Criterion-learning Based Naming Treatment in Aphasia

Summary

Aphasia is a disorder of spoken and written language, most commonly following a stroke. It is estimated that between 2.5 and 4 million Americans are living with aphasia today. A common problem in aphasia involves difficulty retrieving known words in the course of language production and comprehension. The overarching goal of this project is to develop and test early efficacy, efficiency, and the tolerability of a lexical treatment for aphasia in multiple-session regimens that are comprised of retrieval practice, distributed practice, and training dedicated to the elicitation of correct retrievals. The aim of this work is to add to and refine the evidence base for the implementation and optimization of these elements in the treatment of production and comprehension deficits in aphasia, and make important steps towards an ultimate goal of self-administered lexical treatment grounded in retrieval practice principles (RPP) to supplement traditional speech-language therapy that is appropriate for People with Aphasia (PWA) from a broad level of severity of lexical processing deficit in naming and/or comprehension. This project cumulatively builds on prior work to develop a theory of learning for lexical processing impairment in aphasia that aims to ultimately explain why and for whom familiar lexical treatments work, and how to maximize the benefits they confer.

Conditions

• Aphasia

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Criterion-learning practice

The experiments will be presented on a computer. On each criterion-learning trial, a picture is presented and the participant is asked to try to produce the name for the object with or without a cue. Correct-answer feedback is provided. Criterion learning involves presenting a block of items in fixed order, and on each trial, the experimenter or a voice-recognition component will code the response during the trial as correct/incorrect. When the item reaches its assigned criterion level, it is dropped from further training in a session.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Thomas Jefferson University

  collaborator OTHER

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

  collaborator NIH

• Albert Einstein Healthcare Network

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Erica L Middleton, PhD · Albert Einstein Healthcare Network

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

89 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-10-15

Primary Completion

2028-08-31

Completion

2028-08-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations