Stuttering Neuroscience 101 with Gerald Maguire (LIVE #22)
Meet Gerald Maguire.
Watch conversation, scroll down for notes, scroll further to see bio
Conversation with Dr. Gerald MaguireShort bio: Dr. Gerald Maguire Chair in Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (DFAPA) Chair for the National Stuttering Association Past, Vice Chair of the International Stuttering Association Best Doctors in America L-o-n-g bio: Dr. Maguire is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (DFAPA). Dr. Maguire is listed in the “Best Doctors in America” and in the past as “Orange County Physician of Excellence” as recognized by his peers. He also serves as the Chair for the National Stuttering Association and in the past, as Vice Chair of the International Stuttering Association. He has received numerous teaching awards at both UC Riverside and UC Irvine. His research in areas such as stuttering, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and Alzheimer’s dementia has appeared in various publications, including The Lancet Neurology, NeuroReport, Comprehensive Psychiatry, Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, American Journal of Psychiatry and the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. He served as an investigator on the National Institute of Mental Health CATIE trial for schizophrenia. Dr. Maguire has presented his research at various conferences and symposia, including the American Psychiatric Association, US Psychiatric Congress, the American Speech and Hearing Association, Collegium Internationale Neuropsychopharmacologicum, and The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
Posted by Schneider Speech on Thursday, September 24, 2020
NOTES: Enjoy the Conversation
Meet Dr. Gerald Maguire.
Dr. Gerald Maguire is a Professor and Chair in Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine. He is currently developing a new pill for stuttering. In this conversation, Dr. Gerald Maguire covers topics that range from growing up with a stutter to new developments in medicine pertaining to stuttering.
US: Some people say that there are gains to stuttering. Other than being a walking thesaurus, what are some other gains?
GM: It taught me that therapy is good, it’s important. Self-help in my journey as well. Before I was in Medicine, I was in the NSP and the NSA, that’s helped me as much as anything. My self-help, my acceptance that’s what helped me on my journey.
US: Just to be clear for a lot of people. They hear your name and hear about the research you’re doing and they think okay, how soon before it’s approved so that I have the pill. The blue pill or the red pill, stuttering, or no stuttering. Can you unpack that more?
GM: We already have medicine on the market that can help stuttering, not everybody though. We are learning that there are different causes of stuttering. We are tackling that. My colleague and I have found that there is a minority of people who stutter because it is an infection cause. You can have an infection as a kid and you can get an autoimmune cross-reaction that attacks the developing part of the brain. That’s one cause and here are people like me who stutter because it’s genetic. It’s a unified theory we will come out with the full information soon.
US: If you didn’t take the meds for a few days, how will your stutter be affected?
GM: If I don’t take the medicine for three days I’m back to moderate stuttering, eye blinks, and facial contortions. For me it’s not ever cured, I’m just being treated.
US: I think it’s so powerful because so many have come on and one of the themes that I’m picking up is “someone open the door for me”, someone believed in me. That’s a big game-changer and those people put it forward.
GM: For me, it was my interview with St. Louis medical school. Dr. Grossberg told me to go to psychiatry. I would be great at it. Two years ago they invited me back to my med school to give a special speech for all the doctors that work in stuttering. They believed in me 30 years ago. I’ll get back to that school as an alumni because they believed in me.
US: People who stutter should be accepted for who they are. They are fully capable and fully valued people. There’s a big stigma we need to fight against. For the sake of a report, I have to label kids which is something that I’m not a fan of doing. For the sake of funding, care, access to certain rights, and privileges one needs to use that “lingo.”
GM: I have said acceptance, neurodiversity, and research and treatment are one. For example with depression, acceptance is the first thing. You accept it, you work on self-help, you work on your therapy. The world now I can’t discriminate against something who’s depressed. That’s the advocacy. That’s the neurodiversity. But at the same time, we champion for better research and better treatments.
(In the second half - even deeper into it, you can get the most thorough update on understanding the neuroscience in stuttering and the pharmacological studies and findings. Gerald brings up an old study that does and furthers explains the parts and mechanisms of the brain.)
US: You say that things like cognitive behavioral therapy and different types of mindfulness exercises, those things have the capacity to change and re-change the brain?
GM: It is not only my opinion it’s proof. Mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy change the brain… For example, OCD in 1995 a pill came out, and people with OCD before the pill were too afraid to leave their house and go to therapy. Once the pill was distributed, they went to their doctors and from there they recommend that they go to therapy. They found out that it actually helps. They show that the pill Prozac helps a part of the brain called the cingulate, then they showed cognitive behavioral therapy does the same exact thing. From there, they show that both of them together work better.
US: What do you want to see me do in the next 3 to 5 years? Can I help to move this all forward?
GM: What you and I have in common is uniting in the world. Acceptance, avoidance, and interdisciplinary care. We should champion this is what it’s all about. It’s not a pill here and it’s not therapy here. It’s to be intertwined across speech pathology, psychology, and psychiatry. Educate the world, just don’t pick up a pill.
BIO:
Gerald A. Maguire, MD, is Professor and Chair in Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine. Dr. Maguire earned his medical degree from St. Louis University School of Medicine in 1991. He carried out his residency in Psychiatry at UC Irvine from 1991 to 1995, where he was Chief Resident his final year and later served on faculty for 20 years. Dr. Maguire served as residency training director and Sr. Associate Dean of Medical Education at UC Irvine during his tenure.
Dr. Maguire is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (DFAPA). Dr. Maguire is listed in the “Best Doctors in America” and in the past as “Orange County Physician of Excellence” as recognized by his peers.
He also serves as the Chair for the National Stuttering Association and in the past, as Vice Chair of the International Stuttering Association.
He has received numerous teaching awards at both UC Riverside and UC Irvine. His research in areas such as stuttering, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and Alzheimer’s dementia has appeared in various publications, including The Lancet Neurology, NeuroReport, Comprehensive Psychiatry, Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, American Journal of Psychiatry and the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. He served as an investigator on the National Institute of Mental Health CATIE trial for schizophrenia. Dr. Maguire has presented his research at various conferences and symposia, including the American Psychiatric Association, US Psychiatric Congress, the American Speech and Hearing Association, Collegium Internationale Neuropsychopharmacologicum, and The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.