Sentence Production Training in Aphasia

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

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 priming as a novel facilitator for language recovery in aphasia. The planned studies seek to test the hypothesis that implicit priming 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 manipulations of priming 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 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 what 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.

Participants will be enrolled in 3 sessions of structural priming training (for experiment 1-3) or up to 15 treatment sessions (for experiment 4). Each session will be about 2 hour long, consisting of a set of tasks, including repeating, making, and remembering various types of sentences. In experiment 1-3, each participant will receive two different experimental priming conditions that are being compared within each session. In experiment 4, participants will receive a structural priming treatment in a single-subject design.

Increased production of complex utterances as measured by proportion of sentence-level utterances out of all utterances

Increased production of complex utterances as measured by proportion of sentence-level utterances out of all utterances

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

We plan to share de-identified individual data with other researchers upon request. Other study materials (e.g., analytic code) will be made available via Open Science Forum. We will also make study-specific data and materials available for journal publications as supplemental materials, as relevant.

Researchers of OSF will access the study materials or data made available via OSF. Deidentified individual data can also be shared with other researchers upon requests and the PI will review each request. Other supporting materials such as study stimuli or protocols will be shared with other researchers upon request.