Active clinical trials for "Aphasia"

This project aims to measure the effect of a semantic rehabilitation protocol for patients with primary progressive semantic aphasia and using the SCED methodology.

This study's goal is to use non-invasive brain stimulation (NBS) techniques to treat language impairment associated with Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA). The purpose of this study is to combine behavioral language intervention with individualized noninvasive brain stimulation techniques, called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to help the brain reorganize around damage and improve language functions.

The proposed research will test the efficacy of group conversation treatment for people with aphasia and explore whether the effects of treatment differ as a result of the following factors: Group size: Do large groups of 6-8 people with aphasia or dyads of 2 people with aphasia demonstrate different levels of improvement with this treatment? Group composition: Do effects of conversation group treatment differ if the groups include members with similar or different types of aphasia? Aphasia severity: Do effects of conversation group treatment differ if the individuals within the group have mild-moderate or moderate-severe profiles of aphasia? Treatment sessions will occur in groups of 6-8 people with aphasia or with 2 people with aphasia. During treatment sessions, discourse will be facilitated on a focused set of every day topics, such as current events or travel. Linguistic and multi modal cueing hierarchies will be tailored to individual client goals and used to maximize communication success. The prediction is that conversation treatment is an effective method for improving communication in people with aphasia, but that specific benefits may differ based on variables such as group size, group composition, and aphasia severity. The results will help inform best practices for aphasia treatment and refine a hypothesized model about the mechanisms underlying conversation treatment.

The objective of this research is to experimentally delineate the direct effect of speech entrainment practice on independent speech production and identify practice conditions that enhance treatment benefits. The primary outcome measure (Correct Information Units per minute) tallies informativeness and efficiency of independent speech in treated stories.

The investigators propose a pilot crossover trial of 2 behavioral language treatments, with randomized order of treatments and blinded assessors, to determine if a therapy designed to stimulate right hemisphere functions (Producing Increasingly Complex Themes Using Right-hemisphere Engagement Implemented with Telemedicine - PICTURE IT; described below) is more effective in improving discourse than a published computer delivered lexical treatment (shown previously to improve naming) in subacute post-stroke aphasia.

The objective of this trial is to evaluate the effectiveness and safeness of continuous Theta Burst Stimulation (cTBS) over the right Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG), guided by personalized Brain Functional Sector (pBFS) technology, on language function recovery in patients with post-ischemic stroke aphasia.

High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS) allows to induce, in a non-invasive way, a transient inhibitory or excitatory neuromodulation of a given cerebral region and to obtain a very focused cortical effect. Previous studies using HD-tDCS have shown the effectiveness of this stimulation technique for enhancing language recovery in patients with aphasia. However, language processes are not determined solely by local neural activity at a single site, but rather by the interaction between neural networks. This is because a large cortical network is involved in language processes and, therefore, the same language disorder may result from lesions at different locations in this network. The investigators hypothesize that anodal HD-tDCS will enhance neural interactions between language areas and, thereby, improve language processing and word learning. The investigators propose to carry out a study on chronic aphasic patients involving HD-tDCS of the Broca region (left inferior frontal gyrus) combined with a verb learning task.

To investigate the intervention effect of high definition transcranial alternating current stimulation(HD-tACS) in chronic post-stroke aphasia and its underlying neural mechanism by MRI.

In a randomized controlled trial, efficacy of low-frequency, inhibitory rTMS will be examined in rehabilitation of acquired aphasia. Two cortical sites will be targeted: Right-hemispheric homologues of Broca's and Wernicke's areas. In addition to cognitive screening prior to onset of rTMS, language assessments will be conducted before, during and after the intervention. An eyetracking-while-listening experiment will also be conducted before and after the intervention to investigate morphosyntactic processing.

Aphasia is an acquired impairment of language, that commonly results from damage to language areas in the brain (typically the left side of the brain). This impairment is seen in many aspects of language, including understanding, speaking, reading and writing. It is estimated that about 2 million individuals are currently living with aphasia in the United States. Further, about 200,000 Americans acquire aphasia every year (National Aphasia Association, 2020). Aphasia poses significant impact on the affected individuals and their families. Behavioral treatments that target language deficits have been shown to enhance overall communication skills and life satisfaction among individuals with aphasia. Although there is evidence that suggests that treatment is efficacious for individuals with aphasia, the extent of improvement long-term coupled with the neural patterns among those individuals are largely unknown. The current study aims to investigate the efficacy of language-based treatment and its corresponding neural patterns.