Sentence Production Training in Aphasia

Official title

Structural Priming as a Treatment Component in Aphasia

Overview

This project focuses on developing a novel treatment for sentence production and comprehension in aphasia, using implicit priming. First set of experiments will aim examine which learning conditions are most effective in creating maximal training gains. Then, in a later study, the investigators will develop and test the efficacy of a novel treatment study based on findings from the first set of the studies.

Detailed description

Over five years, the investigators will conduct a series of studies to develop a novel intervention strategy for improving sentence production and comprehension in persons with aphasia. Specifically, the investigators will use implicit learning of grammar as a novel facilitator for language recovery in aphasia. The planned studies seek to test the hypothesis that implicit learning alters the central language system in PWA, creating lasting and generalized improvements in both sentence production and comprehension. Aim 1 will determine the extent to which different learning conditions modulate immediate and long-term improvement in sentence production. The investigators integrate multiple theories of language learning and apply them to make predictions about the trajectory of priming-induced learning in PWA. In Aim 2, using a set of eyetracking and sentence comprehension tasks, it will be investigated whether the effects of priming in production generalize to off-line (accuracy) and on-line (eye fixations) sentence comprehension and determine which learning conditions result in greater cross-modality generalization. In Aim 3, the investigators will develop and establish Phase I efficacy data of an implicit priming treatment, incorporating the crucial learning conditions supporting maximal retention from Aims 1 and 2. The project will recruit both individuals with aphasia and without aphasia.

Interventions

• Behavioral Sentence training
  Participants will be trained to read, make, and recall sentences during each session.

Primary outcome measures

• Production of target sentences on action description pictures [Time frame: From baseline up to 1-week post training or 2-month post treatment]
• Comprehension of target sentences in a sentence-to-picture matching task [Time frame: From baseline up to 1-week post training or 2-month post treatment]
• Real-time comprehension of target sentences in a sentence-to-picture matching task [Time frame: From baseline up to 1-week post training or 2-month post treatment]

Secondary outcome measures (3)

• Production of untrained sentences [Time frame: From baseline up to 2-month post treatment]
• Connected speech production - story retell [Time frame: From baseline up to 2-month post treatment]
• Connected speech production - picture description [Time frame: From baseline up to 2-month post treatment]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Individuals with post-stroke aphasia
• At least 6 months post-onset of eft hemisphere stroke
• Native speaker of English
• Normal or corrected to normal hearing and vision
• High-school educated
• Difficulty communicating in sentences, with some ability to use words independently

Exclusion criteria

• Severe apraxia of speech
• Other neurological conditions affecting communication (e.g., dementia)
• Uncontrolled psychiatric/psychological conditions affecting thinking and communication
• Active alcohol/substance abuse

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: Yes

Study design

Allocation

N/A

Model

Single group

Masking

Open label

Primary purpose

Treatment

Study locations

United States · 1 center

• Purdue University — West Lafayette

Identifiers

NCT: NCT05415501 · IRB-2021-659

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗