Rehabilitation and Prophylaxis of Anomia in Primary Progressive Aphasia

Summary

The goal of this study is to remediate word-finding problems in patients who have Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) or Alzheimer's Disease and to delay the further progression of word-finding impairment. The current approach is novel in that it contains a prophylaxis component in which the investigators attempt to strengthen neural connections that remain functional, making them more resistant to degradation as the disease progresses. While the study is specific in its targeting of word-finding problems, a successful outcome would bode well for other studies aimed at prevention or reversal of declining cognitive functions in dementia. One set of participants with PPA will receive practice with picture naming in two conditions: viewing the picture and repeating the name; and viewing the picture with its written name, plus reading and writing the name. Another set of participants with PPA or Alzheimer's Disease will be trained in two different conditions: learning about the word's semantic features (meaning); and learning about the word's lexical features (letters and sounds). Naming of pictures trained in each of these conditions will be compared, at three time intervals post-training, with naming of pictures tested before the study but never trained. It is predicted that the pairing of the picture with its written name, combined with the motor task of writing the name, will result in a greater ability to name the picture at a later date than simple practice viewing the picture and repeating the name. Furthermore, it is predicted that participants who have difficulty understanding concepts will be more likely to respond to semantic treatment, while participants who have difficulty connecting words with concepts will be more likely to respond to lexical treatment.

Conditions

• Aphasia, Primary Progressive
• Anomia
• Alzheimer Disease

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Phonological

This treatment involves picture viewing and word repetition.

BEHAVIORAL

Orthographic

This treatment involves picture viewing, reading, and writing.

BEHAVIORAL

Semantic

This treatment involves learning about the semantic features (meaning) of each trained word.

BEHAVIORAL

Lexical

This treatment involves learning about the lexical features (letters and sounds) of each trained word.

BEHAVIORAL

Untrained

These words are not trained during the treatment phase.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

  collaborator NIH

• National Institute on Aging (NIA)

  collaborator NIH

• Johns Hopkins University

  collaborator OTHER

• Georgetown University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Aaron Meyer, PhD · Georgetown University

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SEQUENTIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

40 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2011-11-30

Primary Completion

2023-06-30

Completion

2024-06-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations