Active clinical trials for "Stuttering"

The proposed study aims to investigate the effect of combined transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and behavioural speech training in improving speech fluency in Cantonese-speaking adults who stutter (AWS), and to examine its maintenance over a 6-week period.

The study plans to find the efficacy of a digital application/software, Al-lisan that adult stutters can be used for assessment and management of their stuttering. The Software has been developed with the help of a software engineer. After the current trends employed by Speech language pathologists explored through qualitative study design, the manual which is under development process through a focused group in which assessment and treatment options of the software were finalized. The next step will include the reliability and validity of the software for assessment and management of adult stutters followed by finding the efficacy of the software. As this Application will be in Urdu language it will assist less literate and those living in peripheries to assess or provide self-treatment options to the persons who stutter. It will allow adults for self-assessment and treatment options in Urdu language.

The purposes of this study are to 1) investigate potential speech, language, and psychosocial contributions to the experience of stuttering in monolingual and multilingual speakers, and to 2) evaluate interdisciplinary, telehealth, and speech-language pathology treatment methods and clinical training specific to fluency disorders.

Treatment for preschool age children who stutter: a randomised, multicentre, non-inferiority parallel group pragmatic trial with Mini-KIDS, the social cognitive behaviour therapy and the Lidcombe Program with 249 children

Persistent developmental stuttering (PDS) is diagnosed when developmental stuttering persists beyond adolescence. Most stutterers experience vast improvement in stuttering during childhood and it generally disappears within five years. A minority of stutterers continue stuttering over age 18, often accompanied by social and personal difficulties. Following a report of a 75 year old woman, with severe Persistent developmental stuttering , who experienced significant improvement in her stuttering since treated by Ramipril for hypertension, we scrutinized the literature, and discovered that there is a physiological basis for this surprising reaction. Ace inhibitors, such as Ramipril, might in fact be successful for treating Persistent developmental stuttering . In theory, it seems that ACE inhibitors, such as Ramipril could improve stuttering by reducing striatum dopamine levels. Stuttering is associated with high striatum dopamine levels Angiotensin receptors are present in the striatum Angiotensin causes elevated striatum dopamine levels ACE inhibitors penetrate the blood brain barrier and reduce brain angiotensin II levels. Methods The study will begin as a pilot study in which 10 stuttering patients will be recruited for 12 weeks on open label Ramipril 1.25mg/d. If there is improvement in at least 2 of the stuttering patients, we will continue to the main study. Efficacy Evaluation: The MINI Neuropsychiatric interview will be used to rule out major neuropsychiatric conditions Stuttering evaluation Stuttering Severity instrument Version 4 (SSI-4) (Riley 2009) SLD :Percentage of stuttered syllables (Yairi 2015) The Subjective Screening of Stuttering (SSS) Speech Situation Checklist (Brutten 1975,1981) Leibowitz Social Anxiety Scale (Leibowitz 1987) The efficacy evaluation will be performed by speech therapists. All evaluations will be will be recorded on video Safety evaluation: Blood pressure: The average of three consecutive measures. Blood pressure will be measure in both arms on the first meeting, and thereafter on the arm with the highest measurements. Orthostatic hypotension will be defined as a drop of 20mmHg systolic or 10mmHg diastolic, one and three minutes after standing from sitting position. Creatinine clearance will be calculated by the MDRD method (Levy 2006) GFR, in mL/min per 1.73 m2 = 186.3 x SCr (exp[-1.154]) x Age (exp[-0.203]) x (0.742 if female) x (1.21 if black)

The project is leading to investigate the effects of neuromodulation techniques on speech fluency among adults who stutter (AWS). While stuttering is responsive to a variety of treatments in childhood, this is not the case for AWS. Behavioural treatments to reduce stuttering for adults typically consist of speech restructuring methods, which involves the person using one of the altered speech patterns known to increase fluency, such as chorus reading, speaking in rhythm, and prolonging (smoothing/stretching out) speech sounds. Research has shown that behavioural interventions such as these change brain activation patterns in the regions associated with stuttering. Unfortunately, around 70% of AWS who receive these speech restructuring treatments do not maintain the benefits in the longer term and frequently re-present to speech clinics. The aim of this proposed research is to explore whether the brain stimulation using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can consistently enhance effects of behavioural stuttering therapy by examining their responsiveness to the treatment across different outcome measures including a) immediate effect on different speaking contexts, and b) the maintenance of effects over one week after therapy.

Developmental stuttering (DS) is a motor/speech disorder, characterized by specific alterations in the functioning of brain circuits. Non-invasive brain stimulation may be useful to shape the altered functioning and connectivity of these systems. As a consequence, this project aims to expand the neurophysiological understanding of DS, evaluating effects of transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) on speech fluency and brain functioning of adults with persistent DS. This project will provide high-impact insights into the functioning of DS neural system, also proposing innovative and/or personalized rehabilitation.

In this study, the investigators will research the efficacy of a novel auditory neuro modulating technology that leverages euphonic music tracks with broad-spectrum binaural beats to induce selective EEG spectral power changes.

The purpose of the study is to use altered auditory vocal feedback to increase fluency in people who stutter and to examine changes in this effect over the course of a one month period occurring outside the laboratory setting.

studying how the cortical auditory evoked potentials differ in children who stutter from who do not stutter and how these potentials change with therapy