Speech Entrainment for Aphasia Recovery

Summary

After a stroke, many people experience a language impairment called aphasia. One of the most debilitating types of aphasia is non-fluent aphasia. Non-fluent aphasia is defined by significantly reduced speech production, with the speaker producing only a few words or even less. Speech entrainment therapy (SET) is a treatment that has been shown to increase fluency in people with non-fluent aphasia. The study looks to define the best dose of SET that leads to sustained improvements in spontaneous speech production.

Participants who are eligible will undergo baseline language testing, an MRI, and will be randomized into one of 4 treatment groups: SET for 3 weeks, SET for 4.5 weeks, SET for 6 weeks, and no treatment (control group).

Conditions

• Aphasia
• Aphasia Non Fluent
• Stroke

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

SET (Speech Entrainment Therapy) 3 weeks

3 weeks of SET which consists of practicing fluent speech in real time with an audio-visual computer program

BEHAVIORAL

SET (Speech Entrainment Therapy) 4.5 weeks

4.5 weeks of SET which consists of practicing fluent speech in real time with an audio-visual computer program

BEHAVIORAL

SET (Speech Entrainment Therapy) 6 weeks

6 weeks of SET which consists of practicing fluent speech in real time with an audio-visual computer program

OTHER

No Therapy 6 Weeks

Participants will not be getting any SET for 6 weeks

Sponsors & Collaborators

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

  collaborator NIH

• Medical University of South Carolina

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Leonardo Bonilha, MD, PhD · Emory University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

21 Years

Max Age

81 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-08-21

Primary Completion

2024-05-08

Completion

2025-08-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations