Can Listening to Music Improve Attention and Language After Post-Stroke Aphasia?

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a music-based intervention can acutely improve three types of attention (alerting, orientating, executive control) in people with aphasia following a stroke.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Is a music based intervention effective at improving attention with someone who has aphasia?
2. Does music-induced changes in attention improve language abilities and quality of life with someone who has aphasia? Researchers will compare a group that listening to music, to listing to an audiobook group, to a group that serves as a control to see if there are changes in attention over time.

Participants will:

1. Listen to music or an audiobook for 30 minutes a day for 8 weeks
2. Complete a daily journal about each day's listening experience
3. Complete three testing sessions where attention, language, and quality of life are assessed.

Conditions

• Aphasia
• Stroke
• Stroke and Aphasia
• Stroke Hemorrhagic
• Stroke Ischemic
• Music Intervention

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Music-Based Therapy for Post Stroke Aphasia

Participants will be instructed to maintain their usual activities each day, except we will ask them to select a time of day, a comfortable and distraction free environment, and an apparatus for regular music listening (earbuds, headphones, speakers). Participants will listen mindfully to randomized selections from the playlist that meets their needs that day (i.e., energizing or relaxing). Participants will listen to their music selections on shuffle for 30 minutes per day for 8 weeks using the strategies provided by the music therapist. The target listening duration is 30 minutes as it is a common target for time spent on task before taking a break. Participants will complete their daily journal entry immediately after music listening. The music therapist will make a weekly telephone call to each participant in the experimental arm. The telephone call will last \~30 minutes. During this telephone call, the music therapist will update the music playlists and help submit their logs.

BEHAVIORAL

Audiobook Intervention for Post Stroke Aphasia

Participants will be instructed to maintain their usual activities each day, except we will ask them to select a time of day, a comfortable and distraction free environment, and an apparatus for regular music listening (earbuds, headphones, speakers). Participants will listen mindfully to an audiobook selected with a speech-language pathologist (SLP). Participants will listen to their audiobook for 30 minutes per day for 8 weeks using the strategies provided by the SLP. The target listening duration is 30 minutes as it is a common target for time spent on task before taking a break. Participants will complete their daily journal entry immediately after audiobook listening. The SLP will make a weekly telephone call to each participant in the experimental arm. The telephone call will last \~30 minutes. During this telephone call, the SLP will update the audiobook library and help submit their logs.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• American Heart Association

  collaborator OTHER

• Purdue University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Arianna N LaCroix, PhD · Purdue University Speech, Language, and Hearing Science

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-10-31

Primary Completion

2028-01-31

Completion

2028-07-01