈林顿。
They ended up talking for an hour.
他们最终谈了一个小时。
Living with a stutter has not been easy, Brayden told The Associated Press.
布雷登告诉美联社，因为患有口吃，生活很不容易。
"I want to carry on what Joe Biden said to me," he said.
他说：“因为乔·拜登对我说过的话，我想坚持下去”。
"That this does not define you and that you can be much more than you see yourself as."
“这并不能定义你，你可以超越你对自己的想象。”
Stuttering has been recorded as far back as ancient China, Greece and Rome.
口吃早在古代中国、希腊和罗马就有记录。
But no one really knew what caused it until modern genetic science and brain imaging helped provide some answers.
但是直到现代基因科学和脑成像提供了一些答案之前，没有人真正知道是什么原因引发了这种疾病。
Researchers identified the first genes strongly linked to stuttering more than a decade ago.
十多年前，研究人员发现了第一组与口吃密切相关的基因。
Imaging studies looked at brains of adults and older children.
成像研究观察了成年人和年龄较大的儿童的大脑。
And in the last few years, University of Delaware researcher Ho Ming Chow started looking at 3- to 5-year-olds.
在过去的几年里，特拉华大学的研究员周浩明开始研究3到5岁的儿童。
That is around the age many kids begin stuttering, with about 80 percent outgrowing it.
这个年龄是许多孩子开始口吃的年龄，大约80%的孩子长大后不再口吃了。
Chow said the imaging shows small brain differences in young children who keep stuttering, compared with those who recover or those who never stuttered.
周浩明说，图像显示，与那些康复或从不口吃的儿童相比，一直口吃的儿童的大脑有微小的差异。
He discussed his research earlier this month at a conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
本月早些时候，他在美国科学促进会的一次会议上讨论了他的研究。
For example, Chow and his team found that genetic mutations related to stuttering are linked to structural problems in the corpus callosum and thalamus areas of the brain.
例如，周浩明和他的团队发现，与口吃相关的基因突变与大脑胼胝体和丘脑区域的结构问题有关。
The corpus callosum is an area that connects the two sides of the brain and helps them communicate.
胼胝体是连接大脑两侧并帮助它们交流的区域。
The thalamus sends sensory information to other parts of the brain.
丘脑将感觉信息发送到大脑的其他部分。
Past research has also linked stuttering to the basal ganglia, a group of brain structures involved in body movements.
过去的研究也将口吃与基底神经节联系起来，基底神经节是一组参与身体运动的大脑结构。
Though several genes may be involved and the exact genetic causes may vary by child, "they probably affect the brain in a similar way," Chow said.
周浩明说，虽然可能涉及几种基因，确切的遗传原因可能因儿童而异，但“它们可能以相似的方式影响大脑。”
Still, many people incorrectly believe that people stutter because they are nervous or suffered childhood trauma.
然而，许多人错误地认为人们口吃是因为他们紧张或遭受过童年创伤。
Some also think stutterers could stop if they just tried harder.
一些人还认为，如果口吃者更加努力，他们就可以停止口吃。
"We have a long way to go" to change such beliefs, said University of Maryland researcher Nan Bernstein Ratner.
马里兰大学研究员南·伯恩斯坦·拉特纳说，要改变这种观念，“我们还有很长的路要走”。
Speech therapy is currently the main way to treat stuttering.
言语疗法是目前治疗口吃的主要方法。
But the medications now being tested could be approved for stuttering in the next few years.
但目前正在测试的药物可能会在未来几年被批准用于治疗口吃。
Studies have suggested that stuttering may be related to high levels of a chemical in the brain called dopamine.
研究表明，口吃可能与大脑中一种名为多巴胺的化学物质含量过高有关。
Some medicines reduce dopamine activity or block its action.
有些药物会降低多巴胺的活性或阻断其作用。
Holly Nover is a speech pathologist and member of the National Stuttering Association.
霍莉·诺弗是一位言语病理学家，也是全国口吃协会的成员。
She grew up trying to hide her stutter.
她从小就试图掩饰自己患有口吃。
Her 10-year-old son, Colton, also has a speech problem.
她10岁的儿子科尔顿也有语言障碍。
She said many people will surely be interested in trying stuttering medications.
她说，许多人肯定会对尝试治疗口吃的药物感兴趣。
But not her. She is happy with her life as it is and says she has accepted her stuttering.
但她不是。她对现在的生活很满意，她还说她已经接受了自己的口吃。
If Colton were struggling and wanted to try medication as a teenager, however, she would be open to the idea.
然而，如果科尔顿在十几岁的时候挣扎着想要尝试药物治疗，她会接受这个主意。
Brayden, who is now 14, does not plan to try medication.
14岁的布雷登不打算尝试药物治疗。
Taking medicine is "just taking away a part of you…taking away part of your personality," he said.
他说，吃药只是“带走了你的一部分，带走了你一部分个性。”
I'm Dan Novak.
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译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
